• To Everyone That Has Made Me Smile

    Hi, I’m Reece, and I am a student at Edge Hill University and a Student Intern within the Faculty of Education (FoE).

    How is there only five weeks left to the internship? I’m not sure how it has gone so fast, but I definitely don’t want it to end.

    This will be quite different from any other piece I have written as I will explain why working with a great team has made me more motivated, confident, and engaged in work.

    Balloons

    Let’s start with the FoE team…

    The FoE team are brilliant, and I don’t think I have a bad thing to say about any of them. Every morning we have a team meeting to discuss our work and deadlines. However, we also end up chatting about the next Marvel film or how I don’t like chocolate but sometimes drink a Mocha. The endless conversations and the laughs we cherish are what makes the internship so much more fun.

    Neon lights saying 'say cheese'

    Ailsa, you are a dream to work with, and I can honestly say that the team would be lost without you. You make our meetings more engaging, and I’m sure I have been told a new story from your life every time we organise a Microsoft Teams meeting. Thank you for being the mum of the group.

    Harry, I’m not sure where to start, but I do want to say sorry for always annoying you. However, you are very hard-working. You deserve a reward for all the tasks you have completed during the internship. Calm.

    Amy, you are really kind-hearted, and I always appreciate it when we work together because not only are we a great team, but we are always laughing together. Although you were quiet at the beginning of the internship, we now can’t get you to be quiet. You bring positivity to the team, and I am grateful for that. Thank you.

    Sharnie, you definitely bring creativity to the team. All your engaging tasks are very enjoyable, especially the Escape Room that I completed in only 6 minutes (hehe). You are always smiling, and like the rest of the team, your positivity radiates through our Teams meetings. When you return to Ormskirk, you are definitely coming for a drink.

    Faye, every time you speak, I just visualise how happy you were on your 60 seconds with Faye video. Them jazz hands will definitely be one of the highlights of the internship. You are always smiling and are always there to help the rest of us when we are struggling.

    And Emma, you are so hard-working, and I think the team would be lost without you. Thank you for completing that huge spreadsheet task with Amy, but make sure you don’t open Microsoft Excel for another few weeks, or you will go insane.

    Well, that is the FoE Interns in a nutshell. We are all very different, but I think we work well as a team. I have made some really good friends, and even last weekend we had a fantastic day together. The FoE team has helped me improve my communication skills and become more confident and engaged in work. You are all fantastic people, so thank you.

    So now, the Vlog-Blog Squad Wellbeing team. After the initial meeting, Eleanor, Amber, and I joined forces and set up a meeting to discuss ideas. Now we produce so much content every week, and I have learnt so much from you. However, after a few meetings, we suddenly got a new member, Lydia, who has been so fun to work with (p.s. you still need to make a TikTok). Eleanor, you are so kind and considerate of everyone. Even the well-being session you created was so thoughtful. Amber, you are the most creative because Lydia “doesn’t have a creative bone in her body” (your words Lydia, not mine). Amber, thank you for helping me with my Vlog and just always being friendly and chatty. Finally, Lydia, thank you for being supportive. Although you joined late, you are definitely a great addition to the team.

    Now, all the staff. Sarah, you are a bundle of joy, and you always light up our team meetings. Thank you for being so supportive and always making sure we are comfortable in the roles and tasks you assign. Thank you, Laura and Leah, for giving me this opportunity and providing a support system where I feel comfortable asking any question.

    Thank you to everyone that has made me smile. 🙂 I am looking forward to meeting the rest of the interns when we go out in September.

    I hope you have enjoyed reading this.

    Photograph of people sitting around a campfire

    By Reece Thomas (Student Intern)

    Picture of Reece Thomas.

    Laura

  • Week in the life of a Student Intern – Milena Bittmar.

    Hi, my name is Milena, I am going into my third year studying English Literature and I am a Digital Student Intern at Edge Hill University. I am based in the Language Centre, which includes the Foreign Language side and also the English Language side. In this blog, I am going to show you what I get up to in a week, as a Digital Student Intern. This week I am also setting myself a goal to do something good for my physical and mental wellbeing every day, even if it is only something small.

    Monday:

    On Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, I worked with James in the English Language side of the Language Centre department, 8:45 until 17:00, with an hour lunch break (which we can pick to have at any time). The first thing I did in the morning was open up Microsoft Teams on my laptop and make sure my status says available, so everyone knew that I could be contacted and that I am at work, and then the rest of the apps that I needed for the day. This included opening up Excel, where I log what I do throughout the day and also an changes that I make to the level of accessibility on the module that I work on in the day. This morning, James had uploaded some voiced-over PowerPoints, and I was in charge of making sure the captions all made sense, in terms of correct spelling and punctuation. This is one of my favourite things to do, despite being quite time consuming, as it is satisfying to see it all done at the end. I had five different videos to edit captions for, all between fifteen and twenty minutes, and therefore it took me the majority of the day! After my lunch break, I worked on making different documents (mostly PDFs) as accessible as possible through Adobe Acrobat DC, on a specific module.

    My wellbeing task of the day – I started my week off by having a really healthy and filling breakfast of porridge with banana, blueberries and chia seeds, and did not forget my vitamins!

    Black and red cherries on white bowl

    Tuesday:

    On Tuesday morning, I carried on making the module accessible. A lot of documents started at under 50% and ended up being 100% accessible!

    It is important to take breaks and therefore my wellbeing task of the way was to spend as much time as I could outside, as well as doing my work. I made a set up outside in the 30 degree sunshine, although in the shade, got Weeks 5-10 completely accessible by the end of the day. In the evening, just before finishing work, I also filled in my daily timetable, where I write down the hours I worked.

    Silhouette of mountains during sunset

    Wednesday:

    This morning, it was my last day working in the English Language sector with James, and so I wanted to finish making the module as accessible as possible (aiming for all of the documents to be 100% accessible by the end of the day). I spent the morning working on accessibility through Adobe Acrobat DC and then uploading them onto our University’s VLE system.

    I completed all of the weeks, and the still had an hour to spare, so I thought I would get on with a LinkedIn Learning course on proofreading and editing, as I thought it would benefit my work now, and also in the future as I am planning to pursue a career in that sector once graduating and taking on a Masters in Publishing. That course took me to the end of the day, where I logged the hours I worked and signed out.

    My wellbeing task for the day was to go for a walk, and because it was cooler than most days in the evening, I took my dog on a sunset walk in the park, and it was so lovely to get some fresh air, other than the garden – and movement is also so important for you mental and physical wellbeing.

    People walking on green grass field near green trees under blue sky during daytime

    Thursday:

    On Thursday I worked with Lucy in the Foreign Language sector. I was making documents accessible, which included editing Italian PowerPoints, Word documents and PDFs.

    I continued making documents accessible throughout the day, completed a LinkedIn Learning course and also wrote more of my blog when I had time. Then, as my wellbeing task, I read a book in the evening and made sure I got a really long, good night’s sleep – as that is what your brain needs the most after sunshine and working all day!

    Person holding book sitting on brown surface

    Friday:

    Today, on the last day of the week, I worked with Lucy to make an additional module accessible, including a series of documents focused on the Mandarin language, which was exciting! I did that for majority of the day, and then had a meeting at 15:30 with the Language Centre to let them know what I have been working on all week and for them to let me know what I will be doing next week. I wrote up my weekly reflection and then finished off my blog, before going to enjoy the sunshine. My wellbeing task of the day was to get some sunshine, before it rains next week, and to socialise with a friend – which I did!

    Trees during golden hour

    By Milena Bittmar (Student Intern)

    Laura

  • Getting started with LinkedIn Learning

    What is LinkedIn Learning?  

    Photograph of Student working on laptop

    LinkedIn Learning is an online skills development website ran by LinkedIn.  

    All the courses are developed by experts.  It provides an extensive library of online training videos and exercise files for users to be able to develop their skills further.  

    LinkedIn Learning is a free service for any student with a @edgehill.ac.uk email address and can be linked with your own personal LinkedIn account too. 

    Many of the courses the University offers have Linkedin Learning courses that complement the module to allow you to further study and helps encourage self-learning.  

    Why use LinkedIn Learning?  

    LinkedIn Learning can offer users the chance to:  

    • Develop digital skills 
    • Keep up to date with training  
    • Further develop professional skills  
    • Encourages Self-learning 
    • Flexible around your lifestyle  
    • Provides you with a history of courses you have took/skills 
    • Encourages career development 
    • Encourages professional development  
    • Lots of course to go alongside your degree! 

    Courses to help you land your prefect job 

    Photograph of Student working on laptop

    Maybe you are looking for something new, maybe you have new goals, new opportunities you want to apply to help you find that exciting new job you have always wanted. To help with this we are presenting you with many of the best LinkedIn Learning courses which not only helped us but the millions of professionals that got hired last year. It is always important to brush up on your interview and CV skills and this is what many of the professionals generally focused on, first impressions matter. Getting your CV and interview stage done correctly sets yourself up for a much better chance in the hiring process as it allows your skills to stand out above the rest.  

    Interview and CV courses 

    Photograph of Student writing on a piece of paper

    There is also a course on LinkedIn Learning called Career Advice from Some of the Biggest Names in Business. It consists of collective advice from some of the world’s most influential thinkers, leaders, and innovators. They have run some of the biggest companies, created the biggest and most loved brands and changed the world. This course brings together the best insights from interviews with LinkedIn Influencers such as Richard Branson, Bill Gates, Meg Whitman and many more.  

    However, you need to do more than just get the interview questions right. You will need to demonstrate that you have the skills for the specific job. Especially nowadays with the ongoing pandemic, skills such as software development, marketing, project management and data analysis are all in demand, and software such as Excel and Microsoft Teams are becoming common knowledge as we all come to terms with working from home. Therefore, it is important for applicants to watch these courses to not only brush up on any new skills they might offer but to stay updated on new developments within the industry allowing you to stay ahead of the competition. 

    Here are our top recommendations for LinkedIn Learning courses for your departments:  

    Software Development 

    Marketing  

    Project Management 

    Data Analysis 

    General Courses 

    More information and support with LinkedIn Learning can be found here – https://www.edgehill.ac.uk/ls/linkedinlearning/

    By Katie McCarthy and Daniel Bresnahan

    Laura

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