How an SME Internship can kick start your entrepreneurial career

Posted on by Careers Service

“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.

A photo of Adam smiling, outdoors in a suit.
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Finding a graduate job at a careers fair – Blue Frontier 

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At our spring careers fair, Get Hired, student Jamie approached Blue Frontier. As a result, he secured a full-time position with them. 

We spoke to Michael Raisbeck, Cyber Security Consultant at Blue Frontier, and Jamie to hear about how a conversation at a careers fair turned into a stepping stone to an opportunity.

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Top tips for making the most of the University of Bristol Law Fair

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It was great to see so many of you at our recent Employer Showcase, and hope you enjoyed the opportunity to network with potential employers. Our next big careers event will be the University of Bristol Law Fair.

Join us at the Wills Memorial Building on Thursday 2 November from 12:30 pm until 3 pm to engage with 41 law firms seeking Bristol graduates. The event even includes employer-led talks from leading firms, so come along to find out exactly what top law firms are looking for.

Two students talk in the Wills Memorial building

This is the perfect opportunity for those of you interested in law to explore a career in the legal sector.

If you’re studying law, considering a conversion Masters, or simply wish to explore your options, make sure you don’t miss out.

Attending the fair is only the first step…

It’s essential to keep things moving after the fair and stay in touch with your contacts. Take a look at these quick tips in order to maximise your pre-fair and post-fair experience:

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What if your first job didn’t have to be the perfect job?

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The graduate market is increasingly competitive, so getting that grad scheme is becoming more difficult. 

However, grad schemes aren’t the only route into graduate employment and it’s OK if your career doesn’t have the most conventional beginning, middle, or end.

At the start of October, five Bristol alumni joined Bristol Connects Live: Squiggly Careers Alumni Panel event, to prove that their ‘squiggly’ career paths have been just as valuable, if not more so, to their personal and professional development than a traditional, linear path.

From starting a career with Teach First to now working for Amazon; an English degree to a Senior Data Scientist at Deliveroo; or even a History degree to Editor for the Financial Times, these alumni shared their career journeys to prove that your first job won’t necessarily be your forever job.

Panellists included:

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Why start the Bristol PLUS Award despite a challenging Health Sciences degree?

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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?

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AI generated applications – should you, or shouldn’t you?

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Recent research* shows that 17% of students are already using generative AI tools to assist with writing documents such as CVs and cover letters for applications. By the time you read this, that figure will no doubt be higher. 

It’s hard to avoid the news and frenzy around tools such as ChatGPT that can make light work of even complex tasks. Where we have our limitations in terms of knowledge and resources, AI can instantly draw on comprehensive expertise from millions of data points to help us reduce time spent on admin-intensive work. 

So, whether you feel overwhelmed with multiple applications or just find it difficult to produce the right words, it’s understandable that taking a shortcut can be appealing. 

However, assist should be the key word here.  

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My SME Internship: Sophia – The Brain Charity

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“Hi, I’m Sophia. I undertook an SME Internship as a recent graduate from my Neuroscience BSc. I worked for The Brain Charity, a Liverpool-based charity that provides support to individuals affected by neurological conditions.

I found the charity during my search for an internship that would align with my morals. I contacted them directly, and to my delight, they were happy to take me on as an intern through the SME Internship Scheme, as a Neurodiversity Training Co-ordinator. 

My job 

My role was a Neurodiversity Training Co-ordinator, which involved various administrative and miscellaneous tasks that supported and enhanced their Neurodiversity Training programme.

It offers training sessions to clients and their employees, to educate and share knowledge on how to best support neurodivergent employees in the workplace. 

A photo of Sophia smiling,
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Navigating your future: the true value of arts, humanities and social sciences degrees

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Students of the Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences (AHSS) are often keenly aware of the positive characteristics of their degrees. 

Graduates of these disciplines are curious, creative, investigative and impactful, and AHSS degrees help us to understand ourselves, our society and our place in the world.

But what about their value in a career context? This is where unhelpful narratives about them being less ‘valuable’, come into play, such as that they lead to inferior job prospects. But there is so much evidence to challenge this. 

Here are five myths that research by The British Academy has helped to dispel: 

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How the PLUS Award ignited my career journey: A humanities and arts student’s perspective

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Are you a humanities or arts student without a clear idea of your career path?  

I was in this position 2 years ago. Although I still haven’t gotten it all figured out, the Bristol PLUS Award was a huge help in kick-starting my career.  

Let me talk you through how I went from not having a clue what I wanted to do, to having a great job in a sector I love – all thanks to the PLUS Award. 

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SME Internship Scheme: Finding an SME Internship at a careers fair – Windō

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Last academic year, final year Engineering Mathematics student Patrick approached Windō at the Get Hired careers fair, and as a result was able to secure an SME Internship with them. 

We caught up with Oli, founder and CEO of Windō, and Patrick to hear about how a chat at a careers fair led to a connection…and an internship!

Windō 

Windō is a free platform for students to easily access, digest and compare the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) progress and plans that companies are making to drive positive change across sustainability, diversity, equality and inclusion, and employee wellbeing.

A photo of Oli talking to a student at the Get Hired fair.

“Hi, I’m Oli, CEO at Windō.

We were invited as a Sustainability Partner to have a stall at Get Hired in the Spring. It’s always a great opportunity to demonstrate our platform to students and meet the very people we built Windō for.

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