Enternships Blog
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Enternships Case Study: A Developer's StoryPosted on Wednesday 21 December 2011 at 09:49AM by trrpaipai |
Rosie Harvey finished her postgraduate studies in Computer Science last year and, after a short break, she started looking for work to get some real-world experience. Soon enough she came across Enternships which helped her find something better than the usual internship: an enternship.
I used lots of different websites to try and find something as there seemed to be a reasonable number of opportunities available without having to investigate recruitment agencies. I was told about Enternships by a friend as a good place to look, especially for jobs with tech startups. Generally the problems I faced when finding jobs to apply for was in the experience and expertise required. The majority of the Enternships I found, whether paid, unpaid, full-time, part-time, or somewhere in between, were very willing to concentrate on potential and willingness to learn rather than standard experience which was very reassuring to see. Becoming an intern seemed like an ideal way to get some really good experience that I could then use to get a permanent job.
"Becoming an intern seemed like an ideal way to get some really good experience."
When applying for jobs I make sure my CV is up to date. Then for each job I tweak it to make sure it's very easy to see that I meet as many of the criteria as possible, even if it's just mentioning specific programming languages that are in the job description (as long as I've actually had experience with them!). For interviews some good examples to think of are how you have dealt with bugs in code, to see how you solve problems, and something you have built and the steps you took in making it show how you approach it. I started an Enternship at Xylyx Ltd (www.xylyx.com) at the start of September as a Developer intern. Xylyx is a startup that deals with online payments, as well as things like digital ticketing. So far I have created websites using WordPress, edited code and written a web-based application with Java and JSP. I've really been enjoying my time there and my brain is completely filled with all the learning.
Working in a small company means we can easily talk, and bounce ideas off each other, and provide a different perspective on all the various things going on.
It's really great working for a small company because I can be incredibly useful and have actual responsibility; it certainly fully dispels the notion of an intern making the tea and doing photocopying and not much else. Some marketing interns started at the same time as me, and my boss was keen to ensure we communicated and interacted as that is often a difficulty between departments in a company, especially technical. It being a small company means we can easily talk, and bounce ideas off each other, and provide a different perspective on all the various things going on. It has also given me much more of an appreciation of what's required for marketing and sales which feeds back into being able to make the technical side better and more in tune with the company's thinking and approach.
My company has made a real effort to help us develop and improve in a very relaxed and friendly atmosphere.
There is a great deal of debate over unpaid interns currently but I can definitely say that I have benefited from my time so far (and it isn't over yet). My company has made a real effort to help us develop and improve in a very relaxed and friendly atmosphere. We can easily approach my boss with business ideas if we feel the urge; as we come from different backgrounds, our approaches and ideas can provide new and interesting avenues for discussion.
One of the major reasons to become an intern is to get a good reference and this will be much more certain and glowing if you are reliable.
We have had a few interns come and go while I've been working for Xylyx and some of the main things I have noticed is how bad people can be at communicating. If you can't make it in one day, or you're going to be late, or something is stopping you from completing an assignment, it is so much easier to mention it straight away. Don't feel bad about it, don't forget until it's too late. One of the major reasons to become an intern is to get a good reference and this will be much more certain and glowing if you are reliable. I have found that with the relaxed approach to interns it doesn't matter if you miss a day or two, or you have some problems, as long as you're honest about it and let people know. It makes everyone's lives so much easier. Make sure you get a friend or a parent or someone to check your spelling and grammar as well!
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Enternships Case Study: A Financial StoryPosted on Monday 12 December 2011 at 12:08PM by trrpaipai |
Enock Koola is a former intern at Amoo Venture Capital Advisory, a boutique firm supporting pre- and post-VC technology startups with strategic direction and business development. He has taken the time to answer a few questions, revealing how his enternship lead him to be offered a full-time position in a funky financial firm.
How did you come across Enternships?
I was referred on to the website by a friend. He had used it and thought it would be a good tool to use in search of a summer internship.
What made you decide to do an internship?
I was interested in VC/PE and felt an internship will provide me with insight on how either VC/PE work and whether it was a perfect suit for me.
What are the challenges you’re facing when looking for an internship? What’s the most difficult part?
The most challenging issue is finding the right internship to apply for. There aren’t many internship programs for working in the PE/VC sector.
How did you go about the application? How do you usually prepare your job applications?
I made sure I had done my homework. I researched and studied the company to know more about the role and the company. I kept up with the latest global financial news. I made a specific CV and Cover letter to the companies I was applying to in order show my understanding of their businesses.
What do you think is the most important part in a job application? What helped you get the internship you applied for?
In my opinion, making yourself aware of the business and role you are applying for and whether it suits you is a very important key step in getting the job. I got the job because I researched the company and the position and I was very passionate about VC which I think came across in the interview.
What are the top 3 things you’re looking for on an employer’s profile/internship listing?/Why did you choose to intern at Amoo?
- Track Record
- Early responsibilities
- Long term goals
I chose to intern at Amoo VC Advisory as I believed it was a great opportunity to learn more about VC, opportunity to work on real live projects and because the company was small, I believed I would get more responsibility and possibly even manage my own project. In addition after my interview and meeting the director and associate, I liked the atmosphere and the long term plans for the company.
What was your role there? What kind of projects did you work on?
I applied for the sales & research analyst role; this involved working on live projects. Some of my key tasks included analysing business plans, building financial models for start-ups and supporting entrepreneurs in their fund raising process. Furthermore I attended several tech events a week and this provided me the opportunity to interact and meet very inspiring entrepreneurs.
Has the enternship helped you get closer to your career goals? If so, how?
My career goal is to one-day start my own fund with an African focus. The internship allowed me to work with smart, creative and innovate people, gave me the opportunity to gain a better understanding of VC and how they work. I enjoyed working in the VC environment and supporting clients through their different fund raising round. The internship ignited my entrepreneurship spirit and has fuelled my desire to start my own firm.
Was the internship worth it, would you do it all over again if you could go back in time or is there something you would change?
The entire experience was a blessing and I am grateful for that opportunity as I learnt valuable transferable skills. I would definitely do it all over again and again.
What would be your best piece of advice to give other students/graduates looking for internships?
Internships are good as they give you an insight and the opportunity to realise, adjust, and validate your career goals. Sometimes we are not sure what exactly we want to do and doing an internship allows you to see whether the role suits you and if it is the right lifestyle for you. Moreover employers nowadays look for graduates with experience so doing an internship gives you a competitive advantage over the other graduates.
What do you think about the work Enternships is doing in helping students finding internships?
I think it is great what Enternships is trying to do; it allows students to discover their entrepreneurship spirit working with small and dynamic businesses. Especially nowadays where unemployment is at an all-time high, we need such platforms like Enternships to help students get internships.
What is your piece of advice for us at Enternships? Is there anything we could improve on to help candidates in their internship seeking?
The website is great but I think the site could do with a better interface. Also there weren’t as many financial roles when I was applying. It will be good if Enternships could get even more mid-cap companies to recruit through their website.
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Enternships Diary: A Spaces StoryPosted on Thursday 24 November 2011 at 14:31PM by trrpaipai |
Jack Childs has found his dream Enternship and now he is here to give us some insights into the world of a student on the hunt for valuable work experience. He is studying Economics at the University of Nottingham, where he is a campus ambassador for three companies, Sponsorship and Marketing Editor of the Nottingham Economic Review, team leader of Young Ambassadors for Microfinance and part of an investment society's fund team. His future plans consist of pursuing a career in finance, consultancy or executive management and to learn French!
What I wanted and how I went for it
Enternships came to my attention through a conversation with a family member who was raving about the site. With the importance of internships in securing graduate jobs increasing rapidly, and most typical internships targeting students in their penultimate year Enternships seemed a great way to gain some experience a bit earlier than most! The application process was made very simple by Enternships
I signed up and started looking straight away; soon enough I spotted an opportunity with Spaces Property Group. This company, ran by an ex city trader, acts as a corporate Landlord. With previous experience in property (as a Lettings Agent) I thought this would allow me to use my experience in a different environment. The application process was made very simple by Enternships - all that was required was my CV and a short cover letter. I applied. A few days later I was invited for an interview where I would have two sessions and deliver a presentation on a topic of my choice. Enternships seems a great way to gain some experience a bit earlier than most. Let me give you a quick overview of the Spaces at this point. Spaces purchase or lease ex authority properties and let them out on a room by room basis. Tenants receive an all-inclusive package, so no bills no nothing - hassle free living! The real selling point with their properties is that they are in excellent zone one locations therefore they allow people to live in prime locations but at a fraction of the cost. The profit comes two-fold: firstly - ex authority properties are cheap, and two - renting room by room always yields a higher rental income than renting a whole property - this is why so many central houses are for students!
The dreaded interview
After careful research of the company I headed off to London and a rather swanky bar for my interview. There was certainly a very entrepreneurial slant to the questions so being enthusiastic about startups and small businesses was crucial. One interview down, one to go (and a rather pressing train deadline to meet!). My next interview would be with the boss. This focused mainly on the business (as opposed to competencies) and my ideas on how the business could expand and issues it faced. The interview took a rather feisty turn when my opinion on a particular topic (how compatible the business model would be outside London) was drastically different to that of the interviewer’s. Although this could have counted against me I was subsequently informed that this critical take on ideas showed an enthusiasm and genuine interest in the business and certainly helped me secure the internship. Being enthusiastic about startups and small businesses is crucial. Finally - my presentation. As my interview was in the middle of my exams I decided to do it on a topic I was revising - that way I could ensure my understanding of the topic and the viewers would learn something, perhaps! The development of money was the topic, from gold coins to paper currency. A well done and even some questions on certain details of my money presentation left me feeling my chances were good but I wasn’t sure on the competition.
Evrika! On the job.
A couple of days later I got a call to say I had been selected, excellent! A few weeks later I was off to London with a suit and some shirts. Now for the formal stuff...
On the first morning, I was asked to research rival companies and produce a report comparing Spaces’ services with the competition. Initially this task appeared to amount to undertaking a set of (many) largely routine tasks. However, due to the specific nature of the company’s service, it was difficult to find comparable service providers and, thus, identify appropriate data to use. Now, not only did I have to carry out the basic research, but I also realised that I would have to be creative in finding ways to use the available data in a meaningful way. One strategy I adopted was to discount rivals’ prices to reflect the provision of an arguably superior service. A drive to succeed, a keenness to impress and the knowledge that the more I put into the internship the more I would get out of it, all motivated me to persist with the demands of this project. The report I finally produced received excellent feedback and key points would be used in Spaces’ capital raising proposal. The more I put into the internship the more I would get out of it. Other work I carried out included research on energy price. These were crucial to Spaces due to the all-inclusive nature of their service.
Worth it? Definitely!
This experience certainly equipped me with new skills which will hopefully help me land an internship this summer. I would recommend an enternship to anyone, nowhere else will you get into the nitty gritty of a business like you will in a small company where you may be sitting next to your boss. I can think of no other internship where a researcher would be asked to do a viewing or pick up the phone to answer inquiries. This kind of stuff only happens in a startup and it allows enterns to see the whole business.
Sign up, get looking and apply! Plus, it’s completely free!
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Enternships Diary: Charlotte Forbes on her successful internshipPosted on Tuesday 01 November 2011 at 12:14PM by trrpaipai |
We love to hear stories from students and graduates who have found their internships with us and turned them into their dream 'enternship'. This week Charlotte Forbes, currently working at acceler8.me, tells us about her journey as a graduate, intern and ultimately full-time employee at a hip London startup accelerator.
What made you decide to do an internship?
I decided to do an internship because when I left university I didn’t know exactly what I wanted to do and the options of entry level jobs were limited because I had no experience. I really did not want to go into recruitment or sales roles which are what agencies tried to push me into. Generally, the internships I came across were a lot more interesting than the entry level jobs that were out there, and by doing an internship I had the opportunity to gain experience without having to commit to a permanent position.
How did you come across Enternships?
My dad read an article about them and recommended I had a look.
What was the most difficult part of looking for an internship?
Deciding in what to apply for, I was looking for an internship where I would get a chance to develop and use many different skills. Many internships were very specific.
What are the top 3 things you’re looking for on an employer’s profile/internship listing?/Why did you choose to intern at Acceler8.me?
The role itself, the industry, and if it was paid. I chose to do an internship at Digital Prophets/Acceler8.me because of the variety of the role, the autonomy I had in deciding what I did everyday and the potential for me to essentially create my own job at the end of it.
What was your role there? What kind of projects did you work on?
My role was/is as project coordinator/executive assistant. I have been working on many different projects alongside my CEO essentially all the different aspects of starting a new business. I have been doing a lot of research, as well as writing copy for the web site, and connecting with the startup community through events and meetings. I also do a lot of handing out business cards and schmoozing! What’s really exciting though is over the next few months me and my boss are going to decide together what I want my job to become.
Has the enternship helped you get closer to your career goals? If so, how?
Absolutely they want to hire me! Before this internship I had no idea what I wanted to do now, I’ve discovered I really love the startup industry and have had the opportunity to learn all about it. I really want to pursue a career in this industry and am really looking forward to creating/marketing our brand over the next few months and years.
How would you describe your dream internship?
One where I am valued, have a varied role and get to meet lots of people. I feel like this one comes close but they haven’t taken us on a company trip to Silicon Valley yet….That would be ideal *cough*.
Was the internship worth it, would you do it all over again if you could go back in time or is there something you would change?
I think my enternship has been worth it as I've had a real chance to try out the company and job my self, as much as they have been trying out me as an employee. I've appreciated that Acceler8.me is a really exciting company that is working towards helping startups, and that is a worthwhile cause. I've also discovered that working for a company in which I care about our success as a company, and consequently the success of our startups has given me real motivation to try my best at my job and work hard. I get to meet lots of interesting people and get to spend time out of the office in the startup scene promoting acceler8.me as an exciting option for startups to gain investment and mentorship opportunities, which startups wouldn't have if I hadn’t worked so hard with my CEO to get the project started.
It has also been worth it because I can see my efforts are making a difference, I have worked hard on our website www.acceler8.me which is live now so that’s pretty rewarding. Even if I hadn’t been offered the job, I have really enjoyed beginning to be involved with startups and the startup scene, so that is definitely an industry I am enjoying as a result of my internship. As an accelerator we’ll be helping startups grow to the point where they can hire their own enterns so that’s pretty exciting too!
If I could do it again I would have started looking for enternships straight after finishing uni instead of trawling through masses of boring jobs/ jobs I didn’t stand a chance of getting. During my actual enternship I probably would have chosen to miss a family birthday party I chose to go to over a work event, as whilst I was at the birthday party I wish I’d been listening to the business pitches because I’m a bit of a geek like that!
What do you think about the work Enternships is doing in helping students finding internships?
I think that enternships is doing great work in helping students find internships, working at acceler8.me (a company that helps entrepreneurs and startups) I have seen first hand that working in startups allows you to gain more experience than you would in other roles. Being involved in a startup means that your work matters, also because you’ll be working for a small company your role may be more varied than doing the same thing every day for a large corporation. I also think that by offering students the opportunity to do enternships then students get the chance to progress their careers as the company progresses.
What would be your best piece of advice to give other students/graduates looking for internships?
Be open to applying for industries you may not have considered and just put your self out there. The more applications you send the more chance you have of finding the place for you. Also once in an internship network like crazy because even if your internship doesn’t work out then you may have met someone who can help you out in future. You can’t get if you don’t ask.
Charlotte Forbes is 22 years old from Kingston Upon Thames and has recently graduated from the University of York with a 2.1 in Politics. A keen social networker, her dream is eventually to set up her own delicatessen or own company but currently the dream is to move out. Charlotte works for acceler8.me, a West London startup accelerator founded by serial entrepreneurs Raj Ramanandi and Lee Pickrell, backed by Luke Johnson, super entrepreneur and VC. They are currently planning a mentor-led 3-month accelerator programme funding, accelerating and cultivating startups. Their first program launches in the spring of 2012.
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Entern's Diary: Ramat TejaniPosted on Wednesday 21 September 2011 at 11:30AM by trrpaipai |
For this week's Entern's Diary post we asked Ramat Tejani to tell us how she landed her job with social enterprise The Small Business Consultancy. Although finding herself a job she truly likes was a bit of a rocky road, Ramat says what drove her forward was diligence together with a positive attitude and she explains how Enternships helped her throughout the process.
What comes after your studies
Working as a careers advisor to young people between the ages of 13-19 was not what I envisioned myself doing 2 years after completing my BA (Hons) in International Business. However this was what my skills led me to and I was happy to roll with it, planning to use the experience to help me move up the career ladder. Whilst I loved the role it was very dependant on young people coming into the office: no young people meant little to no work for me. This was a situation I couldn’t work in and so I decided to apply to do an MSc in Management Consultancy and Organisational Change at Birkbeck, University of London. This course helped me to see that I really do like to help others and the fact that in my current role I was not doing enough of that.
Using Entnerships
As a careers advisor I often had to find creative ways to jobsearch and Enternships.com was one of the alternative sites I would encourage people to use to find organizations that were usually quite small and needed interns for their entrepreneurial organisations. So I took some of my own advice and went on to see if there was anything of interest to me. Initially I found that a number of the placements were offering work experience with the occasional perk of travel expenses. Unfortunately, living in London and having bills to pay such placements would not be sustainable unless I stopped working completely and started from scratch and perhaps even went on to claim benefits whilst gaining unpaid work experience. This however did not deter me, as there were a number of paid placements just in the industries that I did not have skills for. i.e. software development! I can just about tweet and blog about life! What I did decide to do, was sign up to the e-newsletter, which comes into my inbox every Monday morning, telling me about the latest opportunities that have come up and updates on Enternships.
The process of application
It was through the newsletter that I saw the advertisement for an Enterprise Manager at The Small Business Consultancy (TSBC). The Small Business Consultancy works to support individuals and groups from disadvantaged backgrounds to become successful through enterprise development. Being someone who likes the idea of enterprise, start-ups and innovation I clicked on the link and was taken straight through to the TSBC profile and job opportunity, which was paid!!! The next stage was to see if my skills matched the job description and do some research on the company. I did my research, wrote my cover letter, tailored my CV appropriately and got called in for an interview. I am now the Enterprise Manager of The Small Business Consultancy. The great thing about the role was that I was going to be given a lot of responsibility from the very beginning and this is one of the advantages working for a smaller organisation. From the very beginning I have had the opportunity to work with the Managing Director, Amar Lodhia and see the opportunity for progression as the company grows.
Persistence is the key
Getting to where I am now has not been easy, I started actively looking for a new job in November 2010 when I was told that the job I was in was at risk of redundancy and I got my job at TSBC in July 2011. That was 9 months of continuous applications, constantly changing my CV to ensure it matched the role I was applying for and keeping a positive attitude towards my approach, which was sometimes difficult. 9 months….that’s how long it takes a baby to grow in a womb and it felt like forever! But I’m glad that I did not settle for just anything and applied to jobs that were relevant to me and that I could see potential in. This is not to say that I would only apply to marketing or consulting roles, in fact I decided to be very flexible in my approach. One of the great things about working for a small company, you can often mould the job into your own as you learn what works for the company and what doesn’t.
A little piece of advice for other job seekers
So I would say as difficult as the process can seem, try and keep positive and use tools such as Enternships.com to search of opportunities you wouldn’t usually consider. I would also encourage you to remember that in the age of Twitter and Facebook, potential employers can now simply Google you to find out information about you so you need to be aware of the information you have online. I have a commentary blog (www.ramattejani.wordpress.com) which allows me to talk about things that interest me and allowed potential employers to see that I am passionate about certain things…..what are you passionate about and how else can you show this to potential employers?
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Entern's Diary: Roselyn XavierPosted on Wednesday 07 September 2011 at 11:08AM by trrpaipai |
We asked Roselyn Xavier to write about her experience "enterning" with Flavrbox, a start-up said to revolutionise the food industry. She is an Economics student who is about to start her second year at Durham University and plans to set up her own business in the near future using the experience she gained from her "enternship".
E: What made you decide to do an enternship?
RX: Remember the last time you slipped up? That time when you kicked yourself and wondered why you were such a failure and why to even bother next time? About a year ago, I messed up. And it was bad. Although I had gotten a place at an amazing university, when my results came in I didn’t quite make the grade. It was devastating but I knew I wouldn’t do myself any good from sulking around all day feeling sorry for myself. I asked myself, ‘what can I do now?’ and I did whatever I could.
I was doing an internship at the time, seeing how disappointed I was, the Managing Director at The Small Business Consultancy insisted that I emailed the university admissions office which I thought was pretty pointless at the time for obvious reasons. Weirdly enough, the university had just been given a grant to take on extra students and they offered me a place!
I’ve now finished my first year which I’m incredibly grateful for. Now I feel more like I need to make the most out of my free time and since my last internship was so rewarding and motivating I’ve taken on another "enternship" working on Flavrbox.
E: How did you come across Enternships?
RX: I had heard about Enternships from quite a few people so I decided to see what was it was about. ‘Entrepreneurial internships’ seemed a lot more interesting, especially as I’m determined to start a business myself soon and to turn away from the typical banking route which seems to be pursued by many of my peers. The flashy cars and designers bags all look extremely glamorous but the reality of day-to-day (work) life isn’t probably as shiny. I’m not saying that a career in banking won’t be fulfilling but I’m not exactly sure that it is where my own passion lies.
E: Why did you choose to entern at Flavrbox?
RX: When I was seventeen, a small group of us designed and delivered a business master class on ‘How Entrepreneurs Can Change the World’ to Year 9’s at my old school. For the final activity we asked groups to come up with a business idea based on a social/environmental cause that they were passionate about. This was before I had even heard of the term ‘social enterprise’ but I’ve always been intrigued and inspired by businesses with a social or environmental agenda.
I think the concept behind Flavrbox is brilliant, it’s an online farmer’s market which allows local food to be delivered to your door, saving you time and money. Flavrbox aims to use its innovative online platform to revolutionise and create a new, healthier and more dynamic food industry. Once the site is up and running, it will allow consumers to access the food directly from the producers, shortcutting big supermarkets imposing heavy burdens and margins.
E: What have you been doing there exactly?
RX: My experience so far with Flavrbox has been very insightful and pushed me to do things I would have otherwise thought would be a disaster. I’ve never tried writing until now but I have been putting together a script for an animated video that will go up on the new website. The hardest thing about a creative task is that you can’t force yourself to be creative (although I still like to try my luck sometimes). I’ve dealt with these tasks by giving myself more time to brainstorm ideas, asking for other people’s opinions and looking for inspiration until I can come up with something worth sharing.
Being a typical teenager, I kind of considered myself a bit of an expert on Facebook and Twitter already but there is so much more to social media and engaging with potential partners, clients and supporters. It’s also important to think about how to go from having a ‘follower’ on Twitter who finds you interesting, to building a relationship with that company/person outside of social media.
E: Has your experience helped you get closer to your own career goals? If so, how?
RX: Working for a start-up usually means that you’ll be able to pick up a wider range of skills and be given more responsibility. It’s also been a great learning environment which has made me think about different aspects of the business that I would have easily overlooked otherwise. I sometimes feel out of my comfort zone but I think I need that! After feeling a bit ‘knocked’ when missing my grades, the opportunity has made me feel confident enough to set myself new mile stones. Although I’m still at the drawing board in regards to my own business idea, I’m definitely inspired and hope to set up my own business soon.
E: What would be your best piece of advice to give other students looking for internships (or "enternships"?)
RX: You never know who you’ll meet and the opportunities that might arise after you make that initial step. So go for it!
If you are disappointed by your results this summer, it’s tough but you need to accept what happened: it’s done. The best question to ask your self is ‘what’s best to do now?’ keep looking forward; you still have so much more to offer! :)
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Summer in San Francisco with a Grassroots StartupPosted on Tuesday 09 August 2011 at 13:41PM by Ed |
This week, Max McQuillan shares a bit of his Enternship experience from the sunny valleys of California.Whilst working with a startup still in alpha mode, he's been able to get out and enjoy the bits around Bay Area too.
Not many internships would have given me the desire to fly across the world but my internship at Playkast, a San Franciscan start up in stealth mode, did exactly that. I have always been fascinated and motivated to start my own business; entering the Dragon's Den competition every year in college and following all the entrepreneur and tech news religiously. The working environment in a startup cannot be beaten for its excitement and motivation to work.
I was regularly checking Enternships.com, looking for the right internship that would suit my skills and that would give me the opportunity to join a very early stage company. It was around mid March when I saw the posting from Playkast. It said that the company was based in San Francisco and was angel funded. That was very reassuring, San Francisco is the home of the start up scene and being funded meant that outsiders had a strong belief in the company as well.
I also really liked that they were hiring 6 interns, which is unusual for a startup, as it meant they had thought about why they needed us and that six people would be needed to carry out those tasks. Once I went through the interview stages and got accepted I had to plan for a summer in America. I got accepted for a summer work visa and then with the help of some friends I sorted out accommodation for 3 months.
So two months after coming across the posting on Enternships and a week after finishing my college exams I flew to San Francisco, unbelievably excited and motivated to help out Playkast in anyway I could. I am now half way through my internship (12 weeks in total) and I still can't believe how lucky I was to find it - so far it has been so much more than I could have ever expected from a start up or even a summer internship.
Upon our arrival we were told that we (the interns) have so much influence that we could change the whole direction of the product and company. That is an unbelievably motivating thing to hear on your first day. This is one of the best things about working in a start up, what you do really can make a big difference. You are given more responsibility than any other internship as there is so few people working everyone is dependent on each other and so you are completely trusted in a way that you don’t find in a lot of other jobs.
So what exactly have I been doing? The company is only just about to enter closed Alpha and so everything is been kept pretty secret. We are using the site a lot; giving feedback and suggestions; and everyday we are taking part in brainstorming sessions, which have been incredibly productive. Preparing for Alpha means we are researching a lot and creating a closed community of users who we think will maximise the web site's potential and give us the best feedback for when we move to Beta.
Since I have come here the whole way I look at websites has changed - I am obsessed with the creation process and how users interact with sites now - literally what every single click does. I am constantly looking for ways to improve, looking for things that work really well and how to maximize them. I think that in the future this mentality could easily stand to me hugely and big a valuable asset.
To sum up my experience thus far, it has been really interesting, challenging and incredibly exciting. Everything I had ever imagined and more. It is pretty cool to be working somewhere where a suggestion for a change in the business one day will see that change implemented the next day. To wake up and know that can happen each day makes you want to go to work and be excited about it!
One thing I know for sure now is that I want to stay in the start up environment with any company and hopefully someday my own. By the end of the summer I will have been part of a team which will have taken a company from basically its birth to its beta stage and I think that is pretty unique experience to have coming out of college.
Here are some more pictures of what I've been seeing whilst in California...
Visiting Yosemite National Park.
Watching Baseball Games
Enjoying the city of San Francisco.
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Entern Spotlight: Jamie's Journey from Dropout to SuccessPosted on Monday 16 May 2011 at 06:16AM by rajeebdey |
This week's Guest Blog is by Jamie Williams, an 18 year old former Medicine student from Imperial College, London. He talks about his decision to leave University and do an 'enternship' with StartUp Britain.
A ‘quitter’. A ‘failure’. A ‘disappointment’. All words synonymous with a drop out, something I had spontaneously become after deciding studying Medicine at Imperial College London was no longer for me.
Although the irony is, I hate quitting. I’m motivated enough to commit to things and, if all else fails, I’m stubborn enough to not want to quit. But as I found myself in a situation I could never have dreamt of, I started to question my direction, my motives and, most importantly, am I happy?
Then it hit me. And it hit quickly (one term to be precise): I want to be an entrepreneur.
Some may question my change from wanting to become a doctor to an entrepreneur, although to me it was always natural I should have followed a route into aspiring for big business triumph.
In fact, looking back, I now question why I wanted to become a doctor! Ever since I was young I always used to love sitting at my desk, pretending I was running a big successful business; thinking of new ventures, enjoying the associated excitement and dreaming of future success was always natural to me. Pretty sad eh? From washing cars and setting promotions with my micro-business CarShine, to selling stationary and giving out business cards because I was bored one day, I was pretty entrepreneurial for an 8 year old! Somewhere along the line though, this got lost in education, lost in the desire to be academic and lost in my decision to study Medicine.
Of course University isn’t a waste of time for those who don’t know what they want to do in the future, or for those who need a degree to follow their career decision. However, those who know they want to become an entrepreneur, which is not something you need a degree to do, have often been in a dilemma. From experience, these people are extremely tenacious and want to achieve great success, but of course nobody wants to be sidelined and miss out on opportunities just because they’ve taken the risk to do things a bit differently and question the ever-increasing challenged norm of going to University.
Usually, massive success comes about from calculated risk taking and I believe there is nothing wrong with this, so those who take this route should be encouraged and supported. Especially as they could be the future Steve Jobs, who like me decided one term was more than enough at University, or maybe even Bill Gates or Mark Zuckerberg, all successful entrepreneurs who dropped out of University. And there’s certainly no shortage of business leaders who didn’t go to University in the first place...
Ever since I made the decision to leave University I have felt relieved and free; I can now do what I want to do, in exactly the way I want to do it. What’s great is I can do this on my own; set my own future, rather than have it set for me. I have no shame in my decision and I am proud that I passed the tremendous hurdle to study an incredibly competitive course at a fantastic university in the first place, but I am even prouder of the journey I am about to embark on.
This brings me to Enternships: a fantastic new way for ambitious, extra-ordinary young aspiring entrepreneurs or graduates with great potential to really experience the high, the lows, the frustrations and jubilations of starting up an exciting venture. You get a chance to work with inspiring leaders on some amazing projects, shaping you as a future entrepreneur; as the business grows, you grow. Most importantly, the people you meet really can make a difference to your future.
We all love a bit of networking here and there, but young entrepreneurs can’t get enough of it! There is, whether political influence will change it or not, an emphasis on who you know, rather than just what you know. Just entering the Higher Education bubble and assuming you’re now automatically going to become rich and successful, or alternatively not going and sitting around static assuming you’ll make it someday, are not attitudes that will get you anywhere – be bold, be different!
Now I can count myself lucky, because Enternships has provided me with a lifeline. For somebody like me, an entrepreneurial internship (think internship, more involvement, making a difference and learning, without the photocopying) is a great opportunity to start my journey. After seeing the website for the first time only just under a month ago, before I knew it I am now working with Rajeeb, the founder of Enternships and 02 X Young Entrepreneur of the year 2009, and 7 others of the country’s top entrepreneurial talent on StartUp Britain, a nationwide government backed initiative.
I say I’m lucky – but don’t get me wrong, my initiative did all the hard work. I’m ambitious and applying for a graduate position doesn’t faze me. Why? Because I know I can prove I have the desired skills and I won’t be told I’m not allowed the opportunities to develop, just because I decided I can get to where I want to be without the degree and the extortionate fees, debt and high unemployment that follows. If you want it, you have to have the passion for it! Mix that with a bit of personality, experience and getting your network sorted and success is something that is within the realms of anyone with a ‘can do’ attitude. I can’t thank Raj and the team enough for giving me the opportunity.
So for the duration of my exciting enternship I’ll be developing, meeting, communicating, creating and yes, more blogging – keeping you updated on my progress, StartUp Britain, Enternships and any other project I find myself working hard on! Who knows where the future lies? Drop-out to Billionaire sounds impressive though, right? Hmm...well I suppose if one doesn’t try, one doesn’t achieve!
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Entern Spotlight: Thomas Rogers enternship at Floxx.comPosted on Sunday 01 May 2011 at 21:39PM by rajeebdey |
This week we hear the story of Thomas Rogers from Durham University and his Enternship with Floxx - a startup that is busily working away mapping beautiful people!
Name: Thomas Rogers
Age: 19
Educational background:
I went to school in London and I am currently in my first year at Durham University studying Economics.
Work experience to date:
In the past I have tried to get a taste of lots of different types of work experience; I worked in an IT recruitment company over the summer holidays when I was 16 and I worked for a hedge fund in my last year of school. Last year I took a year out and worked in an international school in Shanghai. It was amazing work experience, living in one of the most exciting cities in the world and meeting very interesting people.
Tell us about your Enternship:
Coming to Floxx I wanted to get as much coding and marketing experience as possible and I have not been disappointed. So far at Floxx I have been working on their widgets for university magazines, setting up their blog and looking at some of the marketing that Floxx is doing for the upcoming University exam period. I am soaking up all the knowledge I can from the guys who work here and have been getting a lot of excellent tips on how to set up a successful online business.
Why did you apply for this role?
I read an article in our University’s magazine about the success of FitFinder/Floxx, which described the kind of success that I hope to achieve with my website. I studied their website and read all the articles on them that I could find to get a sense of why they had been so successful. Whilst online over the Easter Holidays I saw a link on Enternships to work with Floxx and I thought to myself, ‘what better way to learn how they have become a success than go and work for them?’ I applied (despite the fact that I had just missed the deadline!) and a phone call and an interview later I had the job.
Future hopes/plans:
As I mentioned earlier, I have a website (in need of a re-write) which will go into action before freshers’ week this year. If I can increase my level of coding proficiency and harness all that I have learnt here at Floxx, then I have great confidence it will be a success.
We also asked Tom's employers at Floxx about their experiences: "I think it’s safe to say that we all thought Tom was a great addition to the team, and we were sad to see him go! Using Enternships meant that we found someone who was actively seeking out roles in companies like ours, and we were able to enlist Tom’s help on all kinds of projects, from managing new locations on Floxx.com to designing custom widgets for student websites." They were so happy with their experience that they've just advertised for more interns!
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Entern Spotlight: Ruben Kostucki's Story from Entern to EmployerPosted on Wednesday 20 April 2011 at 17:55PM by rajeebdey |
This week we bring you an Entern Spotlight story..with a twist. Read about how Ruben Kostucki flew from Singapore to London to do an Enternship and how his experience equipped him in setting up his own business - SeedPRO.
Singapore, May 2009. Whilst gravitating around a Singaporean food court, I suddenly realised it was time for me to make good use of my last university break. Rather than spend four months not doing much, the moment had come for me to find something useful to do with my time.
I quickly started searching for summer internships online and lo and behold, Enternships made a divine apparition in my browser. I was immediately captivated by the huge range of exciting opportunities in small to medium organisations that were being advertised on the site. Finally a website that offered something different to all the other job search sites!
A couple of applications, a retouched CV, a few Skype calls and 3 days later, I was on a plane back to London to work with a young startup: Earthtone, an online marketplace for print providers.
Working for these guys was great: it gave me the opportunity to experience life in London, earn a basic wage, and be challenged in a new environment. I was given responsibilities. Real responsibilities. I also very quickly realised that I didn’t enjoy working for someone else and needed something else, but what?
I started my first enterprise project at 14 and I had a deep aspiration for this route. My experience as an intern boosted that feeling and enabled me to take that step forward again and jump into it with both feet.
Just a few months later, I co-founded a social enterprise, running a charity Seeducation, and company SeedPRO in parallel. Many of the skills I picked up during my time at Earthtone have come in useful today. For instance, the ability to understand SEO and run effective SEM campaigns have come in handy for our client MessageBase, a telephone answering service, whilst the ability to analyse the competitive landscape helped doing work for Odyssey, a unique charity focused on helping cancer patients regain their confidence.
Since then, our organisation has been steadily growing and we’ve had the pleasure of being invited to speak at TEDx Warsaw 2010 and more recently at TEDx Warwick 2011. Things go quickly, and it’s impossible to know what an internship (or 'enternship') might lead you to!
There is a time for everything. And this time, it is my turn to invite anyone who is looking for a similar experience to come work with a team of nutty Belgians. If you’re ready for a challenge, check out our listing here. No CV or covering letters required!
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