As I was going to be in Sheffield for the summer, I believed that it was a good idea to spend my time in a meaningful way and bringing my contribution to the University while also learning new skills.
Career Connect
I have completed the application form and after I was contacted and invited for an interview. The interview was on Google Meets. After my interview, I received very shortly an email saying that I was accepted.
I chose Insigneo because the position advertised was for an Events Assistant. I would have to help organise the Insigneo Showcase, a yearly conference. My bachelor's degree is in Events Management and before the pandemic, I really wanted to work as a conference manager. Now I had the chance to experience that.
My main responsibilities were to communicate via email with different stakeholders (attendees, catering, speakers, exhibitors). I was in charge of Insigneo Communications' email address and I was dealing with any enquiries I was receiving. I kept the count of how many registrations we had and went through them to see what dietary requirements we have and send those over to the catering team. I produced materials such as the Instructions for the day (a document that explains to attendees how to get to the venue, transportation links and other details), the pictures that appeared on the LCD screens in Diamond on the day and the final presentation PowerPoint. This presentation was comprised of the majority of the speakers' presentations.
I didn't have a typical day. As the event was approaching, our tasks were also different. But when I was working, I would start by opening the Insigneo Communications email and see if I have any new emails. I would respond to them and if I wouldn't know the answer, I would ask my manager for help. I would then work on the task that I was given and that was relevant to the stage we are at, during the organisation of the event.
Everything. My manager was amazing. We worked really well together and I really enjoyed learning from her and hearing more about her work at Insigneo and the events she did in the past. I really enjoyed the conference as well. It was the result of our hard work and it was great to see people happy.
Sometimes the deadlines we were setting, for example for speakers to send in their presentations, weren't met so we needed to allocate extra time and think about ways we can work around it. Luckily, every challenge was successfully overcome.
No. However, I used many of the skills learned from my Bachelor's Degree as I studied Events Management. I believe almost everything I have done in the internship was something that I heard of before during my studies.
I am not sure yet. I want to try and pursue a career in the Technology sector. I don't think I will be working in the events industry too soon again.
I will look for full-time jobs and use the experience from the internship to demonstrate my communications and management skills.
Form completed: 22 Jul 2022