Shirley Tian, a third-year History and Politics student, spent summer 2025 interning with Student Experience Services. Read on to hear Shirley reflect on her experience as an Employ.ed on Campus Intern, along with her top advice for future interns joining the programme.
What my internship entailed: Expectations vs reality
I worked part-time as a Student Experience Intern within the University’s Strategic Change Service Group during summer 2025. Before starting the role, my understanding of student experience came from my own lived experiences within the University, including: transitioning into university life, navigating higher education as an international student, adapting to structural differences as a joint degree student, and working across the University in spaces like the Careers Service and Centre for Open Learning.
However, during the internship, I realised that student experience is also shaped through institutional coordination, strategic planning, continuous improvement work, and collaboration between different teams behind the scenes. I learned how much work goes into ensuring student experience remains central to the University’s strategy.
Learning to navigate the professional environment as a student
One of the biggest learning curves during my internship was learning how to navigate the shift from being a student to working alongside staff in a professional environment. Initially, I found it challenging to understand how different groups were connected, how decisions were communicated, how different projects I was involved in linked together, and how to contribute confidently to meetings without feeling like I was ‘overstepping’ as a student intern. Over time, I realised that my student perspective was valuable, and I became more comfortable contributing to discussions around student voices, mapping PhD student mental health support, and other continuous improvement initiatives.
Beyond the job description: The skills I ended up developing
The internship also helped me to develop practical and transferable skills. Balancing this role alongside two other part-time internships taught me the importance of time management and organisation. Creating colour-coded work plans, sharing my calendar work blocks with my supervisor and other group leads, managing weekly and daily to-do lists, and even reflective journaling on the way to work became small habits that helped me structure my workload while keeping track of longer-term projects and deadlines without burning myself out.
I gained experience in stakeholder communication, report writing, outreach, quantitative research and proposal drafting. I learnt how to adapt my communication style depending on the audience, whether it was writing blog content for students, participating in senior meetings with staff across different departments, or drafting ideas and proposals with feedback from line managers. One ‘trick’ I learnt from my line manager was to be pro-active and straightforward with meeting times with senior staff members. It is one aspect of the internship that surprised me – the level of initiative-taking and independent thinking that the role encouraged. Rather than just simply completing assigned tasks, I was also encouraged to reflect on gaps, suggest ideas and think critically about how student experience can be improved more meaningfully across the University.
Thinking about taking part in an Employ.ed Internship or recently been appointed? Here are my top tips:
- Set up consistent check-in meetings with your supervisor and ensure you have a visible support system
One of the most helpful parts of my internship was having regular catch-ups with my line manager. These meetings gave me space to ask questions, clarify expectations, reflect on challenges, and talk through ideas before moving forward with projects. Especially in large university environments where multiple teams and projects overlap, having a visible support system makes a huge difference and helps you feel more confident navigating unfamiliar spaces. Remember, you are not expected to come into these spaces to know everything, part of why you are doing the internship is you are learning on the job. Having early consistent communication with your team members and colleagues will make the learning journey way easier along the way!
- Utilise creative time management tools
Balancing multiple projects, meetings, deadlines, and other commitments can quickly become overwhelming during an internship. Setting up a clear system early on can make a huge difference in staying organised and reducing stress. Tools such as colour-coded work plans, shared calendars, weekly to-do lists, and reflective journaling can help structure your workload and keep track of priorities. The important thing to be aware of is, rather than trying to follow a “perfect” productivity method, focus on building routines and systems that realistically fit your own working style and schedule.
- Do the Employ.ed on Campus Edinburgh Award along the way!
If you have the opportunity, I would strongly recommend completing the Employ.ed on Campus Edinburgh Award alongside your internship. One thing I appreciated about the Award was that it encouraged me to pause and reflect intentionally on what I was learning throughout the experience, rather than only thinking about it afterwards. It also helped me articulate the skills, challenges, and professional growth I was developing in ways that became genuinely useful for future applications, interviews, and career planning.
- Have fun and connect with other interns
While internships are a great opportunity for professional development, they are also a chance to meet new people across different departments and parts of the University. Taking time to have lunch, grab coffee, or simply chat with your fellow interns can make the experience feel far less intimidating and much more enjoyable. It is also a great way to learn about different roles, projects, and career paths that you may not otherwise come across. Building these connections can create a stronger sense of community throughout the internship and make the experience feel more collaborative rather than purely work-focused. Take the opportunity to get to know the person next to you during your internship induction or intern networking sessions, it will make your internship experience a lot more fun along the way!
After reading this blog, if you would like to learn more about the Employ.ed Programme, please visit the Careers Service Website: Employ.ed on Campus | Careers Service | Careers Service
If you’d like to connect with Shirley, you can find her on LinkedIn: Shirley Tian
