Liverpool Interns 2021

Posted on: 3 March 2022 by Olga Chatzidaki in Employer Connections Blog

We sourced opportunities from across a range of sectors, where we matched interns into roles that complemented their degree programmes, skills and interests and were paid £1000 for their work, fully funded by the University of Liverpool via our Santander Universities partnership.

Liverpool Interns Business Recovery Programme 2021   

The pandemic has seen many SMEs in the Liverpool City Region (LCR) experience significant difficulties, disruption and opportunities for growth within their businesses.  At the same time, an increasing number of University of Liverpool (UoL) students and graduates aspire to work in LCR, so it’s crucial that the Careers & Employability team are able to expose them to local opportunities.   

UoL responded to these two challenges in 2020/21 by introducing our Liverpool Interns programme designed to create exclusive opportunities for our students and graduates whilst playing an integral role in supporting business recovery in our region. Through this project, we funded 132 short-term internships enabling local businesses to take advantage of the skills our students and grads can offer.  

We sourced opportunities from across a range of sectors.  Short-term, growth boosting 100 hour projects were developed in partnership with the businesses which we advertised to an engaged pool of our talented students and graduates.  Interns were matched into roles that complemented their degree programmes, skills and interests and were paid £1000 for their work, fully funded by the University of Liverpool via our Santander Universities partnership.   

Projects were delivered flexibly to meet individual business and interns’ needs.  Some opportunities were part-time roles completed around students’ studies for up to 8 weeks, some were shorter, full-time 3 week projects delivered by recent graduates and there were many that were completed remotely due to the Covid pandemic and new ways of working.   

Benefits to the Interns  

Across the programme, 132 of our students and graduates have enhanced their employability and developed their skills via these exclusive experiential opportunities. These internships have provided students with opportunities to immerse themselves in various roles across a range of sectors.  These experiences contribute enormously towards shaping the career journeys of our students, allowing them to explore industries, gain ‘real world’ experience, build substantive (professional) relationships, and to experience the benefits of working within a SME.  Furthermore, this programme introduced students to a broad range of regional employers they may not have previously considered.  

Find out more here.

SME Success Story – Crowberry Consulting Ltd  

One key partner in this programme was Crowberry Consulting who have collaborated with us to develop a pipeline of talent into their business since 2016.  Crowberry provides environmental, energy, net carbon zero, sustainability and ethical management consultancy to businesses across Europe. 

Via Liverpool Interns in 2020/21, Crowberry provided us with an exclusive opportunity for a student to complete a Legal Executive Internship focussed on providing support to their clients with legal compliance linked to energy and environmental legislation and human rights. 

From a business perspective, the key aim was to attract a talented candidate to address skills shortages. Thembiza Amone, a first year Law student, was successfully appointed.   

The project enabled Thembiza to:   

  • Develop research skills by supporting research into energy, environmental and human rights legislation.
  • Understand the importance of teamwork, and practice this, within a micro-sized business.  
  • Demonstrate the capability/willingness to request guidance/support to deliver the project  
  • Develop new training products.  
  • Develop time management skills, travelling to the company offices in Chorley to complete the internship alongside her studies. 
  • Develop networking skills by promoting the business to a wider audience at a series of events.
  • Work shadow the MD on client visits to discuss legislation and how it impacts on the management systems.
  • Learn about sustainability more broadly and how compliance supports this process. 
  • Improve written communication skills via opportunities to update and write concise reports.
  • Use and develop critical thinking skills to successfully complete the project. 

Due to the impact of Thembiza in this role, the internship was extended for an additional 8 weeks.   

Crowberry Consulting quoted: 

“We have worked for several years with the University of Liverpool team on Post Graduate Research internships and paid internships more recently via Liverpool Interns. In all cases this has supported our business with short term resource needs be this research related for business development, supporting our clients with report production and analysis, or developing new commercial training content for example. "

Upon learning about Liverpool Interns, as an Alumni member, Becky Toal Managing Director was confident the programme would support us as an SME.  Many small businesses are resource stretched and having the ability to work with highly intelligent interns who are focussed and provide great skills to fill gaps that otherwise we could not fill.   

Crowberry Consulting is a sustainability consultancy based in Chorley and we are members of the Diversity in Sustainability campaign led by the Institute of Environmental Management and Assessment.  The Sustainability Sector is very un-diverse and by working closely with the University of Liverpool we have been able to support student internships from Zambia, Mexico and the UK, and host students from under-represented groups and females.   

Often students from international countries find it difficult to obtain internships in the UK due to perceived visa issues. We are proud of our record with University of Liverpool to offer roles that support diversity and inclusion in the sustainability sector.   

As a women-owned and LGBT owned business we have a great opportunity to showcase our services and to inspire our interns to achieve more whilst being fully inclusive.

Find out more here.

More Liverpool Interns coming soon! 

The Employer Connections Team is proud of our work supporting SMEs and the opportunities this creates for our students and graduates.  

Our 2022 Liverpool Interns offer will be launched in January 2022 - please contact us to get involved.