The Bright Network Internship Experience is a free virtual internship which is open to everyone over the age of 18.
The scheme provides school leavers, current university students, and recent graduates with a valuable insight into one of 8 key sectors of the UK job market, giving participants the opportunity to connect with and learn from a range of leading employers.
Handily, there are an unlimited number of online places available on each of the 8 different internship paths available, and since every experience is fully online, they can be completed from anywhere in the world.
Whichever pathway you choose, your experience can be completed either as a three-day ‘live’ course, or in an ‘on demand’ format, which you can complete at your own pace. This means it’s really easy to fit the experience around your other commitments over the summer.
The Experience
Last summer, I participated in the Business, Operations and Marketing Live Internship Experience.
I chose this pathway because I wanted to gain a better overall sense of the different job roles that existed in the marketing sector, and improve my commercial awareness. I was especially attracted by the opportunity to hear from recent graduates who were now working at leading firms including Google, Procter and Gamble, and Marks and Spencer.
Day One of the experience was mostly organized around employer-led seminars, including informative sessions on relevant topics like Consultative Selling, Retail Marketing, and Competitor Analysis.
On Day Two, we were provided with a work sample task to complete. Our task was based around the real-world problem of trying to select a new city for one of the scheme’s supporting employers, Enterprise Rent-a-Car, to launch its Car Club service.
Day Three was spent finishing up the research for the work sample task and preparing my presentation slides, before I was connected with one of my fellow peers on the experience. We took turns to deliver our presentations and review each other’s work, providing each other with some valuable one-to-one feedback.
Alongside these main tasks, there were plenty of opportunities throughout the three days when I could use Bright Network’s online platform for peer networking, asking questions to industry experts, and connecting with other participants.
What I Gained
For me, the most valuable thing about the experience was how it helped me become familiar with the kinds of tasks that you might expect in an early career marketing role at a large organization.
Before I took part in the experience, I only had a vague notion of what working in marketing actually entailed, but I ended up really enjoying the work sample task that we were set.
The task gave us the opportunity to test out some of our new knowledge on competitor analysis, market research, and marketing strategy, working to a deadline to deliver our final proposals. I was given a (hypothetical!) marketing budget of £50,000, and had to make strategic, timely, and evidence-based decisions about how to allocate it effectively.
This was a brand new experience for me, but I found balancing the costs and benefits of different marketing methods to be a really interesting challenge!
Note: Applications for all of Bright Network’s Internship Experiences for the summer of 2021 are open now: If you are interested in applying for any of the 8 internship experiences on offer, you can find details on how to apply on the Bright Network website. It’s worth noting that each of the ‘live’ experiences has a different deadline, so do make sure that you apply before that date!