I have recently finished a three month long internship with Appointedd.com - an online portal for booking hair and beauty appointments due to launch in the next few months - and thought I would give you guys an insight into that time.
In my first year at uni, right from the start, we were told to start thinking about our futures and to cram as much experience as possible into any free time we had. Now some people listened to this and went about their day to day lives as normal, but myself and several others took this on board and went out and grabbed opportunity by the horns.
My first few weeks of summer (which if you're at university is a VERY long summer - 4 and a half months in my case) I was struggling to find work, I wasn't desperate for money but I needed something to keep me occupied and though I was already writing for SkintNation at the time, I needed something else.
A few weeks later I saw a Facebook post by a lovely lady, and also friend, who I had met at a festival last year looking for interns for a new business that she was starting up. I was living in Sheffield at the time so was dubious about getting offered a position as Leah and the business are Edinburgh based so I would have to work from home, nonetheless I sent along my CV and some pieces I'd written for local newspapers and SkintNation and Leah took a leap of faith and hired me as her first intern.
I'd asked to help out with the social media side of her business and though I had no professional experience within a few weeks I'd got to grips with doing things from a professional point of view. Leah was an incredible boss and we always worked together to come up with ideas and goals which worked brilliantly.
I am not going to go into too much detail on what I did but here is a very brief list: updating social media sites including Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest, building up followers across all sites, writing and researching blog posts, using analytics to track performance and optimize site and look for innovative ways to gain exposure.
Pros +
Working from comfort of own home
Flexible days and hours
PAID (paid internships are hard to come by!)
Opinions and ideas valued and taken into consideration
Given the freedom to make operational decisions
Cons -
Working from home - from time to time felt it would have been better to discuss certain things in person
Working with social media means it's incredibly hard to switch off, even when I wasn't supposed to be working I'd feel the urge to quickly check the Twitter or just add one little status
My Tips to You
Dont sell yourself short - make sure to emphasise all your qualities and how you could be an asset to said company
Make use of your connections - I met Leah randomly at a festival you never know where you could meet your future employer so be alert!
Do the best you can - even if the position isn't paid make sure to give 110% as whoever you work for may offer to keep you on and give you a paid position in the future and if you were an employer you'd expect the best from your employees
Don't be afraid to share your ideas - you never know you might just have an amazing idea that the company continues to use once your internship is over
Try and have fun - My internship although challenging at times was great fun and I had a real sense of achievement when I completed my goals
Overall it was a great experience and so grateful to have had the opportunity to be involved. Having had this experience so early on means I'll be in good stead for the future and can build upon my experiences and networks built!
What about you guys? Did you do any internships over the summer? Are you planning already for next year? Let me know!
