Ed, a 4th year Engineering student worked for Ecostyle last Summer, a design and manufacture company. Ecostyle create interactive educational models to promote renewable energy and water efficiency. Ed secured his role by sourcing his own internship after hearing about the COVID-19 Internship scheme. Here’s what he had to say about the experience.
What was the aim of your internship?
To develop resources and product development concepts which enable socially distanced hands-on learning of renewable technologies, in a classroom or at home. The resources should encourage sales of EcoStyle products whilst promoting an incredibly vital industry and renewable STEM career path.
What was your day-to-day like?
The idea of starting a job from home and not having regular face to face interaction with colleagues might seem like a lonely and difficult task. However, my manager was incredibly aware of this and made a huge effort to ensure not only that he was always there to answer questions and discuss problems over the phone, but also to actually get to know me personally.
Right from day one I was given complete ownership of the project which immediately motivated me to get really stuck in and it also tested my ability to structure my time properly.
What where the challenges and what did you learn?
One of the key challenges for me being a part–time intern was being time aware, as I was new to just working a couple of days a week. I found I could over or underestimate the amount of time available and so it was challenging to set realistic and achievable goals. Inevitably I learnt that implementing proper scheduling and planning methods is incredibly important in a project.
One of the main challenges I faced was knowing how to develop the resources and where to start. I found that processes can be applied to help solve any problem. This is the same way I would resolve challenges as I study, within an engineering design challenge.
What did you enjoy the most?
I really enjoyed the responsibility and ownership of the project I carried out with EcoStyle. I found it incredibly motivating that I could have such a clear and visible impact on the company as well as students’ education.
Finally, I am incredibly thankful to EcoStyle and the University of Bristol Careers Service for this scheme which allowed me to participate in such an incredible internship. Through the project I accomplished a great deal and I learnt a lot, so it has definitely been an invaluable experience.
Want to intern for an SME?
The COVID-19 SME Internship Fund is now open and we are advertising internship opportunities through mycareer.
For inspiration on how to source your own internship, watch this talk from a graduate who has sourced several of his own internships – Sourcing an SME Internship – A Student’s Perspective.
If you’re struggling with writing applications, you’ll find some useful resources and events here to help.
Need more support? Get in touch via Live Chat on mycareer or contact the SME Internships Team at careers-uobinterns@bristol.ac.uk