I chose to do the internship module as I thought it is the perfect opportunity to gain a realistic insight into the business working world. The reason I chose to do this particular internship in Marketing is as I felt it was close to my degree and I cannot think of a better place to intern than with my own university! The application process was simple, done online via the careers service. I was then called in for an interview, which is when he told me I have the internship. I feel prepared as I have spoken with my internship leader who has reassured me that he will be giving me constant guidance a support. I am not worried, because I know my leader and have worked with him before, so I feel extremely comfortable going to him with any queries that should arise.
My personal objectives plan (SMART goals)
– I would like to have a template Marketing plan, that is thorough enough to use for future occasions where I will be, for example, required by my lecturer to write up a Marketing plan.
– As the internship will mostly be done online, I would like to further develop my ability to target the web for resources. The internship requires that I do a lot of online research so I want to be able to find reliable and accredited sources; writing a bibliography at the end of my Marketing plan will act as evidence for this.
– I would like to impress my internship leader with my professionalism and enthusiasm. A signature from him at the end of my internship will act as evidence for this.
– I would like to complete my 30 hours within the deadline. Online submission will act as evidence for this.
I think my employer’s expectations of me will be to complete the work he sets me within the deadlines he sets. I think he will expect the work to be of a high standard, and the research to be thorough and well organised. I think he will expect me to dress fairly well and not casual, however formal wear is not required. I think your expectations will be to submit the work on time (I understand that I have uploaded this document late but I felt really uncomfortable about uploading when I was so unsure of what I was going to be doing, specifically in the internship. I have now spoken to my internship leader and I have begun my internship. Future assignments will be on time!) As there are few contact hours with my leader, and the majority of my work will be carried out in the library or at home, there is not too many strict regulations I need to follow. Of course, I still need to show professionalism, and one way of doing this is by frequently being in touch with my internship manager. I expect to develop my marketing skills, and possibly communication skills (I may be expected to get in touch with other students as part of my market research), and to, hopefully, get a chance to network with my degree leaders and new students. In the long run, I hope networking with these people will give me more opportunities.
Additional pieces of evidence:
This is James Robertson, who is my internship leader. We met at last year’s open day where I was asked to present my experience of the Business Management course, having experienced almost one year. We met on the 13th of February to discuss what research I was expected to do over the next few days. Unfortunately, I caught him off-guard with my picture to submit as evidence. We spoke for about 40 minutes, and I formed a to do list for the next couple of days which I will type up (because as you can see I scrawled it down at the same time as having a conversation with him, and I’ll also have him sign a copy of this for the next submission.)
Formal Version of pictured notes:
Research
- Scottish Universities (approximately 3) a typical degree takes 4 years
- English Universities (approximately 5, students pay fees so it would be more profitable to target a majority of non-Scottish students)
- Imperial
- International Universities
- Europe (approximately 1)
- Neoma Business School
- BI Business School (creditable, have an image – include references to advert on Youtube with high views)
- USA (approximately 1)
- Harvard
- See how these universities present their Business degrees, do they have many? Is that something people are interested in in other countries? What do they offer? Anything unique? Look on their social media pages, check their fees, perhaps get a quote from a student? Do they upload their lectures? Class sizes? How strict are attendance policies etc, try to put a positive spin on every aspect e.g. Small class sizes = more attention etc.
- Read in the Financial Times for stories focused on our sector. (Does having a new business school affect application numbers/ academic performance of a university?)
- Flow chart describing a student’s journey from open days and Google searches to attendance. Annotate each stage with ways we can target the students and catch their attention. Start introducing ourselves as an option!
Marketing Plan
- Main objective – is to recruit students
- I need to come up with ways to target them
| digital | events | |
| web socials |
- Talk about China – how Dundee gave me extra opportunities to travel abroad and further consolidate and develop what I had learnt in lectures.
- There is a new building being built from across our library – “shiny new School of Business” building.
https://www.theguardian.com/news/2018/apr/27/bulldoze-the-business-school
I read this article in the Guardian online, published by Martin Parker. Overall the whole article is extremely negative towards business management degrees, explaining why we should “Bulldoze the Business School.” Parker explains that “employers complain that [business] graduates lack practical skills.” He says that critics say Business Schools have “been corrupted”, “by deans following the money”, and “students expecting a qualification in return for their cash (or, more likely, their parents’ cash).” The author of the article, who himself has taught in business schools for 20 years, has come to believe that the only solution is to “shut down business schools altogether.” He even has the audacity to comment that “most business-school graduates won’t become high-level managers anyway” and that we will become conformant employees of random generic offices. In the article, Parker mentions that some business graduates have commented on their work being “disgusting”. I think this article on a whole is very negative and off-putting considering a degree in Business Management, and that the author has been extremely one-sided and lacks evidence. He comments that most graduates won’t become ‘anything special’. However, he has shown no evidence for this, and another article I have read by the Independent:
claims that “Business studies graduates are more likely to be employed three months after graduating than other graduates” and goes on to show a list of successful business graduates. I think that this could have an effect on my internship as the Guardian is a popular newspaper which many people read, and reading this article could influence potential students “(Or, more likely, their parents”)! My internship consists of targeting students, across the UK and internationally, to encourage and promote the Business Management degree, and articles like this can be a serious threat to university applications.
Parul Mishra Internship Portfolio 2019 