I’m Katie and I have just graduated Bournemouth University, studying Media Production. I chose BU as they have been known across the country for having a high standard of media courses and teachings and in my years studying there, I also have seen so many great opportunities made available to students.
Having a Virtual internship is something I would recommend especially in times that are still so uncertain. I have always wanted to go to Fiji however since travel is still such an issue, I knew that it wasn’t feasible as of current, so I therefore decided to take a Virtual Internship.
While I received a lot of help from my mentor who is very similar to my seminar leaders that I had over the years, I was incredibly indecisive as to which project I was going to choose which I will explain later.
Something that was very similar to my academic experiences was the focus on the importance of networking and while this does increase the hours you spend focused on the internship its beneficial to get to know likeminded people and making the connections and collaborating with others makes the work more enjoyable.
Now, there was an abundance of projects and I really struggled here, and even though I was on a 4-week internship. I still managed to complete two to the highest quality possible. This was simply due to my time management and organisation which are often two traits’ employers really want to see evidenced. Previously my evidence only surrounded university work and therefore being able to showcase these skills in a professional landscape that also equated to full time working really helped me prove that I am more than capable working independently for 40+ hours a week. (A 4-week internship working on one projects typically requires around 20 hours of commitment a week)
The Santander funding helped allow me to gain such incredible experience as otherwise I would not have even known about this internship let alone have been in the position to take part. This would have meant that the new job role that I have just been successful in would not have happened. My experience creating a Marketing Strategy for the Fijian Ministry of Economy really helps substantiate the skills that I have developed over my 3 years at university and demonstrate my abilities to employers. Moreover, I now have a great amount of knowledge not only about Fiji but how the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals are implemented in policy making and how policy affect countries and individuals.