Hi, my name is Yanan.
It was my great honour to undertake a two-month internship at Bristol Braille Technology (BBT) under the SME Internship Scheme. My position at BBT was Braille and Employment Researcher Intern. My main duty was to conduct research on how braille promotes employment and improves the lives of the visually impaired. My work was mostly done remotely.
Working for BBT, I learned workplace etiquette and gained lots of new skills, including working to a high standard. As a non-native English speaker, my English has improved tremendously during this internship. My colleagues and supervisors are all native English speakers, and, frankly, it was a little difficult for me to keep up with them when I first started my internship. I quickly got over this problem with a lot of English practice.
At the same time, the research skills I learned at university came in handy and my time management skills have also been enhanced. This valuable experience has laid a solid foundation for my future career.
All in all, as a visually impaired person, I have benefited a lot from this internship, it really boosts my CV and I have become more confident. At work, I didn’t feel any discrimination and I wasn’t treated differently from anyone else. I sincerely hope that more of my peers will benefit from this scheme in the future.
Get involved
Yanan sourced her own internship for the SME Internship Scheme. If you’re interested in pursuing this route of finding an internship, please read our guide to sourcing your own internship.
Watch this talk from a graduate who sourced several of his own internships – Sourcing an SME Internship – A Student’s Perspective.
Positions available through the scheme are also advertised on mycareer. Please keep checking these listings, as we add new opportunities regularly.- Please note that our funding is limited. If you are interested in participating, we recommend you start applying soon!
- If you would like support with writing applications, you’ll find some useful resources and events here.
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