From 2019-2020 I was a Graduate Life Sciences Technician Intern at the University of Lincoln. This meant that I was involved in Life Sciences practical sessions from undergraduate to postgraduate in a technical role, but also undertook extra development as part of the internship in the form of the Graduate Lincoln Award. Internships are usually used to gain experience in a certain area, or to get a foot in the door at a company. At Lincoln, there were numerous different internships available, from HR to animal technician to library work.
During my internship, as well as my day to day role, I attended a range of workshops from CV building, teamwork and using Linked In. Personally, these varied in usefulness, as there were only 2 out of the 25 interns in science roles, so the sessions were not as directed towards our future career goals. I also had to complete a reflective portfolio, where I spoke about challenges I’d faced in my role, the benefit of my work to the University, and gathered impact statements from other members of staff. This helped when writing applications as I could relate skills back to work that I had done. I also created this website as part of my internship, which I transformed into my techingonscience page once the Graduate Lincoln Award was complete.
There are several pros and cons to carrying out an internship, and the role is definitely something to be taken advantage of if you’re able to attend different development and training opportunities. I was also fortunate to be paid for my role, but I’m aware in other countries this is not always the case!
Pros:
✨ You learn lots of new skills, personally I was involved with things I'd not experienced before! For example, my degree was in Biomedical Sciences, but in my internship I assisted in the prep for several ecology practicals. I also worked an open day, and it was really great to speak to prospect students about my experiences at Lincoln
✨ Usually different every day, with variety in your work and your team. This can completely depend on your role though
✨ Meet lots of different members of the organisation, though this can depend on where your internship is
✨ Fully paid job, which could lead to a position in the company
✨ Lots of extra opportunities like workshops and presentations that help with skills building and CV enhancement
Cons:
🚫 Usually not the best paid
🚫 Normally short term/temporary contract. This didn’t help with anxiety with finding a job after, and several people left before the end of the internship to start full time work
🚫 I found that I had lots of workshops that weren't helpful that took time away from my actual role
When deciding if you want to do an internship, there’s lots of different things to consider. For example, location, finances and role. It’s really important to know what YOU want to get out of the internship, and what is important to you. I’d advise to look into the company that you’re applying to, to make sure they are right for you and can provide you with the experience you want. Also, speaking to past interns is a really good way to get an idea into how the company treats interns. I wanted some more experience and having a 1 year role would allow me to gain experience and figure out what I wanted to do career-wise further down the line.
With my internship, I found out about the internship role through the technicians in the lab when I was demonstrating as a masters student I applied on the University website with an application that included work experience and skills sections. I was then invited to interview which consisted of a lab test, and a panel interview, but other interns in different roles had different kinds of interviews, such as presentations.
There’s lots of different ways to get an internship, for example:
✨ The first place I would recommend looking for an Internship is at your University. At Lincoln we had 25 internships ranging from HR, animal technicians and sports admin!
✨ There's also lots of websites for finding Internships, including: Milkround, Target Jobs, e4s, Student Job, Rate My Placement and LinkedIn. Also check the social media accounts and websites of the companies you'd like to work for to see if they have any positions
✨ Job fairs, recruitment agencies and your university's careers services are also good places to look for internships, and to get advice on applying
✨ Having an internet search for popular schemes and hiring companies will also point you in the right direction!
If you’re wanting to approach a company to query if they have an internships available, there are several ways to do this. Firstly, LinkedIn is really good for searching for opportunities, so I’d really recommend making a profile, connecting with workers at the companies that you’re interested in, and searching for opportunities from them. Also, adding your experience and keeping your profile active gives prospect employers an idea into what you’re like and if you’d work well at their company. Likewise, Twitter is really good for networking and opportunities, I have a professional/science Twitter which I use for science communication and following different people in STEM, and see lots of opportunities advertised!
If you’re wanting to contact a specific company for positions, an email is a good way to get your information across. Make sure you know who you are emailing and include their name when addressing the email, and have good professional email etiquette throughout. Have “Internships” in the RE line, send from and email address which is professional, and sign off with your full name and credentials. Attach your CV, and in the email state who you are (i.e a final year BSc student at…), and what you are looking for. In the email content say why you like the company, why you think you’d be a good fit at the company, and what skills you would bring. If you have a professional website or LinkedIn, add those url’s into the email too. If the company doesn’t have any positions available, they may keep your CV on file for later, so make sure it is up to date and that you sell yourself!
Internships are a really good way to add experience, and making sure that the company will treat you properly is vital. If anyone has any questions about internships, feel free to contact me!