Student of the Week - Lucy Kerrigan, London Internship

This week's student really shows how much you can gain from just a couple of weeks on an internship. After contacting companies herself, Lucy was lucky enough to gain some amazing degree-relevant experience. Here she tells us more...   

"I’m a Marketing and Advertising student at Sheffield Hallam University and over the summer I moved to East London to work with a Digital Production company based in Shoreditch. I joined the company at a crucial time in the development stages of the IOS app, Lively- currently just days away from going to the App store, which feels very surreal.

I worked fairly autonomously to begin with, which was surprising. I gained different skillsets which didn’t only branch off from the Lively project, but also other small projects within the company, mostly software related such as Photoshop and the basics of coding. I met some really inspiring people and I think that’s important no matter what you do or where you go. My daily itinerary varied from week to week. I gathered insights from international BETA users, creating a usability promo video, attending meetings , conferences and workshops and writing press releases. I quickly realised how important gaining these perspectives were, it is quite easy to miss minor or even major bugs without a fresh pair of eyes.

When things weren’t so busy in the office I was able to explore London while uploading content for the app- dream job? However, it wasn’t all play and no work. Armed to the teeth with business cards and working a stone throw away from ‘The Gherkin’, obviously I felt like I was on The Apprentice, except I was in the weaker team. It was pretty challenging to market/pitch an app that wasn’t even finished yet. I really hope I never get rejected so much in such a short space of time again, I just wanted to run home and listen to Busted.

It did get better though, I was invited to a Google Campus convention which meant I could build contacts and talk about potential placement prospects face to face, steering well away from the hustle and bustle of emails, phone interviews etc, which I was already too familiar of. Above all, I wore a trendy name sticker and got free crisps. This was a particular highlight for me, not the crisps, but the contacts I made. I have a few safety nets heading into my second year and preparing myself for my third year in industry.

Of course when I returned from London (and straight back to my beloved costa coffee) my mum had gone a bit insane as a result of my absence. She’d bought a blackboard biscuit tin and written on the side ‘EMPTY L’. Although, after a cup of tea and a catch up I was let in on the secret that the biscuit tin wasn’t actually empty at all, It’s not always what you know it’s who you know, right?" 

Lucy raises some interesting points here about networking, which with upcoming events at universities all over the country will definitely be a topic I will discuss further. More than anything though, Lucy really demonstrates the fantastic opportunities that are available if you are just willing to put yourself out there. To be able to list experiences such as this on your CV will be sure to impress an employer, so give it a go yourself! The best ways to contact an employer may be by email, but a focussed email, targeting that company in particular. If you don't hear back, try a follow up telephone call so they can see you are serious. It doesn't have to be a really well known company, but every company should have something to offer.

If you would like to be featured here or know somebody who should contact us via twitter @StudentCTheory 

How many applicants?!

My confidence received a knock recently following a conversation with some colleagues. One of them had just finished interviewing for a new position at a different company he works for and was relaying some anectdotal notes on the interviewees. Along with the usual comments you get about these kinds of things, there was one figure he kept reminding me of that really put some fear into me.



Source: welovelocalgovernment.wordpress.com



For this entry level position, with a salary of £14,500 and no promise of it increasing rapidly, for which applicants are required to be educated to degree level, there were no less than 120 applicants. 120. As someone who consistently preaches that the employment level for students and graduates isn't as dire as people make out, this really shocked me. But for that reason, I decided to get to the bottom of it and here is what I discovered. Take from it what you will but after reading it I don't think that figure will scare you quite as much anymore.

1) 60 of the 120 applications went straight in the bin due to a spelling mistake.

It seems unbelievable that that many graduates would seriously even send off an application without checking it and checking it again. This tells you something, those applications aren't serious, at the most they're speculative and they are not the applications employers are interested in.

2) Of the remaining 60, at least half hadn't adapted their CV.

This job, like all jobs, requires you to have thought about the skills needed for it and requires you to have read your CV recently to make sure you demonstrate those skills. By not changing their CVs these applicants showed this wasn't the field they were interested in as some of them had even left in key phrases like, 'great customer care skills', which was completely irrelevant for the role and suggested they had been applying for other jobs in other areas.

3) This leaves us with 30 applicants.

These applicants were drilled down depending on their knowledge and skills and 10 were invited for interview.

Although I recognise that 30 applicants is still A LOT of applicants, it is a great deal better than 120 applicants. This shows how silly mistakes can leave you without a chance and that extra check really is important. Even if you say, 'but I've read it twice', get somebody else to read it, just like an essay they will always pick out mistakes you didn't see.

It also shows that a lot of graduates still aren't sure what they want to do. By trying to make that decision early you will improve your skill set ready for when you have to make that all important application. Surprisingly actually wanting to do a job  comes across in an application and an interview, and your enthusiasm is likely to land you the position you want.

Don't let figures like this make you shy away from applying for jobs or become run down. Plan ahead, use these tips and really do your research into what an employer is looking for. Remember, there's usually a reason behind a shocking statistic, and the reason usually makes it a lot less shocking.