My University of Hull Team GB internship has prepared me for my future career

It has been six weeks since I began my first internship working at the University of Hull as the Team GB communications intern. It also significantly marks the halfway point.

42 days has flown by and it is almost overwhelming to look back on after learning so much.

A highlight so far was having the amazing opportunity to meet Team GB Olympian Kye Whyte as well as work behind the scenes to help plan and promote the events which brought him to the university campus.

Kye attended the university as part of Black History Month and it was great to hear his story. He really engaged with the audience and made everyone laugh as well as touch on really important topics that members of the audience could relate to.

These events on their own brought so many new experiences such as preparing content for social media, creating a brief for the photographer and videographer, and crafting a press release for both events.

Through my internship I’ve learnt that the university’s partnership with Team GB is truly for everyone and provides such a large variety of incredible opportunities for students and staff and the wider local community. I would recommend everyone to get involved where they can.

As part of my involvement, I have had the pleasure of liaising with the British Olympic Association commercial executive Leyla Toothill, who had the following to say:

“We are really proud to partner with the University of Hull and really enjoy working with students to deliver key projects. It makes such a difference to have support from interns, and in particular they add a new perspective, have creative ideas and inspire us to achieve more.”

Until I started the internship, I also didn’t realise that many smaller tasks I often overlooked were quite difficult to get used to. I soon found that writing a formal email to ask nicely for a favour was a new lesson in itself.

Workplace etiquette quite quickly became my new priority in the first couple of weeks and I wanted to learn it fast so I could confidently and professionally complete daily tasks (instead of reading an email 50 times before I sent it!).

Working within such a diverse marketing team has also been an incredible experience throughout my first six weeks. I have been lucky enough to be able to learn from so many different areas of marketing and communications on top of the work I have done with Team GB, including public relations, social media and design.

Looking forward, I can’t wait to welcome more athletes onto campus in the next six weeks and be a part of the hard work that goes on behind these events, to further develop my confidence in the workplace ready for my future career in marketing.

I have received some lovely feedback and endorsements from colleagues. One that stood out was from my manager Nicole, who wrote the below:

“It has been such a pleasure having Mia working on the Team GB partnership, she settled in very quickly and has already been recognised as a valued member of the wider communications team for her enthusiasm, attention to detail and for the skills that she has already developed as part of her studies and previous experience.

“Mia has excellent organisation and communication skills, and is always up for a challenge. It has been a valuable experience for me to work with her and as soon as she started, she gave me the confidence to trust her with full projects to project manage from start to finish.

“I feel very lucky to have got the chance to work with Mia as part of this internship.” Nicole Bateman, Marketing Project Manager – Team GB.

Finally, my advice for any prospective or current students considering an internship or placement opportunity is to go for it! After six weeks I already feel I am better prepared for my future career. My self-confidence has increased tenfold and I am excited to see where it can take me.

If you would like extra guidance or support on securing an internship opportunity, I would highly recommend getting in touch with the University of Hull careers team; Student Futures:

“The University of Hull Internal Internship Programme has been a great success over the past two years providing in excess of 200 graduates with valuable paid experience.

“For many of our graduates, the internships have allowed them to develop key skills and acted as a stepping stone into longer term graduate employment.

“Feedback from staff and interns has been overwhelmingly positive, and we look forward to continuing to support our graduates in this way.” - Matt Beecroft, Careers Consultant at Student Futures.