Our student stories
Why I recommend RIS - read Laura Elphick's journey from intern to employee!
“My confidence has grown a lot, I definitely know now that I want to work in the voluntary sector after I graduate. I also now have experience of working in an office setting and carrying out my own research and writing a report”. – Politics and IR student
“Whilst being a little uncertain over where I wanted to take my career after university, my internship has helped me to settle on Archives because I have had such a fantastic time. Not only this, but I feel it will help me in working towards my final year and dissertation. It has helped me to develop a professional attitude, and I can take the skills I have learnt here into next year and my future career”. – History student
“The internship scheme is one of the reasons I came to Reading”. – Human Geography student
“I feel that this internship has offered me skills and knowledge into the marketing field which has always been of interest to me. I would know feel comfortable applying for marketing jobs post University having gained some experience and idea of what the marketing field involves”. – Theatre student
Read "How the Reading Internship Scheme helped improve my employability" by Charlotte Abraham – BA Art and Psychology student
"It gave me new information and ways of approaching researching work experience and how to formally and correctly get into contact with possible companies I would want to work for."- UoR Student on Finding remote internships and work experience. Check out our events throughout the year for our sessions on internships.
What students say about remote RIS internships
Annabelle Esslemont-Edwards
Data Conversion Consultant for Tax Automation Ltd.
My employer has been absolutely wonderful. Having initially begun the internship whilst still at University, it was definitely nice to have been able to have met them in person, however I was surprised at how efficiently I was able to conduct my internship remotely, with the support being excellent. I would recommend the remote internship to students who have the ability to be accountable to themselves and those who can keep a cool head. Showing yourself that you have the discipline to work can be very rewarding! The most notable advancement must be my independence. From doing my internship in my own space, you have to persevere and be patient with yourself, as you take a little longer to work at each task; as opposed to walking a few metres in an office to ask a colleague. This is extremely rewarding, and for that alone I am a huge advocate of the remote internship scheme.
Ben Caddy
Community Engagement Intern for The Conservation Volunteers – Berkshire
My friendly and helpful colleagues always made my internship work a pleasure, and I really enjoyed learning some new skills while actively contributing to environmentally sustainable solutions. I’ve been very satisfied and grateful for the opportunity to work from home due to the untimely coronavirus pandemic. My employers and colleagues have remained in close contact with me through Teams video calls and group chats, and that has ensured I am able to contribute to the workforce effectively by directly communicating with everyone despite the physical distance. It’s taught me new skills in terms of desktop-based work, such as managing social media and working on GIS mapping projects on my work laptop. Despite circumstances which are far from ideal, I’ve been able to work remotely and still enjoy my internship in new ways, and I am confident my new skills of working from home will be helpful to me in future jobs. I’d highly and honestly recommend an internship experience to any students considering one, including remote internships. I never expected to be doing remote internship work, but I’m very grateful for the experience, and in a changing world where working from home becomes more common, I’m so glad I have had this experience.
Alex Winfield
Digital Marketing Intern for Real Time
One aspect of working remotely which I believe other students can benefit from is the independence which working remotely offers. With face-to-face communication being infrequent, working remotely offers valuable skills such as managing your time effectively. This is especially important as you will be juggling your studies as well your internship, so I found it refreshing to complete small tasks for my internship when taking a break from my university work. Doing this meant that I was remaining productive, but changing my focus every couple of hours or so to stay engaged. Overall, working remotely can be a really enjoyable and stress-free experience if you set yourself short-term goals and deadlines. When first applying to do my internship, my biggest worry was that my university studies would suffer as a result of taking on a huge commitment such as an internship. However, my top tip to students wanting to apply to an internship through Reading’s internship scheme who may feel conflicted by similar thoughts, is ensuring that you dedicate equal amounts of time to your studies as well as your internship, with the aim to get as much out of your internship as you can. It will all pay off in the end!