AAD Communications, University of Oxford

Alexandra Beukers,Merton College,Second Year Undergraduate,BA English Language & Literature,Remote Working

Work Projects

Working remotely for the University's Academic Administration Division as a Communications Officer, I wasn't sure whether I would play an active role in the team - especially as they hadn't had a student intern before. However, although coronavirus prevented a lot of normal internship activities from happening, it actually gave me an opportunity to contribute more widely and get immediately involved in what the Communications department aims to do.

I was responsible for regular content updates for students and student-facing staff, including populating the fortnightly student and staff newsletters, posting on the Oxford Students social media and adding to both the regular Oxford Students website and the new Coronavirus site which was established over the course of my internship. I also oversaw a largescale overhaul of the content on the Oxford Students website, for which I liaised with lots of different departments from around the University and helped to actualise those changes through web and graphic design.

Another main project which I worked on was re-writing and re-recording the 'Know Your Oxford' audio tour for new and prospective students - this was all done remotely, although as I am lucky enough to live quite close to Oxford, I was able to go in and test the route. We had at least daily meetings over the course of my internship, so I never felt that I was working alone, and both my supervisors and colleagues were extremely supportive.

Daily Life

My working hours were 9-5, so I was able to have a pretty rigid schedule, which was definitely helpful! Lunch was flexible, and depended on meetings/my workload, but I generally had around 40 minutes to an hour each day. Throughout the day, I made sure to take small breaks - this is even more important in a remote internship, where everything is on a screen and can be quite taxing on your eyes. I appreciated working from home in quite a few ways - I still got to spend time with my family, there was no commute (cost), and I could wear something comfortable (within reason).

When I first started, I found it a little difficult to do anything after work, as I was quite tired out each day from learning new things. However, as I became familiar with my tasks and there were fewer surprises or new things each day, I had more energy in the evenings. I started yoga over the summer (partially inspired by one of my colleagues, who bought a new yoga mat in one of the early weeks!), which I would do either straight after work, or in the mornings if I got up early enough. I also tried to make sure I got outside at least once a day, either to do a walk in the afternoon, or to sit in the garden while I had my lunch. I had a bit of coursework that I worked on throughout, although it was a different sort of reading, so it was largely relaxing.

Lasting Impressions

I really enjoyed the internship, and even though it was mostly all in one place, didn't find it monotonous at all! Part of this owed to the very weird and hectic circumstances into which AAD Comms had been thrust, early in the lockdown, which meant that sometimes we had an incredible number of updates to put through very quickly. However, I think this helped to bind the team together, as well - it certainly felt to me that we were acting as a force, or one unit, and that the communications we were sending were really very necessary and appreciated by students and staff.

I think that while working in a crisis situation is obviously not sustainable and not quite reflective of what this job is normally, it really gave me an insight into how a team of people can focus, delegate, and work together to achieve a lot in a short space of time. The experience, while confirming that there are some areas which I might not like to work on, also opened doors for me career-wise: I really enjoyed writing and editing audio, as I had never done that before. It's given me a chance and incentive to investigate that as a potential graduate career path, and I was fortunate enough to not have to know much at all or have any experience beforehand. What I loved most about working in communications in general was its sociability, immediacy, and creativity - these are things that, regardless of specific content, I'll be looking for in future work.