If you’re passionate about making a difference, why not consider arranging an SME Internship with an organisation that is working to prevent hunger and homelessness? We spoke to a few organisations that University if Bristol students have previously had internships with to find out what they do, and why they like the scheme.
Nathan is a Politics and International Relations graduate who worked as a Social Media intern at Purplefish as part of the SME (small and medium-sized enterprises) Internship Scheme.
“Hi, I’m Nathan and I was recently given the opportunity to spend a month as a PR and Social Media Intern at Purplefish, an award-winning, Bristol-based PR and communications firm. Admittedly, I held preconceived notions that an internship would be a relatively uninspired experience that would be undertaken solely for the CV boosting prospects. However, in reality, I couldn’t be further from the truth.
My name is Katie, and I am a 2nd year student studying BA French and Spanish.
I completed my SME Internship this June at Treepoints, an online platform start-up which provides support for businesses to take climate action and reduce their carbon emissions.
The internship took place in London, where I covered a variety of tasks over the month including market research, internal auditing, competitor research, developing selection criteria for new partners and bringing on board a new plastic collection partner.(more…)
Educational Action Challenging Homophobia (EACH) is a multi-award-winning charity which works to affirm the lives of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people and reduce discrimination experienced because of sexual orientation or gender identity.
EACH work with us through our SME Internship Scheme to host interns to support their charity work, in roles such as Administration & Fundraising Officer, Helpline & Creative Development Assistant, and Research & Administration Officer.
Since 2013, EACH has hosted 14 SME interns through the SME Internship Scheme.
I am very grateful to have been offered an internship opportunity through the SME Internship Scheme.
As an international student, I spent three months searching for a graduate job in the UK after I finished my one-year master’s programme. I found the challenges and competition higher than ever in the wake of the global pandemic. Thus, I applied for internship vacancies on the Careers Service website to enhance my employability in the local market. (more…)
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.
Bristol Braille Technology logo.
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.(more…)
Greetings from a second-year Electrical and Electronic Engineering student. My name is Alex and I completed a month-long SME internship for the company Senmag Robotics.
I was tasked with coding demos using the Unity game engine. The demos showcase the functionality and potential applications of the device that the company is developing.
In short, this device is meant to give you three-dimensional precise control and haptic feedback. This allows you to feel virtual objects and effects as if they are physically present.
I carried out my internship remotely, but I did receive a VR headset and one of their devices to play with (and by play, I of course mean responsibly troubleshoot newly written scripts and test added features!).(more…)
Hi, I’m Samira. My summer internship was focused on marketing, design and behaviour change consultancy. I worked at Design & Tonic (a marketing and design company) to help with the build-up to the launch of their new website.(more…)
As part of the SME internship scheme, I was lucky enough to be offered a one-month Series Researcher position at True to Nature (TTN), a Bristol-based natural history production company. During my time at TTN I was asked to undertake a variety of research and production tasks for three episodes of an exciting new natural history TV series. (more…)
Hi, I’m Fin, a final year History undergraduate who worked as a writer and media intern for TechForge Media part-time alongside my degree during my final term.
I applied for the SME Internship Scheme after writing for the Epigram student newspaper during my first term of final year. Having thoroughly enjoyed the experience, I decided to take my writing to the next step by self-sourcing a paid role with a Bristol-based company.(more…)
