Open to all students – undergraduate and postgraduate – the Bristol PLUS Award offers a gateway to gaining invaluable employability skills.
Whether through volunteering, gaining practical work experience, or attending tailor-made workshops, the Bristol PLUS Award is your key to standing out in today’s competitive job market.
Hear some first-hand PLUS Award testimonials from our students from diverse backgrounds, who are studying different degrees and carving unique career paths, to discover how the PLUS Award could benefit you.
Hello! My name is Audrey and in my first year studying Economics and Maths, I completed an internship at Pointer Consultancy Group.
Pointer is a small but growing consulting company based in Bristol. It focuses mainly on project, bid, and change management but has begun offering sustainability consulting to help companies achieve their environmental, social and governance goals.
I worked at Pointer part-time during term time from February until June, completing 10-12 hours per week, mostly virtually from home but also coming into the office for a few hours each week.
My role
I was given the task of creating a tool in Excel to help guide clients through the Business Impact Assessment, which is the first step towards becoming a certified Benefit Corporation (B Corp). I worked mostly with one person, Ben, during the internship but frequently would present what I had done to other employees and directors at Pointer.
Challenges and skills I gained
Time management: The greatest challenge of this internship was learning to manage my time effectively, especially since I was working during term time.Pointer was very supportive and flexible, being happy to let me do more or less each week depending on the intensity of assignments I had due, as well as letting me take a few weeks’ break to complete my exams.
Analytical skills: Another challenge I had was learning to analyse a problem I was facing in the development of the tool and decide which questions were the most important to ask. Everybody at Pointer was always happy to help guide me but were often very busy, so it was important for me to ask precise questions and learn to take initiative.
This experience taught me to be more organised, solve problems efficiently and communicate well with my colleagues. Not to mention my skills in Microsoft Excel, which I greatly improved.
Real-world experience: I also learned a lot about consulting and how a small company operates. I had the chance to attend the Bristol Sustainable Business Festival which showed me the importance of networking and making personal connections to create opportunities for work and growth.
I had a great time during my internship. I loved working with everyone at Pointer and learned so much about the company, industry, and myself. This experience made me more certain of my desire to enter the field of sustainability.
Advice
I would advise anyone looking to take on an intern role with an SME to take the time to first read the job description in detail and the SME Internship Scheme Guide and to tailor your cover letter and your CV to include relevant information for the job.
Take the time to read around the company and industry so you can enter an interview with confidence, already have some knowledge of the job, and can ask interesting questions.
During an internship, always communicate with the company any worries you might have about the workload or responsibilities while you are working there, and they will be happy to listen and help.
I wish you all the best in applying for internships and hope you have a great time!
If you have any questions about the scheme, writing your application, or anything else relating to careers you can speak to us on live chat, or pop into 5 Tyndall Avenue from Monday to Friday, 10 am to 4.30 pm during term time.
My name is Noa. During my third year studying Classical Studies I got the opportunity to do a 10-week internship at Under the Wing Productions (UTW) through the University’s SME Internship Scheme.
UTW is a Bristol-based video production company that focuses on developing aspiring filmmakers.
I have always had a keen interest in filmmaking and the media industry, so when I came across the advert for this role, I knew it would be the perfect opportunity for me to gain valuable skills and experiences, whilst also building up my CV for when I leave University.
“Hi, I’m Anika. For my SME Internship, I was working for a start-up called Safer Industries Ltd.
I worked closely with the founder, Tim, to begin fleshing out the brands of his company and organise some elemental ideas around environmental, social, and governance (ESG) policy.
Apart from occasional meetings in local Bristol cafés, my work was remote and flexible.
By the end of my internship, which spanned two months part-time during term-time, we had collaboratively created logos for one brand and created a Venn diagram covering some starting points for what would later be developed into a comprehensive and novel ESG policy.
In October, we ran our “How to get in AI and tech panel” event, which was for anyone with a non-technical degree, looking to enter the tech industry.
From Experience Design Leads to Senior Account Technology Leads, our panel provided anecdotal tips on applying for and flourishing within tech companies. All without an extensive understanding of technical practices. Below are a few of the keynotes that were particularly emphasised:
1. Don’t worry about your lack of technical knowledge
Lacking a tech background when working in the industry is no barrier. Most non-technical roles will involve some jargon that may mean nothing to you – and that’s okay!
Our speakers recommend getting comfortable with not knowing and asking questions.
I entered into the internship process in a bit of an unusual state; I’d withdrawn from my PGCE (History) course earlier the same year and was just coming out of that self-reflective headspace we all go through when we’ve made our latest “big choice”.
At the University of Bristol, we are proud to celebrate neurodiversity. We recognise the unique strengths and perspectives that neurodiverse students bring to our campus.
In this blog post, we explore the resources and events available to neurodiverse students. Find out how these have been put into practice, to empower you on your journey through university and help you plan your next steps.
Join us in celebrating neurodiversity and uncovering the opportunities that await!
“The decisions you make at University are often life-shaping. They set the tone for your future and compound over decades”
Adam Chambers is a Bristol History (BA) alum, and President of Nurse Recruitment Experts. In his third year at the University of Bristol he participated in our SME Internship Scheme.
Here are his thoughts on how this has shaped his career:
“Why am I writing to encourage you to apply for an SME Internship?
I started Nurse Recruitment Experts (NRX) in 2019, nine months after graduating from studying History at Bristol.
Since then, we’ve sourced and hired 10,000 plus Registered Nurses, Licensed Practical Nurses, and Certified Nursing Assistants for health systems across the US and Canada.
Hello prospective Bristol PLUS Award achievers! I’m Lana Henry and I’m a fourth-year Veterinary Science student who’s now working as a PLUS Award Ambassador.
I completed my PLUS Award in the 2021/2022, and am here to answer the age-old question: is it worth taking on the PLUS Award despite a busy degree?
