A couple of weeks ago I admit I was actually excited when the first of the internships appeared. Designed specifically for out of work graduates and therefore a place where experience is less likely to be a differentiator they were perfect for me. I was told to submit a covering letter and a C.V which I did.
Two weeks later and I have now applied for six different marketing internships all in different guises. Some have attached research, administration, design and P.R. Some are three months long, some are twelve. Some involve working in Southampton, others are as far north as Hook. The thing they all have in common. They are produced by GJS based in the same office in Southampton Solent University.
Can anyone spot a potential issue yet?
Writing a covering letter is time consuming. Most jobs require covering letters to accompany C.Vs so if you have any sense you have templates. After all if you are after jobs in the same industry what you want to say is likely to be very similar. One of the particulars for the internship is what you think it will do for you. Regardless of which internship I end up on, I hope it will do the same thing. The result is I have now attached six virtually identical covering letters and the office that receive them are probably sick of me. The thing is I don't see what else I could have done. An intelligent approach would have been to have one letter explaining why any internship would benefit you and what skills you hope to gain.
I still have not heard from any of the positions yet but if more keep appearing which will provide me with useful skills and carry the coveted "marketing" in the title I will keep applying until the GJS have a small pile of my applications. Yes I prefer some over others but any of them would make a massive difference to me and my chances of forging a career in marketing and therefore I will keep applying.
May the internships never end. Although it would be nice to hear from one or all of them soon.
Dear Anthony,
ReplyDeleteI am the Project Manager for Graduate Jobs South (GJS) who are coordinating the internship scheme you mention above.
GJS are advertising the paid internship positions on our website and emailing employers candidate's CVs and Covering Letters after the closing date. In some cases the employers have asked us to short list for them which we are doing based on the criteria set by them and the internship advert. It makes no difference that we are based in Southampton, the internships could be anywhere in Hampshire, and a couple are in the wider 'South'.
This scheme has only been live for a couple of weeks and only now are the employers reviewing the applications so hopefully you will hear from them shortly.
All the best with your applications.
Meredith
Dear Meredith,
ReplyDeleteThank you for the response. It is good to have a better idea of the process. I have to admit I originally thought the companies were based in Southampton but soon figured out that was not the case.
It seems an excellent scheme and one designed for people like me. Hopefully I will be able to convince one of the companies I am the right person for them.
Glad to also know that my covering letter does go to the employer so one person does not have to read the same one over and over again. :)
Your approach is wrong! what you should do is actually go there and hassle them, it is all too easy these days to delete emails even to toss your letter in the bin.
ReplyDeleteIf you go there you get to make an impression on them and you cannot easily be evaded!
I trust graduate jobs south, they have always been good in the past and really are looking to find jobs for graduates unlike many agencies. The closing date was only late this week so I am not too worried yet...
ReplyDelete