Emily Siddall has graduated this year with a BA(Hons) Politics and International Relations. In the summer leading up to the start of the Masters of Laws, she is undertaking an internship within the Faculty of the Arts and Social Sciences at Lancaster University, in the role of FASS Placement Scheme Assistant. This post details her experience on the scheme so far and her roles and responsibilities.
I started my placement in the role of FASS Placement Scheme Assistant in May 2017, working within the Faculty of the Arts and Social Sciences at Lancaster University. My role requires me to assist the FASS Placements Officer with the tasks needed to run and market the FASS Placement Scheme. I also on occasion assist with tasks that help assist FASS Careers too. I hope to outline in this blog post some of my day to day tasks, as well as the projects I have been working on during my internship so far, even if this may prove to be somewhat challenging as no day is ever quite the same!
In the first month of my internship, I helped assist Rachel, the FASS Placements Officer, with the organising and hosting of interviews of students by the placement hosts. I also set up a Facebook Page and WordPress blog, which I have developed throughout my placement so far. The interviews helped me learn how to engage with people in a professional environment, something I believe to be valuable to me in the future. I also spent time promoting the placement opportunities that were still open for application, through a variety of different methods. This saw me giving a presentation about the FASS Placement Scheme at the Lancaster University Politics Society Careers event, giving me the opportunity to refine my presentational skills, something I really learned from.
Once all the students are placed, the planning quickly begins for next year’s FASS Placement Scheme, developing new ways to promote the scheme, refine the placement opportunities available to students, and track current students on placement and their progress. This saw me being given the task of coming up with a marketing plan for the next year, something I had never done before. I created a marketing timetable, mapping out the current ways we market the scheme, and was asked to add in ideas that could be incorporated into next year’s marketing strategy. This allowed me to get creative and inventive with my ideas, but also taught me to be realistic, factoring in a budget and other such limitations. I really enjoyed this, as it allowed my opinion to feel valued as part of the FASS Careers team, as well as giving me the opportunity to engage with marketing which I have discovered I really enjoy.
Recently in my role, I have been updating the WordPress Blog, remaining active on our social media pages, compiling and analysing the data from this year’s applicants, helping identify hosts for work experience degree modules, and assisting Rachel on the Open Days that have just gone by. I particularly enjoyed working on the Open Days, engaging with prospective students and their parents about the opportunities FASS Careers have to offer, and having the opportunity to give a small speech as part of Rachel’s careers talk. This gave me another valuable opportunity to develop my presentational skills in a professional environment, along with learning how to tailor my language to different working environments.
I now look forward to the coming weeks in my role, and what tasks I have to work on, and I shall write another follow up post on the completion of my role here in FASS.
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