UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD, CLUBS OFFICE (THE

Guy Dabby-Joory, Worcester College, Second Year Undergraduate, BA Philosophy, Politics, and Economics, Remote working

flowcharts to be used on the website.

Work Projects

My first project was developing a guide for

students about free speech in student societies. I

worked through an existing policy, and did some

of my own research, in order to develop a guide

to free expression including case studies and

I then sent off a survey to relevant stakeholders, before developing a guide to their

responsibilities in their position, again including case studies and flowcharts and linking to

other key resources. Having finished this, my next major project was redeveloping the

website, which was additional to what I had been expected to do at the start of the

placement.

I was offered teaching in the use of the website building software used by the organisation,

before I started working on the site, moving over new material and creating more intuitive

and easy to use sections and pages within the site.

Throughout my placement, I met once or twice per week with my supervisor over video call,

which was really helpful and very much appreciated as a way of keeping me in sync with the

organisation despite the placement being remote.

Daily Life

Because I completed a remote internship, my host organisation was very clear that - so long

as I worked for the required number of hours per week - they did not mind what my

working hours were. This meant that I was able to make plans and socialise during my work

placement, completing my hours in the time around this. Because I enjoyed the work, it

wasn't too much of a burden to be working at unconventional times; I was able to motivate

myself to work outside of normal working hours, and this was indeed very helpful for me as

it ensures that I could socialise and relax while still completing my remote internship.

Lasting Impressions

I started the internship knowing that it wasn't directly related to my main career ambitions,

and my view of this was not changed over the course of the internship. I did, however, really

enjoy the internship and I found the material which I was working through and then

preparing genuinely interesting.

This was in a large part because I was already well-acquainted with the subject matter, as it

was directly related to part of my university experience, so I was able to bring my own ideas

to the table, and the employer was interested in listening to me on the basis of my

experience.

I feel that I gained some important transferable skills from the internship, such as the ability

to present information in an accessible format, and some basic website development skills.

Overall, I found the internship very enjoyable, and I was very happy that I had been

accepted to complete it.

Bethan Adams, St Catherine’s College, Second Year Undergraduate, BA Geography, Remote working

Work Projects

My internship with the University Clubs Office

was a 4-week project to help redevelop the

training material provided for registered student

clubs, societies and publications. There were 3

interns working at the same time, but we each

had responsibility for a different section, so our work was largely independent.

I was responsible for writing guidance for core committee members (President, Secretary,

Treasurer, IT Officer and Webmaster) of registered clubs. This involved collating existing

material and writing new guidance using various online sources. The guidance included both

essential tasks for committee members, and best practice for running a club or society.

Once I had written the main documents, I converted the most essential information into

timelines and other graphics.

I really enjoyed the fact that the work was largely independent - once provided with the

project outline we were generally left to carry this out in our own way, which allowed me to

bring in my own experiences from being on a committee. I worked on Sharepoint which

allowed my supervisor to leave comments and edit the documents at the same time.

I had at least 1 check in a week with my supervisor, to go over the comments and discuss

next steps. I was really pleased to finish everything on the project outline and format this in

an accessible way, and add some extra guidance, for example on charities and sustainability.

My work will contribute to a wider development of the Clubs Office website over the

coming academic year.

Daily Life

At the start of my internship, it was agreed that

I would work at least 36.5 hours a week (7.3

hours per day), which could be completed

flexibly if necessary. I am much more suited to

working early in the morning, so I would usually

start around 7am, which often allowed me to finish early in the afternoon and do other

things later in the day. I usually took a longer lunch break to do a workout and make lunch

at home, or sometimes to travel to a coffee shop to work for a change of scenery.

Flexible hours allowed me to do a shorter day on days where I wanted to see family/ friends

and then make up for it on other days of the week. I could also find some time to work on

my dissertation which was useful. I kept a timesheet to ensure that I completed the agreed

hours each week.

Lasting Impressions

I really enjoyed the internship and the 4 weeks went so quickly! Although my tasks were

largely the same each day, the nature of writing guidance for various aspects of running a

club (e.g., managing finances, chairing meetings, running social media accounts...) meant

that I did not get bored at all.

I did not expect to pick up so many new skills - I definitely improved on my graphic design

skills whilst creating engaging timelines, exploring and collating a wide variety of resources,

and writing in a concise and formal manner. The internship was a very useful experience in

working remotely and managing flexible hours, and engaging in a professional manner with

my supervisor.

Given that my project was spread over 4 weeks it was important to manage my time to fit in

all the tasks required, which will be very useful throughout the rest of my studies (e.g.

writing a dissertation) and career. I would not say that the internship was in a career sector I

would want to go into exactly, but it has definitely made me more confident in my writing

skills and understanding of important protocols that are relevant for other sectors (e.g.,

GDPR). It also highlighted that remote and flexible working really suits me, though I would

love to try something a bit more hands on in a different internship.

What practical advice would you give to future interns?

Firstly, don’t be afraid to apply for something that does not exactly fit your career aspirations - you

are likely to be surprised by how varied and

interesting a new sector can be. Even if by the

end of the internship you have learnt that you do not want to pursue that career sector any

further, you will learn so many transferable skills.

If you are working remotely/ flexibly, work out when you work best and try to make a

routine for yourself, to stop you getting behind on your hours. If you are working in a sector

that does not exactly fit your career aspirations, try to bring in your own passions and

experiences if possible - it shows that you are interested and thinking in new ways and you

may come up with something that your supervisor had not thought of!

Ask as many questions and ask for feedback as much as you need - again it shows your

interest and desire to do a good job. After the internship, make sure to follow up with thank you emails/ ask to stay in touch if you want to. Reflect on your experience and the skills you

have learnt, which you could mention in your CV and future interviews.