Student experience series - Santander Universities internship (2)

Published Tuesday, 10^th December, 2019 in University news

This is the next in our series of interviews about the Santander Universities SME Internship Programme, an entrepreneurial internship programme that provides students and recent graduates paid work experience with local businesses.

City is part of the programme because of our close partnership with Santander, who support our students with funding to match SME employers with our graduates and to create paid internships.

We spoke to MSc student Liuba Marchionne about her internship at Eating Better.

Tell us a bit about you

I have a background in nutrition, as I am a dietitian and I focused mainly in public health. After that I decided to study the MSc in Food Policy, which enriched me by providing a broad understanding of the whole food system. Thank to this masters I had the opportunity to have the internship at Eating Better, where I had the chance to work on different topics concerning food sustainability.

Why did you apply for a SME Internship through City, University of London?

I applied because it was a really interesting job opportunity which fit exactly what I was looking for.

Tell us about your internship? What were you doing and where were you working?

I was working as a sustainable diets researcher intern at Eating Better. I worked mainly on two projects: one was a survey, which helped me to develop data analysis skills and writing report, and the second one was mainly literature review. Both of them required to engage with other member of the alliance and external key stakeholders, together with helping the rest of the team in administrative tasks.

How has this role helped you?

This role helped me in many ways. First of all has been a great professional experience from which I learnt a lot and I had the opportunity to work at different tasks. Moreover, the colleague have always supported me, which have contribute to my personal growth. Lastly it has also been helpful financially, as it provided me a salary, which was good considering the hours I was working.

What skills has your role through the scheme given you?

It has given me great expertise in entry data, data analysis, writing reports, conduct a survey, administrative skills, negotiate skills and working in a office environment in general.

If you could give a student thinking of doing an internship one piece of advice, what would it be?

I would suggest to look for an organization or a field which he likes, and try to do an internship there, even if not in the exact role he wants, because working could be the best way to networking and you would have great opportunities to meet interesting people for your future career.

What are you doing now?

I am currently looking for the next job.