My time at Brighton Chamber: An intern's perspective

As soon as you throw your mortar board in the air at graduation the dreaded question creeps up “So, what are you going to do next?” For many in my situation the answer includes many “umms”, “ahhs” and conversation topic changers. Thankfully the careers team at Sussex provided me with the tools to get an internship with the Brighton Chamber. This allowed me to gain practical career skills while working in a fun and friendly environment.

I was part of the Sussex graduate internship programme.  This programme funds companies and businesses to hire Sussex graduates for a 10 week internship. It is a competitive process. Prospective interns must follow an application process, then if selected have an interview with the company.

My official title was Events and Marketing Intern for the Brighton and Hove Chamber of Commerce.  While at the Chamber I was able to try lots of different things and take on many different responsibilities.  I spent a lot of time working on the social media aspect of the Chamber: making sure tweets and Facebook posts about events went up and keeping the Chamber active on the social media front.  I got to attend a variety of events that the Chamber held including every monthly Chamber breakfast. These were a good chance to network and learn about all the different companies and projects happening in Brighton. The Bite-sized Learning courses helped me to learn so many different skills, from how to write effectively to how to use google analytics. One of my favourite events to work on was The Big Debate.  From early on in my internship I did research on the debate topic for tweets. The day of the debate was lively, fast paced and very busy. I enjoyed working on such a successful event (150 people attended!).

During my time in the office I learnt how to use different programmes such as: Xero, Hootsuite, MailChimp and Zurmo.  Most were quite straightforward; however some like Xero took some time to get used to.  The Chamber team were very helpful, teaching me how to use the programmes and how they benefited their members. I also had the chance to update the Chamber website and even got to write blogs and press releases.

This internship has allowed me to gain practical office and working experience. Thankfully it hasn’t been just making tea and coffee.  I’ve been able to take on some real responsibility and do my own projects. Working for the Chamber has allowed me to understand more of what is going on around Brighton by meeting so many different people at events and hearing about their businesses and projects. The team has been so friendly, helpful and welcoming. I have learnt a lot working in such a friendly office environment.

If you want to employ an intern like me, or find out more about the scheme I was on click here.  Alternatively you can speak to someone from the Sussex careers team and they would be happy to help. 

This blog was written by Leah Adamson, Events and Marketing Intern 

If you want to contribute to the Chamber blog, contact us on hannah@brightonchamber.co.uk