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Farah Chowdhury

July 2nd, 2019

Reflections from an LSE Graduate Intern

1 comment

Estimated reading time: 10 minutes

Farah Chowdhury

July 2nd, 2019

Reflections from an LSE Graduate Intern

1 comment

Estimated reading time: 10 minutes

It’s the time of year where graduating students are starting to think about how they’ll spend their summer. If that’s you, why not spend some time at LSE as a graduate internship? Graduate Internships are a fantastic opportunity for you to gain insight into the inner workings of LSE and work on a specific project in a department or division. But don’t just take our word for it!

Find out more about one intern’s experience from last year’s scheme in this Q&A and then apply for one of the many internships currently live on CareerHub! 

What motivated you to apply for the Graduate Internship?

I really enjoyed my time at LSE, both studying and working part-time, and didn’t feel quite ready to leave yet. I had a lot of friends going into graduate jobs, especially within the big 4 companies but I knew that was not a path I wanted to follow. Therefore when I saw LSE were advertising internships that offered something different to the usual graduate jobs and industries I knew straight away that I wanted to apply.

How do you feel you have benefited and what opportunities have the internship given you?

I have been given opportunities to take responsibility for projects while being supported every step of the way. This was my first full-time job and consequently a slightly daunting prospect. However, I felt at ease as soon as I started and feel privileged to have been able to work with such a supportive manager and team. Not only has this helped me to grow my confidence but also my skill set. I have benefited immensely by being involved in a centre that has a variety of initiatives taking place. I have been able to become involved with; event management, social media, report writing, podcasting, recruitment and website editing, just to name a few. I have also been given the opportunity to liaise and work with a range of different people at a variety of seniority levels. This has given me a wide and varied skill set that makes me feel confident about moving on to a new role.

Would you encourage other graduates to apply for the Internship?

Definitely – it has been such a rewarding experience for me. Not only within my Centre but also working for LSE. I was able to attend the Professional Services Staff conference in November which was a really great experience. I was able to meet other staff working at LSE and take part in a day full of workshops. I was also lucky enough to attend the renaming ceremony of the Towers building which was one of the highlights of my time here. As well as this, LSE has so many different training courses on offer and my manager has been particularly encouraging for me to go to as many as possible. LSE has been a really enriching place to work and I would encourage all graduates to think about applying.

What does the future hold for you and do you feel the internship helped shape that?

I am planning on starting a master’s in September in Defence, Diplomacy and Development. Having a role which requires me to be up to date with foreign affairs, particularly the US’, has helped me immensely in confirming my desire to pursue a research-related career and to conduct further study in a political related field. Additionally, I have been able to build upon skills, such as writing, which will be vital for both the application process and the degree programme.

The LSE Graduate Internships scheme is open to current students graduating in 2019 and recent alumni who completed their course in the last two years. Discover the list of live internships on CareerHub.
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Farah Chowdhury

Posted In: Education and teaching | Featured | LSE Careers

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