Olivia Wilkinson, a third-year Marketing (PR and Advertising) student at the University of Derby, shares why she joined Apricus Marketing and the benefits for students and businesses of internship support.
Olivia Wilkinson
An internship provides paid employment to undergraduate or graduate students for a few weeks or months, importantly giving them an opportunity to test their academic learning in a real business environment.
So, why is it important for employers to support student internships?
Students have huge potential with up-to-date, high-level skills and fresh thinking. By offering them opportunities to work, you can bring new skills into your business whilst helping them develop. The intern is provided with responsibilities associated with a professional level position to assist your business operations whilst enhancing their employability and skills. Hiring an intern can be a cost-effective way for businesses to resource events, research, smaller-scale projects, or market testing for example.
For Apricus Marketing, appointing an intern was an important way to increase resources within the business in a cost-effective way. “I’m really passionate about helping young people starting out in business, specifically in marketing, to gain some real on-the-job work experience. In my view, there is often a gap between the academic approach and the live business scenario and it is important for students to gain that sense of what businesses actually need to be successful. That can’t always be taught and internships allow students to bridge that gap between the theoretical and the practical. I’m keen to give back by offering similar opportunities that were afforded to me when I was starting out”.
Clare Taylor (Founder of Apricus Marketing)
Why did our intern decide to join Apricus Marketing?
Olivia explains just this. “I have taken advantage of previous internships provided by The University of Derby as a communications ambassador and my present role as a social media assistant. However, I wanted to further broaden my marketing skills and apply the knowledge gained from my course. I was drawn to the Apricus Marketing intern role as it is relevant to my skillset alongside offering the opportunity to broaden my competencies such as email marketing, SEO and branding”.
She also noted “My interest to join Apricus Marketing furthered through realising the impact my work could have by helping the growth of local small to medium businesses. I met Clare at my interview which heightened my desire to work for the company. Clare is driven, supportive, friendly and knowledgeable in which I knew I could gain a lot from her and the internship. I was offered another internship role but chose Apricus Marketing as it provides opportunities for me to expand, apply my knowledge and witness the direct impact I have on businesses”.
What will our intern be doing?
Internships can work flexibly, in our case Olivia is working for a few months at Apricus Marketing and will have a broad range of tasks from:
- Content creation, scheduling and posting
- Website recommendations and enhancements
- Building customer databases and email marketing
- Attending client meetings and networking events
- Gaining experience of branding and positioning
In addition, Olivia will gain knowledge and insight through working with industry professionals including Clare Taylor whom has over 20 years of experience in the field alongside a social media manager and design partners.
What will our intern gain from this opportunity?
On the opportunities available to her, Olivia says, “From this internship, I will gain a broad experience of working in a marketing assistant role, mentoring from an experienced head of marketing with a potential longer-term opportunity to stay with the business”.
She also noted “as mentioned, I have already completed internships at the university. These have made me feel confident and sure of my own capabilities which further gave me the assurance to apply for the Apricus Marketing internship. I’m excited to gain a broader experience in marketing as I felt as though I had a lot of creative aspect application and the fundamental knowledge through my studies, though limited application. This opportunity will greatly assist my applications for graduate jobs through acquiring a broader skillset with a real-world application”
“Already, I have had the opportunity to apply my marketing capabilities whilst being able to learn and develop new skills. I’m looking forward to seeing the impact I have!”.
Olivia Wilkinson (Marketing Intern at Apricus Marketing)
So, how can you hire an intern?
There are many ways to hire an intern. The Apricus Marketing internship role utilised the driven programme provided by the University of Derby. The driven scheme provides fully-funded internships, offering 80 hours of work experience from a student of graduate. Free recruitment support is provided including role advertising, application reviews and shortlisting as well as supporting the interview if required. To find out more visit https://www.derby.ac.uk/business-services/talent-recruitment/placements-and-internships/