At the end of my second year in my Geography undergrad, I was beginning to consider career options post-graduation, and what options were available to me with the education I had already completed. My main priority over the summer was taking steps to improve my options, and to consider what future employment I felt motivated to pursue. Narrowing down my future career goals was and is still a very daunting task, which encouraged my decision to apply for an internship. Through LEAP, I was offered six weeks of paid work with Edenseven, an environmental consultancy company. While environmental consultancy seemed a degree-appropriate and interesting career path, I was unsure where I would begin, and what the day-to-day of work would entail. I was therefore optimistic about the Edenseven internship because it was:
- An opportunity to gain experience in remote teamwork.
- Directly relevant to my course.
- A way to test and build useful workplace skills, such as confidence, teamwork, and communication.
Preparation
In preparation for the internship, I was able to arrange sessions with different professionals through the LEAP Programme. This involved remote calls with individuals in different employment to better understand what I should consider going into an internship and different roles I might aim for in the future. I also spoke to professionals offering specific advice on workplace skills and confidence building. My conservation with Denise Taylorson was especially useful, as she gave me practical advice on how to conduct myself online, overcome nerves, and what to expect from remote work. As this was my first experience with a paid internship, most of my concerns were superficial, but this nonetheless made me feel much better prepared.
The Internship
For the first four weeks of the internship, I worked on a specific project regarding emissions reporting from the FTSE250 companies. I received support from Edenseven through both general guidance (such as information sheets and step-by-step to-do lists), and direct communication over Teams. This work comprised critically evaluating emissions reporting in annual reports available online, and summarising information in a standardised way through Excel. Both tasks required that I develop skills in interpreting corporate reporting and efficient use of Excel. The major challenge I encountered during this period was the dynamics of remote working, although the team at Edenseven were incredibly helpful and questions were welcomed.
After four weeks, I travelled to the Edenseven London offices to present a summary of work completed so far. This was incredibly helpful and informative as I gained experience working with others in an office environment and had the chance to connect more personally with members of the team. The latter was especially important, as this allowed further remote communication to be more confident, streamlined, and direct. The discussion of my summary was a similarly important learning opportunity, as I was able to draw my own interpretations conclusions from data, then hear critiques and alternative analysis pathways from more senior team members.
The final two weeks of the internship were spent assisting with smaller discrete tasks within an ongoing client project. As previously mentioned, it was easier to communicate with other team members remotely having met in person, which proved especially helpful when working in a pair. During this period of work, I mainly developed my Excel skills data organisation, as well as my interpersonal skills by sitting in on Edenseven client meetings.
Reflections
Overall, my experience at Edenseven was both enjoyable and informative. While straightforward, the first four weeks of work were sufficiently challenging that I gained new insight into both hard skills such as Excel, and soft skills like time management and productivity maximization. The second section of the internship offered experience of remote work in a team, company-client conduct, and further developed my skills in Excel. Furthermore, the team at Edenseven were consistently welcoming, supportive, and happy to engage with my questions and suggestions, allowing me to gain experience working within a company, in both remote and office environments. Both this and the tasks I was set created an excellent opportunity to improve my skills.
Working with Edenseven has also strengthened my opinions about career-pathways post-graduation. The work was very accessible and allowed me an insight into professional environmental consultancy. Furthermore, I was advised on the wide range of job opportunities available to me, allowing for a more comprehensive understanding of the opportunities accessible. In addition, working with Edenseven increased my awareness of the impact certain companies and enterprises have on the environment, which encouraged me to more deeply consider what I would like to achieve in my future career. This has directed me to specific career pathways, such as environmental consultancy in the context of biodiversity issues, an area which I am particularly interested in. I am very grateful to Edenseven for taking me on and providing a welcoming and engaging learning experience.
My internship work was subsequently published as a white paper, available here.
