How university internships brought young talent to OneAgency
Alongside a team of industry stalwarts including Liz Cooper, head of PR with over 30 years working in marketing, PR director Rosie Duckworth who has been at OneAgency for 14 years and the power duo of MD and CSD, Mark and Helen Littlewood who have worked in some of the best digital and marketing agencies in the county, we have UEA’s finest fresh young talent.
The University of East Anglia’s internship scheme offers a range of graduate internships to its students up to three years after graduation. The programme is extremely successful, having placed hundreds of graduates within local organisations, and is recommended by over 97 percent of hosting organisations and interns alike.
This success is no surprise: graduates can offer fresh insight to your company and make for bright, enthusiastic employees. Giving these young people opportunities at your company will likely serve as a win-win for all parties involved.
Here at OneAgency we have not one, but two success stories of the scheme. Our very own integrated account manager, Ellen Cave, and integrated account executive, Georgie Scott, came to us from the programme, and are two of the most promising bright stars we have seen for a long time. As former English Literature students at the university which pioneered the teaching of creative writing in the UK, both Ellen and Georgie are very valuable assets to our business which champions content and has communication at its core.
Over two years have passed since Ellen joined the team and she can’t praise the UEA internship scheme enough: “After graduating with a BA in English Literature I struggled to choose which path to follow next, but with the help of the UEA careers team I identified my strengths and which roles would offer me the chance to build them. With support updating my CV and my sights set on PR and marketing, I applied for an internship at a local agency. After a tough interview I was delighted to be accepted and jumped feet first into a trainee role.
“The UEA internship gave me the chance to get into a profession I absolutely love – it was the launch pad for my career and opened up so many more opportunities to me. It’s an invaluable scheme for grads who want to be challenged and fulfil their potential in a world where it can seem so difficult to get a foot in the door.”
Georgie joined us directly through the scheme in June 2016 and speaks of her experience: “Making the leap from student to full-time professional is not an easy one for most grads. As my degree was drawing to a close, I started to take advantage of the support available from UEA’s careers service. It became an essential tool in shaping my career, making my transition from studying to employment feel seamless.
“My interest in marketing was sparked when I attended a careers fair at UEA, ‘Working with Words’, and listened to my now colleague Ellen speak about her day-to-day life at OneAgency. Not long after this I spotted a three-month UEA internship hosted by OneAgency and couldn’t believe my luck! I jumped at the opportunity and UEA’s career service helped along the way with one-on-one support updating my CV and a mock job interview.
“I’ve now landed a fantastic full-time position at OneAgency, which interests and challenges me everyday. I’m so grateful to UEA for all their support and think it’s great that companies like OneAgency see the potential in training and developing recent graduates: without that kind of faith I wouldn’t be here today.”
