By Andrew Powell (BSc Economics) & Clare Purser (BSc Economics and Finance)
In this blog, I (Clare) will cover my experience of the ECO-internship last year and Andrew will detail his experience of a similar internship this year. As the ECO-internships are more research-based, it can give you an idea of what the lecturers do as researchers and may spark ideas for dissertations.
Clare’s internship
For my internship, it was all virtual, lasting 3-weeks at 25 hours per week (this is subject to change each year). The application process was short. I had to send in a cover letter with a list of my top three project choices. An application processes this short is, however, not common and was due to COVID. During my internship, I was working with another first-year student, whom I already knew. This was a pleasant surprise and made it easier for us to get onto our research tasks and communicate. Even if you do not know whom you are working with, working together on research tasks is just one way to make friends!
To provide context, the internship was on the topic of flu vaccine for care home staff, and we were sending out a survey for initial research. You may know that the project has now, as of 08/09/21, received funding to take the research even further. This is exciting to hear.
Now you have context, what did I do? I inputted ideas to the initial survey, such as adding an attention check question. I worked with Excel quite a bit, organising the preliminary data using PivotTables and PivotCharts. One of the biggest tasks that we did for this internship, which we also worked on after, has been writing a blog series on the research. This was a fantastic opportunity for the other intern and I to have our work published. The blogs allowed us to synthesis the learning from this internship, and our first-year studies such as free-riding, to the theme of flu vaccination in care home staff. Later, I completed a second blog on the flu vaccine that covered learning from second-year Microeconomics (i.e. expected utility theory).
The biggest single thing I have taken from this internship is confidence. The confidence to write these blogs, to try something different and to learn to ask better questions.
Andrew here
Hello! My ECO-internship was in my second year, so prospective ECO-internship applicants need not worry about rushing into an internship in their first year If they don’t yet feel comfortable with it! It was for 8 weeks over the summer and I worked around 14-16 hours a week. The application process was simple and easy: I sent a cover letter, ordered my three preferred projects and took part in an interview using Microsoft Teams. This, however, may not be the case for all future ECO-internship applicants.
My internship was split into two distinct halves and was overall aimed at studying gender inequality, in times of crisis, and across nations with varying Gross Domestic Product (GDP). The first month focused on the literature review. In this month I learnt far more about my project lead’s area of research and developed the ability to analyse sources of data to find relevant and reliable literature. I also learnt how to transform written analysis into more easily digestible formats. Resulting in the synthesis of graphs to show the consensus of research in the subject areas with links to bibliography references, this enabled the explanation of a broad sector of research to individuals less economically informed.
My second month was purely data-based, focusing on the creation of a data set (which would then be used by my project lead) and subsequent creation of graphs to describe that data. This entailed working through international organizations databases, notable the International Labour Organisation (ILO), to find the best source of consistent data across nations and time (e.g. minimising empirical problems such as missing data). This raw data would then be put through relevant transformations to arrive at a usable ‘clean’ state. During this process, I used software- such as Excel- to implement multiple checks for data error. To present the data trends and statistics, I then created graphs to show percentage change of recorded statistics over a 28-year period, provided comparisons to sample averages and documented the existence of outliers.
It is important to note that all ECO-internships will be different. My internship will have a different focus compared to what others may experience and the lessons I learned, with the skills gained, will also differ. The main skills I learnt were analytical: my ability to identify good sources of data and to perform empirical work has vastly improved in speed and comprehension. But, more personally, I learnt that- while your boss won’t hold your hand too much and does expect an amount of independence- that they also understand that guidance is necessary. We all need a little help sometimes and that’s fine.
Clare here again!
Now you know the application process from previous years, and you have seen our experiences. These internships are offered each year; so, when the application process does open again, why not apply?
For my internship in the second year, I wanted to have experience in the industry so that I could have a clearer picture of the career pathways that I may wish to work in. In the next internship blog, I will cover my internship experience in the industry working at Aviva. I will be joined by another student who will also be sharing their experience working in the Planning and Reporting team at Nestlé. Keep your eyes peeled for the final blog; it is going to be a good one!
Banenr Image by Myriam Jessier on Unsplash
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