Describe your role and what it entails

As a department in Human Resources, the Talent Acquisition team oversees all stages of recruitment across Europe, the Middle East and Africa. In my role, I have been the key support in the recruitment of various positions. In particular, I have been closely involved with the graduate recruitment team, supporting with the recruitment of over 40 internships and multiple global graduate schemes. I feel that in my role, I have had the opportunity to be involved in a good variety of recruitment areas, giving me a well-rounded experience of recruitment in a global industry-leading organisation.  

Throughout my internship, I have been given a great amount of responsibility. My daily tasks vary depending on where we are in the recruitment cycle. However, regular tasks include screening and communicating with candidates; sending and evaluating HireVue and SHL assessments; sending out approval to offer and contract requests; and evaluating graduate recruitment data.  

What have been your highlights?

The company culture at Hilton has made my internship a fantastic experience with numerous highlights. A large emphasis is placed on team member well-being and ‘thriving’ at work. This can be seen in the various social and educational events that are regularly held in the office. For example, a pizza and Pommery tasting event held by the social committee after work. Despite having the flexibility to work from home in my role, the culture in the office and the great range of events motivate you to come in as much as possible! 

Furthermore, I feel that the interns are encouraged to experience as much as possible in their time at Hilton. This was evident when I was asked to assist with the 2022 EMEA Leadership Conference in our London Metropole hotel. This was definitely a highlight for many as we met several key stakeholders in the organisation and had a great experience learning about all of the different functions in the business. The after-party was also a very fun networking opportunity! 

What challenges have you faced during your internship?  

Like many interns, my placement at Hilton was my first experience working in a corporate environment. Therefore, this came with numerous challenges and learning curves.  

My biggest challenge has been learning to adapt to a large workload and effectively time-managing multiple deadlines. Upon starting the internship, I thought that I had good time management skills from my experience of completing work at university. I quickly learned that time management at work is vastly different to university. With the support of my team, I have effectively improved my time-management skills, learning how to balance long-term and short-term deadlines and reprioritising tasks when needed.   

What have you learnt from your experience in the role?

As mentioned, time management has been a key area of development throughout my internship. However, there are numerous other skills that I have developed alongside this.  

In particular, my confidence in networking and communicating has improved vastly. In my role, I have had the opportunity to speak to a variety of candidates around the world, improving my communication skills with individuals from a range of backgrounds. Furthermore, I have improved my confidence in speaking to senior employees at Hilton, which has been a great opportunity to expand my learning.

What advice would you give to a student following in your footsteps?  

Coming to the end of my placement, I would advise prospective interns to get involved in as many opportunities as possible in their placement year. At Hilton, there are so many possibilities to develop, learn new skills and socialise with a range of people. Taking advantage of as many of these as possible will give you the best experience of your placement year, enabling you to take away as much as possible for the future.

A year goes by very quickly, therefore, I would encourage future interns to enjoy and make the most of their placement experience! I would recommend my role to anyone looking to complete a placement year.