Ruth was secured by Tim Youngman, head of digital marketing at Archant, to work within the marketing section of the regional digital development team. During her 10 week placement Ruth was responsible for researching potential business opportunities and writing up recommendations within reports. In order to produce these she had to research the size of the market and future potential, identifying competition, describing the unique position required to differentiate from the competition, identifying revenue and profit potential, and proposing routes to entry. In addition to this, Ruth had the opportunity to produce and edit newsletters and create a brochure for homes24.

Tim said, “in a short space of time working with us Ruth has analysed data on new market opportunities and provided thought provoking reports and business plans for new areas of opportunities for Archant. She has also worked on creative marketing campaigns, an area she clearly enjoys and wants to develop. Her enthusiasm, attention to detail and quality of her output has led us to offer Ruth a full time role within Archant.”

Ruth commented, “my placement at Archant has given me a real insight into the workings of a marketing

environment. It has been really exciting to see an advertising campaign go from raw ideas to being published in the paper.

Having moved from a non-graduate job to this internship it has helped me realise how useful my degree actually is. Although Society, Culture and Media is not directly linked to Marketing, it has provided me with the essential skills that I have been using at Archant to research and write reports. I feel so lucky to have been offered this opportunity, and would never have found out about it if I hadn’t signed up to Evolve.”

With the help of Project Evolve’s CV and interview guidance service, Ruth was able to create and submit a strong application relevant to the role in order to compete against other recent graduates in a similar situation to her. She said “Although I never dreamt of becoming the successful applicant I made an appointment at the UEA Careers Centre for help writing my CV and applied regardless, mostly for the practise and interview experience. My advice to other graduates would be to try, even if you don’t think you’ll be successful, because you might be and it can’t hurt.”

Ruth Barton a University of East Anglia ‘Society, Culture and Media’ graduate secured a marketing placement with Archant, the major newspaper group in the region.

Graduate Ruth becomes a full-time asset to Archant as a result of the intern programme

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Graduate Internship Programme

Andrew is a great example of the fact that graduates should not be typecast by their field of study as a degree provides transferable skills. Andrew himself has certainly not allowed himself to be pigeonholed,“As a history and politics graduate I have no desire to be a politician whatsoever and I do not wish to study history professionally!”

Following Andrew’s decision to opt out of this career path, he was put in touch with Project Evolve and the Internship Programme. They helped to review his options and tailor his subsequent application to the Norfolk PCT. Following his successful interview, Andrew commenced his placement which under usual

practice would normally require an MA at entry level.

His role was primarily to collect data that would enable him to ultimately produce a report relating to the appropriate timing for assessment of NHS Continuing Healthcare (or fully funded nursing care).

However, as a History and Politics graduate, Andrew was not overly familiar with the content of the task that he had undertaken. Andrew commented, “it introduced me to a world that I knew very little about and posed challenges I never anticipated, from learning to network and navigate through the public sector right down to familiarising myself

with the ‘language’ of healthcare, drawn from policy at several levels from government to Strategic Health Authorities.”

“I would say of all the positive aspects of the program, I believe my placement has helped me the most in focusing my thoughts regarding my future. It has given me substance and experience, so that I can start to consider ‘what I want to do?’ more easily.”

Following completion on his placement, Andrew has gone on to secure full time employment.

Recent History and Politics graduate Andrew Magem acquired his graduate intern placement at Norfolk Primary Care Trust. Here, Andrew spent ten weeks conducting an independent research project within an NHS department.

Andrew utilises his transferable skills

Will also designed various reports within Sage accounting software designed to improve efficiency of the business such as the monthly beer duty return, which went from being a thirty minute process to the click of a button.

Will was versatile in his role and even helped out in the shop during the incredibly busy Christmas period, and as a result he quickly succeeded in building strong relations with his employer. Due to a restructuring of the business Will was required to take on the day to day running of the brewery whilst the owner was out of the country, illustrating the trust and ultimate responsibility placed in him.

One of Will’s qualities that most impressed Brendan Moore, owner of Iceni Brewery, was his ease and ability to work alongside his staff

to implement the new accounting system, which at first was met with resistance and doubt. Brendan commented, “it was important that Will could win over the staff at Iceni to the new systems and he was always willing to work alongside the staff to learn how they currently worked and to work with them to gain improvements.

As a result of Will’s hard work we are now using real time record keeping and our Sage account system is always up to date and is now a maximum benefit to the business. Our data is now secure and is backed up in a safe way.

It has been a real pleasure to work with Will and we all enjoyed his time with us. For me he has given me control of my business and I now enjoy coming to work again as we

now have all the control we need.”

Will commented on his internship experience “working at the Iceni Brewery through the internship programme was great. I got paid to learn new skills and strengthen old ones, and made some excellent contacts throughout Norfolk and East Anglia. I thoroughly recommend other recent graduates give the programme a go and do not give up. There are decent jobs in Norfolk, but, like the best Iceni beers, you need to seek them out and be prepared for them.”

Since completing his internship, Will has secured full-time relevant employment with an internet marketing company in Norwich.

University of East Anglia graduate Will Kelly secured a 10 week internship with Iceni Brewery situated on the edge of Thetford Forest in the Breaklands area of Norfolk. Will was tasked with upgrading and improving the efficiency of the accounting system and began by transferring the customer and supplier details from one system to another. He implemented a unique, but intuitive product coding system and inputted the opening stock figures to ensure accurate reporting.

Graduate improves control systems at local brewery

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During his research project Jack became aware of the dynamic nature of the energy industry. He found that contrary to the belief that separate energy sectors operate in isolation, most infact share resources, skills and knowledge. Sectors such as oil, gas and offshore wind, often have common goals, face the same barriers and must meet similar technical requirements. Therefore companies are becoming increasingly willing to diversify across these sectors, whilst supply chain companies operate to serve multiple ones.

In line with the rise of burgeoning new industries such as carbon capture and storage, underground coal gasification and offshore gas storage, Jack found qualified professional workforce a common requirement. In fact, several energy

sectors currently require more technical recruits, whilst the nuclear, oil and gas industries are seeking to balance an ageing male-dominated workforce. Jack suggested that an option to solve these industry wide issues could be a regional apprenticeship scheme or university sponsorship programme, supported by the main energy sectors. This would secure a talented future workforce and ensure the regions energy sector continues to grow.

Jack commented, “the energy sector could arguably be the defining industry of our generation. At a time when the world faces many challenges the sector is best placed to provide many of the solutions. Whether the issue is climate change, the securing of dependable energy sources or the supply of clean and affordable heat and electricity to

industry and homes, the industry is best able to solve the problems and lead the way.

It is for these reasons that I intend to build upon the experience the internship has given me and embark on a career in the energy sector, working in operations and engineering. In September I will be joining an International Energy Company, which will undoubtedly provide extensive opportunities and challenges in a profession that makes a difference.”

For 12 weeks recent graduate Jack Golding conducted research into the growth of the energy sector in the East of England for OPITO – The Oil and Gas Academy. As a result of his findings it became clear that there is huge potential for the energy industry to grow and prosper in the East of England.

Jack Golding makes an impact in the energy sector

Current internship opportunities can be found atwww.uea.ac .uk /nbs / in te rnFor further information, please contact the internship team on 01603 591574 or email evolveinternship@uea.ac.uk

Fresh graduate talent in the agricultural sector

Graduate thrives in local brewing industryBrendan Moore the chairman of East Anglian Brewers Cooperative approached Project Evolve’s internship team with an exciting opportunity for a recent graduate. He had a vision for the Cooperative to promote the concept of ‘East Anglian Beer’ to encourage tourism, tasting, ale trials and to raise people’s enthusiasm for local beers.

Although the project had been initiated, funding deadlines were approaching fast and Brendan didn’t have the time and resource within the organisation to turn this vision into a reality in the desired timeframe. Therefore, by taking on a graduate he was aiming to gain momentum on the project giving it the time and effort it would require. Brendan commented, “this project was important as it was bringing a large grant of funds to support the local brewing industry and local farming.”

Through the internship programme, Brendan secured history and politics graduate Louis Welcomme for a 10 week strategic business/marketing role at the Cooperative. Louis was

tasked with scoping and writing a business case based on the need for establishing a new company called ‘Barley to Beer’. The new company’s objective was to build three micro-malting visitor centres on three farms in Norfolk and Suffolk in order to promote the people, processes, ingredients and history of brewing and barley growing in East Anglia.

As ‘Barley to Beer’ had to be a sustainable project between farmers, brewers and others involved in real ale there was room for Louis to use his initiative in developing the initial objectives. In the near future ‘Barley to Beer’ will be offering training sessions, events networking and marketing advantages to those

involved in the brewing industry, from the publican to the beer retailer and of course the farms and breweries. Additionally they will be launching tasting events and friendly courses for tourists and local people that are interested in real ale.

Louis said of his internship experience, “working at the East Anglian Brewers Cooperative was a fantastic experience and provided me with some graduate level strategic marketing, administrative, financial and business experience.”

Steven Temple runs a Norfolk based company operating within the food production sector and has a real passion and proven commitment for renewable energy, which successful graduate intern James Forster shares.

In line with this eco-friendly stance, Steven was looking for an intern to provide hands on help with implementing the use of an anaerobic digester, an investment designed to increase renewable energy production. Following his successful application, James joined the Temple Cheese Farm at Wells for a 10 week internship placement.

Here, James’s responsibilities are

vast and have seen him putting his graduate learnt theory into practice, a great example of the scheme providing graduate level experience. James stated, “despite studying the theoretical principles and advantages of the Anaerobic Digester at University, it has been interesting to see it’s workings and uses first hand.”

During the recruitment process, Steven was looking for a self-motivated, enthusiastic and hands on individual with drive, and they certainly found this within James.

“It has been refreshing to have some young blood in an industry with an ageing workforce, and we have been able to involve James with a wide range of the activities we undertake on the farm.”

James has developed so well at his placement, that he has even been given the responsibility of Temple Cheeses while his boss Steven is away on holiday.

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Graduate Internship Programme

W: www.uea.ac.uk/nbs/intern T: 01603 591574 E: evolveinternship@uea.ac.uk