Align your internship with your career goals

Olivia completed her internship in the area she aspires to work in, providing her with valuable real-world insights

Olivia

“Through working in this internship I’ve met loads of different people, including social workers, which is really good insight for me.”
Olivia Davies, BSc (Hons) Sociology student
The Zone
The Zone is a charity based in Plymouth that works with young people between the ages of 13 and 25 providing services in multiple areas including sexual health, relationships, counselling and mental health support.
After commissioning a leaflet for Plymouth’s young people around homelessness, The Zone required the help of a student intern to research, write and create the content. Multiple applications were considered, and Olivia was the standout candidate, securing the internship role.
“I was based at The Zone, but I was also working with Plymouth City Council, Educare, and Livewest. I was in charge of pulling lots of information together from all the charities and the legislation.”
 
 

Practical experience

The Zone recruited Olivia as a content writer to produce something outside of the normal scope for those working at The Zone. Gemma from The Zone reflects on the process of securing the student intern “without the student intern this work would not have been produced, as there are simply not enough extra hours”.
Though Olivia was contracted for 35 hours in total, the weekly tasks of the internship were varied. Some days she would be in meetings, and other days she would be writing for the leaflet or out talking to homeless people. The internship provided her with practical real-world experience that could easily translate into any future career.

The Zone is social work and counselling based, which is everything I’ve always been interested in and the reason why I did a sociology degree. The internship has been really good, just getting to know people that work in that sector and networking.

I’ve applied for a masters in Swansea in Social Work because I’ve always been interested in that career path. Obviously, through working in this internship I’ve met loads of different people, including social workers, which is really good insight for me. 
 
 

Continuous support

The internship was supported by the School of Society and Culture Industry Liaison team, with Gemma remarking that ‘the university was really supportive’ in regard to the internship and support available for both the intern and The Zone.
Olivia agrees that the support was helpful.
“The University has just been so good at being there for support, and Lee & Karen (Industry Liaisons) have contacted me, just checking in, so it’s reassured me that if there was ever a problem, there is someone I can go and talk to about it.”

Looking forward

Gemma noted the key impact that Olivia had on the production of the leaflet, with regards to the authenticity of voice, was that it came from the mind of a younger person. Authenticity and relatability were one of the challenges of The Zone faced when wanting to produce this leaflet. The student captured the authenticity of being a young person throughout the leaflet, brilliantly.
Following this, The Zone would like to expand their relationship with the University and work with more student interns in various capacities: front of house, social media and content creation are just some of the options. With an organisation like The Zone, there are a wide variety of tasks that can work for student interns.
The Zone are open to proposals for volunteering projects. With The Zone being a highly diverse workforce, there is bound to be something for all students to get involved with whilst studying. Working for The Zone can give you the skills you need to work in a challenging environment, where you will need to be confident and self-directed to meet deadlines.