Sophie Smithson
Graduate of BSc Biochemistry (with Alex Althen, colleague), worked as Project Management intern with Cello Health (iS Health Group)
Sophie, now a full-time staff, was part of the project management team which exposed her to client communication processes, medical and scientific writing, stakeholder meetings and teleconferences, and was involved in medical communications projects with a variety of pharma companies and therapy areas, with Cello Health, a Medical Communications agency. iS Health has hosted 8 internships for the last 4 WGI programmes.
Quote from Sophie “I have gained a great deal of confidence in communicating - especially delivering presentations. I have gained experience in a number of different business areas e.g. finance, admin etc in addition to scientific skills and have learnt a huge amount about the medical communications and pharma industry in general having been involved in it first-hand.”
Outcome & Skills gained: “I have contributed to the successful facilitation of a number of advisory boards, and also written a proposal for a webinar which subsequently led to new business for the company.”
Cynthia Uthayakumar
Graduate of BSc of Biomedical Science (with Sukhy Nandra, Scientist -right), worked as Formulation Research Assistant with Medherant
Cynthia worked on a real life project that provided an insight into how drug candidates are selected for development, researched and screened a range of drugs with potential for transdermal delivery and reported on the findings for Medherant’s new product development strategy. The internship was extended after the completion of WGI. Last year was the first time that Medherant hosted a WGI internship.
Quote from Cynthia: “I developed my research skills and use of initiative. I have recognised that I enjoy working in an office setting, but would prefer a role requiring more communication with other staff and team work.”
Employer Feedback: “An excellent candidate”
Alison Opeloyeru
Graduate of LLB Law (with Amali de Alwis, CEO – left; and Charlotte Fereday, Programmes Manager – right), worked as Programmes Associate with Code First Girls (2x WGI Host Employer)
Alison was involved in the running of courses including recruitment and training of instructors and course ambassadors, client/ partner management, social media marketing, updating of website and organisation of events with Code First Girls, a social enterprise which encourages women to pursue a career in tech and entrepreneurship. The internship was extended after the completion of WGI. Code First Girls have hosted 2 internships over the last 2 WGI programmes.
Quote from Alison: “The WGI programme exceeded my expectations completely. Coming out of University without a plan, I felt really defeated but with the constant emails, (thank you for sending me numerous emails!!!). they encouraged me to apply and do something. The number of internships that were available to apply for were amazing. I had never heard of some of the companies and job roles before and now I have a job that I absolutely love and have learnt so many new skills that I can use in every job I have hereafter.”
Outcome & Skills gained: “I ran 32 coding courses nationwide. By the end of the internship I was the one in charge of all the courses and was the one delegating tasks. I was the one my colleagues and even CEO would come to for advice and information on the courses we run. I’m currently being put forward for a management job in the organisation for a new project they are starting.
Working in a start-up really pushes you to learn a lot of new skills quickly. I am now confident to speak to clients ranging from other start-ups to big corporates. I was so shy, I couldn't network, was scared to talk to anyone with authority and now I can network without a worry, I can speak to clients, I know how to send professional emails and act in a profession setting.”
Employer Feedback: “Alison has been a fantastic support to the team, and we were so pleased with her work that we have extended her contract for another 6 months. Alison helped us during a very busy time as we kicked off 32 courses across the UK & Ireland with approximately 900 students. She worked with multiple stakeholders to ensure our community courses ran effectively, working with University contacts, students and volunteer instructors and ambassadors”
Laura Mason
Graduate graduate of BA Theatre and Performance Studies (with Stuart Burns, Head of Programmes), worked as Programme Coordinator with Orchestras for All (OFA)
Laura assisted in the daily running of the charity and supported the programme planning and delivery of Orchestras for All, which challenges disadvantage through music and gives 11-18 year olds the life-changing experience of making music together. The internship was extended after the completion of WGI. Orchestras for All has hosted 2 internships for the last 2 WGI programmes.
Quote from Laura: “My Warwick Graduate Internship has enabled me to gain real-world experience and develop skills in order to thrive in an arts organisation. Before this internship, I struggled to get a job in this competitive industry, feeling that I didn't have enough experience to be taken seriously. I feel much more confident when applying for jobs that I have the right experience and can fulfil the person specification. I have enjoyed my three-month internship and worked with incredibly supportive co-workers who have helped me develop as a young professional.”
Outcome & Skills gained: “I helped successfully organise events for the charity, including a fundraising event, three regional schools events and one residential trip for young musicians. I sourced a new contact for the organisation, initially contacting them by email and arranging a face-to-face meeting. This resulted in a new partnership with the charity and other organisation. I also taught colleagues how to use Facebook Live, which was then used to live-stream all events the charity organised.
I developed a number of new skills during my internship. I furthered my knowledge of social media and built on my creative skills by creating new content for the charity's social media sites. Their Facebook page reached almost 1000 people, whilst their Twitter had over 1500 followers. I learnt how to write press releases and how to source new press contacts.
I learnt how to use a Mac laptop, and furthered my knowledge of Microsoft programmes, including Excel. In addition to this, I also learnt how to update and maintain an online database for the company.
Not only did I work in a team, but I also had to work independently and built on communication skills, as my employer started working remotely in Australia half-way through my internship. I built on my communication skills, and used email/Skype to communicate with someone on the other side of the world in a different time zone. This enabled me to prioritise my workload, as there was only a three-hour time-slot that we were working at the same time.
I definitely became more confident communicating with people, especially via email and over the phone. I could maintain professional whilst dealing with queries and complaints, and always tried to come to a solution.
Working with young people developed different communication skills to working with adults, and I learnt to adapt my working style for their different needs. ”
Employer Feedback: “Hosting a fully funded intern position supported our small team to deliver a large number of events, as well as providing crucial administrative support. The outcome of hiring Laura was three months of high quality support for our programme delivery team - and an extension of her placement with us for an additional month to support on further upcoming events.”
Lewis Carter
Graduate of BSc Economics (with colleagues), worked as Graduate Implementation Manager with i-nexus
Now permanent staff, Lewis was responsible for installing and configuring Business Execution Software for clients, problem solving with design solutions according to customer requirements and managing small projects which included handling new requirements from existing customer base of i-nexus, a Strategy Execution Software for Global 5000 scale organisations. i-nexus has hosted 3 internships over 3 WGI programmes.
Quote from Lewis: “I have greatly improved my technical computer skills as well as effective relationship management with clients. My new technical skills allowed me to consider Technology Consulting and Software as potential industries to work within in addition to the Management and Strategy Consulting that I had focused on previously.”
Outcome & Skills gained: “I have been personally working with clients since very early on in the internship. Towards the latter end of the programme I travelled with work to Helsinki to visit a client on-site.”
Employer Feedback: “Lewis has been an excellent addition to the team. Bright, committed, and quick to learn. The internship has resulted in Lewis being hired on a permanent basis into a graduate implementation manager role with us, immediately following on from his internship.”