September 26, 2023, by Arts Placements
From Corporate to Coastline – My Summer Internship and Volunteering Experience
by Zoë Waite
The summer between second and third year often holds a significant pressure for students to find work experience and explore career prospects as graduation creeps ever closer. For many, including myself, finding these opportunities and even knowing what opportunities to apply for was something I struggled with. Going into my second year I was unsure what I wanted to do after University. I wanted to explore interests outside of my degree and academia, such as conservation and marine biology. With support from the University of Nottingham’s career service, I took part in both an internship and a volunteer scheme this summer to complement my studies.
Throughout June and July 2023, I worked as an HR intern for Consultancy giant Accenture through their 4-week hybrid summer internship scheme. During my time with Accenture I worked directly with the HR Reward and HR Partners Teams across two primary projects. These projects allowed me to develop and demonstrate a range of skills such as market research, corporate communication and presentation skills- all of which I can take forward in my career. Interning gave me a space to create a professional network. It allowed me to explore what a corporate career can look like for an Arts student and learn more about Human Resources as a career.
My time with Accenture also gave me experience applying for and going through application processes for corporate roles. This will benefit me as I will go through this process again when applying for graduate schemes. I left Accenture with valuable experience, a large professional network in HR and wider areas of Accenture and friends for life in my fellow interns.
In August, I volunteered for two weeks as a wildlife research assistant with Wildlife Sense in Kefalonia, Greece. The project I worked on focused on recording and conserving the marine flora ‘Posidonia’. Using research methods such as snorkel surveys, quadrats and drone surveys the team and I recorded the presence of ‘Posidonia’ across the island. Additionally, the team worked with the protection of loggerhead sea turtle hatchlings. We slept on the beach helping hatchlings get to sea safely to reduce the impact of light pollution on their innate navigation. No, my back still hasn’t recovered! We also ‘surveyed’ the beaches checking for turtle tracks and then recording the location of nests to be protected.
Coming out of these two weeks, I left my volunteering placement with experience of travelling and working abroad. This is a skill I will take forward and expand on in my future career. Additionally, my Arts degree wouldn’t have offered the practical and research experience as a wildlife researcher . It was so amazing to explore my passions and interests outside of academia and to utilise opportunities alongside my studies. Learning outside of academia is so rewarding and something I will be doing as I move forward. Finally, I left Greece with amazing memories (and photos for Instagram) which I will treasure forever.
Though my experiences this summer were worlds apart the breadth of opportunity gave me a vast range of knowledge and development in areas and skills I would not have been able to access through just one. Taking on two contrasting opportunities allowed me to demonstrate my flexibility. It pushed me out of my comfort zone in so many ways and I learnt so much about what I enjoy. These incredible opportunities will help me narrow down what career I want to pursue post-graduation.
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