Hi, I’m Joe. 
I did an SME Internship at Scribeless, a tech start-up company that uses artificial intelligence (AI) and advanced printing technology to create handwritten letters that are indiscernible from those written by the human hand. Enterprise giants and start-ups alike, companies all around the world use Scribeless’ letters to bring a personalised feel to their marketing campaigns, ultimately leading to an improvement in their acquisition and retention of customers.
An innovative product with highly sought-after benefits, Scribeless’ letters may prove crucial in helping businesses bounce back after the pandemic and see much needed upticks in their revenue. Also working with a number of charities in the US that have been hit hard by COVID-19, Scribeless can help improve the influx of donations to them which will result in greater funds available for helping those in need.
Having just completed my integrated master’s degree in Chemistry, I was able to use the analytical and research skills I have developed as part of my degree to transition smoothly into a role in data analytics and marketing strategy.
With no prior experience of marketing, and little knowledge of how a start-up like Scribeless runs day-to-day, I have been able to see the inner workings of the business and the hard work that the team does to ensure the quality of products are continually improving and being delivered to happy customers.
What was the role?
While feeling initially daunted about the lack of exposure to business fundamentals I’d received in my Chemistry lectures, it wasn’t long before I’d settled in and was feeling more confident in my abilities. After a week of acclimatisation and getting up to speed with the various marketing strategies, analytics tools, and databases currently available, I was in a position to start making a tangible impact on the business.
Early on I was able to develop a new predictive model to identify big leads (clients likely to place large orders) at a significantly higher success rate than the previous model allowed. It was very rewarding to use data science principles to think about and perform analysis on the complex set of data, and then translate this into an executable plan that fed directly into the sales strategy. I was also given a lot of room to research, learn, and make mistakes, all of which have allowed me to develop new skills and add breadth to my professional experience.
The final two weeks of my internship were spent performing more in-depth data analytics of the strengths and weaknesses of our marketing channels. In addition to this, I had increasing involvement in marketing decisions that affected the direction of the business as a whole.
What’s your advice to other students?
For anyone studying a STEM degree that is unsure about applying for an SME internship, the best advice I can give you is to find confidence in the transferability of your skill set to new and unseen situations.
Anyone can learn the marketing lingo and understand the various intricacies of business administration, but the enthusiasm to learn and ability to be versatile in how you approach problems is what will allow you to gain a lot from the experience, and contribute to the growth of the business too. I whole heartedly recommend the SME Internship Schemes to other students and I am very grateful to the University and Scribeless for this invaluable opportunity.
Get involved
Joe’s internship was supported by our COVID-19 SME Internship Fund.
The SME Internship Scheme – Widening Participation Fund is now open and we are advertising internship opportunities through mycareer.
Watch our new intro video on the WP Fund to learn about finding a paid internship this academic year.
There are also many other work experience opportunities listed here.
If you’re struggling with writing applications, you’ll find some useful resources here to help.
Remember you can maximise the impact from your SME Internship with the Bristol PLUS Award.