By Emma Marsden
Tell us a little about yourself…
My name is Emma and in 2022 I graduated from the School of Economics at UEA with a first-class degree in Economics and Finance BSc. My 3 years at UEA were the best time of my life and they helped to secure me an amazing role as a Finance Graduate for Nestle UK. During university I was active in many societies, mostly Ballet, Economics and Finance & Investment. I was the treasurer and then president on the Finance & Investment Society in my 2nd and 3rd years. Getting involved in committee of any society is a great thing to do and this really enhanced my time at UEA. I completed two internships, one with Nestle in the summer after 2nd year and one with the ECO Employability Team in 3rd year. These were key opportunities that really made my experience at university special and unique.
Why did you apply for an internship?
I applied for a summer internship because I thought it was a great way to gain work experience without giving up a whole year to do a placement. At university we potentially get the longest summer holidays of our lives and I wanted to make the best use of this time. I applied for an internship within the economics school for similar reasons. It’s a great way to gain essential skills whilst not giving up a large amount of time. It can be balanced alongside studies and social life without affecting either.
What did the application process involve?
The application process for Nestle was as follows. Initially I had to fill in an application form with basic details such as education history, submit a CV and write a cover letter. Once I passed this stage, I had to complete several psychometric tests online. These involved using mathematics, English and interpersonal skills to assess your suitability for the role you are applying for. They were daunting but practice as much as you can, careers central have some great online resources which you should have a go at before doing the real thing.
Next up: video interview. This involved you answering pre-set questions in front of your camera, under a time limit. You had 2 minutes to read the question, jot down notes and prepare an answer. Then you had 5 minutes to answer the question. This sounds scary and does not seem like a lot of time but if you go prepared it will be fine. Beforehand jot down your ambitions, why you want to work for the company and why you would be a good addition (your strengths) as these were the main questions asked. If you are proactive and let your passion come across it will help you speak more confidently and come across more knowledgeable.
The final stage was an assessment centre day, this involved the top 8 candidates for the role completing a strengths-based interview and a presentation. For a strength- based interview I would recommend using the CARL technique to answer questions. Context, Action, Result and Learning. Think of a situation where you used one of your strengths, say what you did in that scenario, what the outcome was and what you took from that experience. Details of the presentation topic were released 24 hours before the day began, therefore keep it short and simple.
The application process for the ECO internship was a much simpler version of this that used the initial application form and then a series of live online interviews.
Tell us about the organisation and your role within it for your internship.
Nestle is a huge multinational company, established in 1866, with over 2000 brands in 186 countries. Their purpose is to unlock the power of food to enhance quality of life for everyone, today and for generations to come. Their core business principals I feel align well with my own; they reflect the basic ideas of fairness, honesty and a concern for individuals and families, communities and the planet.
My main task during my experience was to streamline the royalty’s calculation process (how much Nestlé UK pays to Nestlé SA for branding). This developed my excel skills and allowed me to improve my professional communication as I worked with other teams such as accounts, tax, and IT services. This was completed with help from my line manager, who I had nearly daily meetings with. We would discuss progress, what other challenges I could take on and who else in the team I could speak with. The rest of my time was spent learning as much as possible through assisting other team members with their work. The best part was being given real responsibility that affected the business and being able to leave behind work which is still being used even though my internship has finished.
My internship with ECO Employability Team contained different tasks but enabled me to develop broadly the same skills and apply them to a work environment. Here I analysed data about module guest speakers, updated the student and staff employability handbooks and worked on the economics employability website to name just a few activities.
What did you learn from your internship and what will you use going forward?
My internships both taught me a lot of basic life skills that are applicable to any situation. Simple things such as time management, organisation and logical thinking were key and something which I will continue to apply techniques from going forwards. Also, I learnt what it was like to work with people of different nationalities, who spoke different languages of all different ages, which is something I hadn’t had the chance to do fully before. This was wonderful because I gained an appreciation for different cultures and lifestyles different from my own. On a more technical level I greatly improved my Microsoft Office knowledge and got to use specialist software like Globe, Canva and Sage. From these experiences I have become more open-minded, well-rounded and curious. I was always encouraged to ask questions and I now believe this is one of the best ways to learn so it is something I will continue to do across all aspects of my life. I’ve discovered that learning doesn’t always have to be academic, so I will strive to continue to learn now that I have left academia.
How do you think studying economics at UEA helped you within your internship?
I definitely think studying economics at UEA made me an instantly attractive candidate to employers because the university and school both have a fantastic reputation. I think taking economics in any form gives you important skills that employers look for such as; critical thinking, problem solving, numerical work, communication, teamworking and organisation. It was amazing to see how what I had been taught in lectures could be directly or indirectly applied to my work and it was great to see that what we were taught was actually useful and not just theoretical.
Do you think completing an internship helped with your final year of study?
Being 100% virtual for both internships made it tricky but I feel it prepared me for virtual working and it enhanced my ability to make the most of ‘hybrid learning’ in my 3rd year at university. It taught me how to motivate myself and stay focused for longer periods of time, which is vital for 3rd year as you have less timetabled hours generally. Doing this internship improved my grades at university and prepared me for the real world of work. It also resulted in me securing my graduate role!
What advice would you offer to current students who are considering applying for an internship?
My advice? Grab every opportunity you can. Say yes to as many chances as possible and don’t give up. Securing an internship isn’t easy and the application process takes a long time but it’s worth every hour. The experience you gain is invaluable, the people you can meet are incredible and it’s astonishing how satisfying it is to see your hard work pay off.
What advice would you give for final year studies and graduate job hunting?
Talk about your experience! If you are lucky enough to have completed an internship of any kind discuss it in future application processes. Articulate the skills and learnings from your time working, not just the tasks you did, how you can transfer those skills into the workplace you are applying for.
Only apply for jobs you actually want. There’s no point wasting your time on something you’ll dislike doing, it’ll also make for a bad application. Go for jobs that interest you or that you’re passionate about and you’re much more likely to put in a better application and secure the role. Also, consider further study, if you’ve enjoyed your time at university find ways to continue learning.
Best of luck!