Internships

Bronyck, Part-time Practice Lead-Advanced Analytics Consultant at Aramar Solutions and was BA (Hons) Business Management student.

Aramar are a business analytics consultancy, delivering financial reporting, analytics, planning and performance management solutions. We are proud to be a growing company that is trusted by organisations of all sizes and industries to help them plan for, understand and control their business performance and make better decisions as a result. Find out more.

The business need for this internship was in two parts;

Short term need to develop an internal subject matter expert for a data discovery tool.
Long term need for internally developed consultants with the right soft skills.
Quote from the business

‘Bronyck has shown that internships can create value by investing in growing a knowledge pool within the organisation by introducing a new perspective, and the ability to learn without the distraction of an embedded role. The engagement of an internship also has the great potential to find talent in those that have not been recognised before they graduate.’

Quote from the student

‘Completing my internship whilst at university has not only led to continued employment, but I have been able to apply the skills I have learnt on my course in a real life scenario, as well as giving context to issues discussed in lectures and seminars. It has been really helpful to talk to people who have been in a business environment for many years, and every day spent at work provides a chance for development in terms of career and personal growth. I enjoy working alongside my studies, and it has made me better at managing my time.’

Cara was successful in being offered a 3 month internship with Suffolk Archives in Ipswich. 

I was extremely lucky to be offered a position at the Suffolk Archives. I came into this role quite open; I have always had an interest in history and local heritage. One of the main reasons I applied for this internship was because I did not have a direct plan for my future. But when this role was suggested to me by my Careers Advisor, I was extremely grateful as it seemed like the perfect role. Although not a permanent role, I thought getting some experience would be valuable for me and it would also give me a chance to think about my future in more depth.

This internship required me to undertake some research, which was one of the main reasons why I thought it would be a great opportunity for me. From studying for my English degree, as well as undertaking a work experience placement where I researched for a local heritage project, I believed I had some good experience. My main role was heading up a research project, planning an online resource for the Suffolk Archives to be used in their school programme. Within this, I conducted background research on the national curriculum, local schools, local heritage sites, online distribution channels, textbooks and visiting local schools as well as researching the archives when choosing some documents to use in an example resource pack/activity. I especially enjoyed visiting the local primary schools to talk about the future school programme – asking the types of resources they’d like, what they are currently using and the curriculum for KS1 and KS2. I was also tasked with creating an example school resource, which would be used for structure and content after my placement ended. I finished my internship by writing a report on what I had discovered in my research.

One thing that surprised me about this internship is how it inspired me to search for some future roles in the education sector, especially as throughout my degree I wasn’t set on one career. From speaking to some teachers and being in the school environment, I felt more drawn those school roles. In September I will be going to a Graduate Internship with a local secondary school as a Teaching Assistant. Although quite a contrast to this internship, I believe it will be a great opportunity for me to gain some experience in a school and to see whether a career in education is right for me.

This internship has been a valuable and interesting opportunity for me, I have had the chance to work with some great people and to demonstrate even to myself the lengths of my strengths. I am grateful to everyone that I have worked with and who helped me during this time. 

Nathan graduated with a first class BA (Hons) English and History degree, and was successful in being offered a 3 month internship with Suffolk Archives in Ipswich. 

During the three-month summer internship with Suffolk Archives I have been tasked with developing educational resource packs for KS2 students, focusing on Ipswich and the Home Front during World War II, and the experience of living in a rural Suffolk village during the Victorian period.

The task has involved searching the archives for a range of primary sources – maps, letters, council meeting minutes, government leaflets – that will engage primary school students; broaden their understanding of these two key moments in British history; and allow the identification of similarities and difference between local and national experience.

Seminars at UoS involved interrogating primary source material. Most of the written sources, however, were either transcripts or photocopies. I have really enjoyed delving into the archives and getting my hands on ‘real’ documents – the excitement of not knowing what each record will reveal. Uncovering unexpected, humorous accounts, events and characters has been particularly rewarding! I have also enjoyed conducting self-guided research and being responsible for my own time. The task has sharpened my research skills – I’ve become more confident in identifying suitable lines of enquiry and being given the responsibility to manage my own time has further developed my organisational skills.

The internship has given me the opportunity to consider future plans whilst utilising the research skills developed during my undergraduate studies. Having been accepted to study MA History at Essex University, I have decided to defer further academic study, for the time being, and look for employment opportunities within the local heritage sector – a decision that was partly inspired by my experiences whilst on this placement.

The community engagement and voluntary team with whom I have worked alongside have been fun, friendly and supportive, making the past three months the most enjoyable experience – I cannot think of a better way to spend the immediate post-degree months (holiday in the Caribbean aside!).

Hello! I was the data associate intern for the careers team from the start of June to the end of July. This was an amazing two months of experience that was new to me and will support me in my future.

Before I knew about the internship program, I was (and still am) interested in computers and so I chose Suffolk for their computing course. At this moment in time, I would like to go into the tech industry. I am unsure where exactly in this industry but as the course goes on, I have garnered an interest in artificial intelligence and data science. To go down this career path I would need to gain some relevant experience because the closest my prior experience came was spending time with the self-checkouts, and that does not really count! So, I improved my CV (with assistance from the careers team) and applied for the role of Data Associate Intern.

Previously, I had only done one or two interviews, so my experience was admittedly limited. I went to the careers team to help improve my skills. As it came to the day, I was nervous because it is an interview! What else am I supposed to do?  My nerves calmed down as soon as I entered the room because interviewers (members of the careers team) understand that many students may not have experienced physical interviews (especially post-lockdown). So, they gave me plenty of time to answer the questions. After I completed the interview, I asked for some feedback because whether I got the job or not, it would still be good to improve.

Working for your place of education does seem weird at first. You spend so much time learning there that after you just want to get home. I immediately changed perspective because as much as you are a student here, as an intern you are doing something partially or completely different to your degree. The careers and enterprise team work on a hybrid model which allows workers to come into the office or work from home which was really convenient. I opted to work on campus four days per week instead of the offered three days as I work better in the professional environment. And I lived in Athena Hall, so the commute was not much of a journey! I worked under the careers team and, even though I can be quite shy at first, found them all really approachable and friendly which is very important for a workplace since it can affect your motivation if you are not in such a comfortable work environment.

As a data associate, your main task is to source, process and analyse data. This is a repetitive task, and its purpose is to highlight trends to create a report. You also have tools at your disposal or ideas you can create to help analyse data. For example, you can have a tracker which calculates results automatically from raw data that you input making the process quicker and quite satisfying in my opinion. As my internship with the university went on I noticed, positively, that there is more than what meets the eye. Not only was I completing the tasks related to my role, but I had the opportunity to; help the Student Ambassador Team on Suffolk Day, do video editing (which I never expected to do in this role) and make presentations using Canva. I was really pleased to have this variety within my workload as it kept the job new and different, I was eager to do my job just to see what new tasks would pop up.

I come from a maths and computing background, so I started this internship with an affinity to problem solving and numbers which helps a lot when it comes to dealing with data and creating solutions and trackers for analysis. What I struggled with was writing reports (especially to a professional degree) as I lack experience with them. As well as the social aspects of work such as teamworking or general communication were things that I was apprehensive about. This is because I come off as shy at first and I had little experience working in a team. As the internship continued, this changed since I kept making reports which I sought feedback on to improve them and I made multiple presentations to help gain confidence. This helped with tasks that included me and my manager or another intern.

An internship is a job that is mainly there to give you experience in preparation for the real world. It prepares you mainly by giving an understanding of what it is like to be in a workplace of your preferred field as well as some experience of a specific job. In my case, as someone who had no prior experience in this field, it helped a lot as I can tailor my CV and LinkedIn page to gather the attention of employers. This has also built up my confidence for applying to future jobs in this sector. Now after this internship I intend on finding a part-time job to do during my next year and with this new experience I have a higher chance of finding something in this field which, in the long run, will help me out more than running back into an industry that I am not as interested in.