What did your role involve at the Department for Work and Pensions?
I was posted as an Economic Analyst in the Strategy Team, working in the Disability Analysis Division (DAD) on two large projects: the Fulfilling Potential Outcomes and Indicators Framework and the International Comparisons of Disability Evidence Synthesis.
With respect to the indicators project, I joined the team towards the end of this, but assisted with the quality assurance of all the indicators, updating the indicators with the latest data, formatting and updating the progress report. This involved me running the analysis that my senior colleagues had run, in order to make sure that everything was correct and up to date. Furthermore, I had to familiarise myself with the vast amount of disability data the UK has, including survey data which I had to analyse using the software package SPSS.
The other project; International Comparisons, was my own and one which I led on from the beginning. I delivered a detailed project plan, data collection, data synthesis and presentation of how the UK compares to the rest of the world in terms of the treatment and equalities of disabled people, to the rest of the disability analytical team and senior colleagues from the Office of Disability Issues.
Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed my time at DWP and felt like I fitted into the team really well, and got on with all my colleagues, which helped to create a positive atmosphere in the office.
What was the most interesting aspect of your internship?
The most interesting part of my internship was when I had the chance to go into Parliament and sit in on a meeting about the Public Accounts. There were some very high profile people there discussing some extremely important matters and to be able to see it all unfold was a fantastic experience.
What advice would you give to students who are looking to undertake an internship?
Research the kind of area that you think you might be interested in working in and then apply, apply, apply! However, the most important things to consider are; the quality of your application – as you will be competing against a number of other applicants who all want an internship; whether this is what really interests you (you’ll forego most of your summer to do this job every day); and whether you can take from the experience as much as you give to it.
Other than the obvious benefit of having something great to put on your CV, what do you feel you got out of your internship? How do you think your internship has helped your studies?
Firstly, an internship gives you the experience of being in a workplace environment for an extended period of time, which gives you an excellent opportunity to immerse yourself within the organisation and get the feel for the job. For me personally, I built on a number of skills that come with being in a professional environment, e.g. how to interact with different people with different personalities, working to strict deadlines and building a team ethic within the workplace.
In terms of how it has helped my studies, it allowed me to come back to university for my final year having used and applied the skills I have built up over the summer, with the knowledge firmly imprinted in my head. While it’s always nice to rest and relax over the summer – which can still be done – being on an internship kept my knowledge and skills in practice so I could hit the ground running when I returned to Kent.
Has your experience changed your plans for the future?
It’s changed my impression of the public sector and the civil service for sure. For some people, it may seem that this is not the most exciting place to work, but I found my experience to be completely the opposite. I was working with a young team of people who were keen to create an exciting and fun working environment, which rubbed off on how people approached their
What’s next after graduation?
I’ve already applied and been interviewed for a number of Graduate jobs and am hoping to start in Autumn 2015.