Innovation Marketing Internship Review

CRUK is such a vibrant, exciting and inspiring organisation to work for. With a business model of attempting to put themselves out of business in 40 years, you really understand what makes everyone get up in the morning. Great sense of morale and spirit in CRUK, very friendly, smart and enthusiastic people, and with around 45 interns on each intake, it's difficult not to really enjoy yourself.

I performed a range of different roles for a range of different colleagues in my team and wider department. I was requested by certain colleagues to perform certain tasks because what I had to offer was above and beyond what was expected, and was saving the company hundreds of pounds at the same time! From the regular feedback I was provided with, to the thankyou's I received after a deadline was met, I felt like I was really adding value to the team.

The scheme at CRUK is incredibly well catered around you and your personal development. From the first day of inductions, we were provided with a personal development pack to fill in every week, to note down the key soft and hard skills we were developing, how we were developing them, and how these could be translated into future roles, and their applications/interviews. Weekly 1:1 meetings with my manager helped pin down a lot of the work I had produced that week, and what they meant to the organisation, and what they meant for my personal development. Mid-way through the scheme, we each attended a days workshop on career skills, covering applications, cv's, interviews, and how we could translate the work we were doing, into a clear and impressive format for future employers. Ran by HR, we were also given a 1:1 CV training workshop where we were personally advised on how to best present your CV!

There was never a moment on the scheme where I had zero work to do. The way my programme was run was purely project based. I had two to three larger projects to work produce and submit over the course of the 12 weeks, and inbetween these were weekly projects to fulfill, and inbetween these were more sporadic projects that were assigned to me from various members of the team and department, such as desk research or graphic design tasks. The scheme also provides ample opportunity to get together with fellow interns and organise socials and fundraisers, it was the perfect balance really! As long as you stay on top of the projects you're working on, and keep stakeholders and managers up to date with your progress, then there's plenty of flexibility to work on the tasks that you wish to work on!

I was tasked with many projects that I was solely working on, producing entire reports on certain aspects of campaigns or competitors that would really add value to larger pieces of work that entire teams were producing. I was given a project to devleop and direct an entire communications plan for warm supporter audiences and internal staff, to inform and produce a call to action for one of the latest innovations. In other words, you are given a lot of trust and repsonsibility from colleagues and supervisors.

While my scheme was not orientated around my degree, I've developed a wide range of soft skills, and hard skills, and commercial acumen, having worked in an organisation with 2000+ people, in the UK's largest third sector innovation department, in the world's largest Cancer Research organisation. This scheme has hugely developed my confidence, my abilities, and my drive, which will with no doubt, assist me with future roles and their applications.

Very positive, inspiring, and exciting. Not many organisations work to put themselves out of business (finding the cure to cancer). Everyone there is passionate about the cause, and work together to produce the highest level of output possible in their respective fields. The office is open plan, so very collaborative and team bonding.

The scheme is well established, and very well organised. The placement executive works very closely with managers and mentors to ensure the highest level of development is attributed to each placement. Everyone at CRUK is aware of the internship scheme, and is willing to help interns in whatever way possible.

Weekly 1:1s with my manager to revise what that week had covered, and what skills and experiences I had developed, was one example of how the scheme invests in you. Other examples include a mid-internship careers workshop, with a one to one CV development session with HR, and a mentor scheme where interns are able to choose a mentor from another part of the organisation, to help develop skills and learn about different parts of the company! Every piece of work you are assigned by your team/supervisor, are centered around your personal development, and assist you with gaining new skills, from competitor research, to data analysis, to graphic design.

The internship scheme is a very effective way of getting your foot in the door for openings and the graduate scheme. I know quite a few interns on my intake that have walked straight into jobs there as they are graduates. I'd be very confident in applying to any openings available, and the grad scheme.

As there were over 40 interns, there was never a week where some sort of social wasn't organised. The social life with fellow interns is never ending. Almost every day I had meetings with other interns to discuss socials, fundraisers and just to catch up. The organisation is also very youthful, so socialising with other members of your team is very easy, and drinks socials were often organised!

Being in London, obviously the drinks were more expensive that at University, but that's something you get used to. Food was normal pricing, and I was living at home so rent was not an issue.

Angel is a vibrant area of London, with plenty of pubs and bars to visit, and loads of restaurants and fast food venues to go to. Angel is also well connected and fairly central to the rest of London so travelling elsewhere for clubs was not a problem.

All the time! As almost every intern was working in a different department, there were always opportunities to get involved with other aspects of the organisation, from modelling and photoshoots, to attending sporting events across the country, and research lab tours! Never run out of things to get involved with at an organisation like CRUK!