Eveline has written about her recent internship at Tumelo, which was supported by our COVID-19 SME Internship Fund. The aim of this fund was to support local SMEs including charities, social enterprises and start-ups who are operating at maximum capacity as they respond to the challenges of Coronavirus, while giving students valuable and meaningful work experiences in a difficult economic climate.
Introduction
I spent eight weeks working for Tumelo as part of the University of Bristol’s COVID-19 SME Internship Scheme. I really enjoyed my time at Tumelo and gained a valuable insight into the world of investment and how it is being changed for the better.
Tumelo
Tumelo is a Bristol-based start-up, which seeks to engage investors on issues they care about at companies they own. Their aim is to give ordinary people a voice in the boardrooms of global companies on issues like climate change, gender equality and human rights, so that our financial system can better serve people and planet.
My Internship
My role at Tumelo was as a Shareholder Advocate, which involved a mix of research and content writing. I spent much of my time reading through Annual General Meeting (AGM) documents and annual reports from global companies like Netflix, Alphabet, and Tesla. I would take proposals that had been submitted to AGMs and rewrite them in a way that allowed them to be understood by people of different educational backgrounds.
These proposals tackled issues such as whether a company should align their strategy to the Paris Agreement, or have a more diverse board, or even if the CEO should be paid hundreds of times more than the average employee. I gained key skills during my time at Tumelo, including research and content writing skills, particularly learning to write for a non-academic audience. It was also very exciting to be working for a company that I felt was having a positive impact in the world.
I felt very lucky to be able to undertake an internship during such a challenging time. It was great to be able to work from home, allowing me to limit my exposure to other people and follow government guidance on social distancing while gaining valuable experience. It was also useful to have the experience of being inducted at a new company and working over Zoom, as it is very likely that whatever role I take on following the completion of my MSc will begin remotely. While remote working was challenging at times, and I particularly missed the social side of joining a new office, everyone worked hard to make me feel included.
Conclusion
I would highly recommend an internship to other students. It is an excellent opportunity to learn and to develop new skills. It also gives you the opportunity to work in companies who may not otherwise have the resources to offer paid work experience, which could mean a unique chance to work somewhere really interesting.
Interested in finding an internship? We are advertising many work experience opportunities on mycareer.
If you’re struggling with writing applications, you’ll find some useful resources and events here to help.
Remember you can maximise the impact from your SME Internship with the Bristol PLUS Award.
