Internships: Preparing Young People for their Future Careers 

Mary Macleod

• Uncategorized
• Employment and Skills
• Diversity and Inclusion

The partnership between businesses and education providers has always been critical, but it feels even more important today. With the increasing changes in technology and more people working from home or hybrid, it’s important that we remember how investing time and face-to-face interactions with young people can set them on the path to success.  

We can all remember the journey of getting some work experience, finding our first job or the experience that kickstarted our careers. Although workplaces today may look slightly different to how they looked when I started out, the essential skills needed for any career are still the same. Collaboration, problem solving and communication are all essential skills that every person needs when entering the world of work, and the earlier people learn them, the better equipped they will be to succeed in any workplace.  

Ensuring every young person has a clear pathway into work

At Business in the Community (BITC), we work with businesses across the UK to ensure that every young person has a clear pathway into work. It’s never too early for businesses to work with young people to prepare them for their futures, and I firmly believe that giving young people the opportunity to experience the world of work before they have left school is vital to give them confidence and create aspiration. Good quality workplace visits, work experience and paid internships can be a valuable way for employers to support young people to develop skills, gain confidence and get experience in the world of work, so that they are prepared for their careers.

BITC’s paid internships

At BITC, we were delighted to have two extremely talented young people take part in our internship scheme this summer. We worked with Career Ready as part of their paid internship programme and Nisandara and Shaquil joined BITC for a month-long paid internship during their school summer holidays. 

Now that their internship has come to an end, I sat down with Nisandara and Shaquil to hear from them about their experience during their time at BITC and how they feel their internship has helped them prepare for their future careers.

What made you decide to apply for the Career Ready paid internship programme? What did you hope to get out of your internship?

Nisandara: I wanted to work on expanding my networking skills. Being in school, you’re not really prepared for the world of work, and that’s the main reason why I applied to the internship. I think I’ve definitely developed those skills during my time at BITC, because even just being in the office, I’ve been able to talk to people and book meetings with them to talk about what I want to do in the future and get their best advice. 

Shaquil: I wasn’t quite sure what I wanted to do as a career, so I was really just trying to do any internship that would tell me what I like and what I don’t like. I think with BITC especially, the charity sector is something I had never considered, so I was really interested in what the day-to-day might look like. 

You’ve spent the past month shadowing and speaking to people in a variety of different roles across the organisation and supporting various teams. What has been the most interesting thing you’ve learnt or done during your internship?

N: I think definitely the work we’ve done on supporting Black, Asian, Mixed Race, and other ethnically diverse young people into work, because I never knew there were these kinds of programmes out there to help people, and I think it’s really important to be spreading awareness of that topic into businesses. I think that’s the most important and interesting thing we’ve done here. 

S: I would agree with Nisandara, because the whole thing is about getting Black, Asian, Mixed Race, and other ethnically diverse young people into work, especially those who might come from disadvantaged backgrounds, and we ourselves are ethnically minoritised people, so participating in making that kind of change was the most interesting part. I didn’t think I would be able to have any real impact coming into an internship. 

Have you gained any new skills or developed any existing skills as a result of this internship that you think might help you in your future career or later in life?

N: I think I’ve developed my teamwork skills. Everything we’ve done so far, we’ve done together. We’ve developed these skills and given feedback. Teamwork is definitely a skill I’ve been able to develop. 

S: I would also say teamwork, but also communication skills – being more confident to talk to people. Even something like booking meetings used to seem quite daunting, but I think through doing this internship, and being able to ask questions and set up meetings, it’s a skill that I’ve gained during my time at BITC. 

Has there been a particular highlight of your experience working at BITC? 

N: Definitely going to the House of Lords. I don’t think many people get the opportunity to go inside the House of Lords, and it was really interesting to see as well. 

S: There are so many: going to the House of Lords, the day we got to shadow you as the CEO, but I think all of them were just good opportunities for us to see how expansive BITC is, because there’s just so much going on. 

What’s your advice to employers to support young people looking to kickstart their careers? 

S: I think a lot of young people lack confidence in their career. Environments like this, where people are friendly and it feels okay to ask questions and make mistakes, can help young people build skills, because they’re not worried about being judged for any mistakes they make. That’s definitely better than an environment where you’re scared to ask questions or do something wrong. 

N: I completely agree with Shaquil’s point on confidence. Before coming into this internship, I was definitely less confident and more worried about getting things wrong. Creating an environment where people don’t feel guilty after they do something wrong, and are supported to learn from it, is so important.

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