Paulina Met was an Animation Intern in the Careers Service in Summer 2021. Hear from her about her experiences leading up to the internship and what she’s learned heading into graduation.
When nearing the end of your degree, I think it becomes almost unavoidable to think about future job prospects and reminisce about experiences that could help you on your career journey. I am currently finishing my BA Honours Degree in Illustration and will be joining the 2022 cohort graduating this summer. I am also pleased to say that I have accepted the position of Digital Content Executive at a law organisation in Edinburgh ahead of graduating.
The past four years studying illustration have been exciting, challenging, and incredibly useful. Throughout the degree I was able to learn how to use industry standard software, respond to briefs with creativity and innovation, and develop my understanding of effective uses of visual and textual language in a design context. I was able to take my interests and skills from within the degree and apply them to the roles and work experiences I sought externally. I think there is an emphasis on freelance and portfolio work as a common career path for illustrators, which can definitely be rewarding, but I personally always wanted to use my design skills in the context of an organisation or company due to the stability that offers. Therefore, I was intentional with the work experience I gathered during my degree and focussed my freelance commission work to involve designing communications, logos, and social media marketing content. Within an administrative position at a care home during the summer of 2019 I also jumped at the chance to create marketing and communication content for an open day event they were hosting.
However, one of my most valuable work experiences began in the summer of 2021, when I joined the Careers Service as an Employ.ed Animation Intern. Not only was this a paid position, but it was also an opportunity for me to further my design skills and gain experience creating content for a large professional body. I was able to learn how to create educational animations, translate complex information into accessible content, liaise with stakeholders, adhere to branding guidelines, and much more. After finishing my internship, I was offered a part-time position at the Careers Service to continue creating animations, this time in a social media context. Through this role I realised I wanted to use my design background in a communications/content creation context, as I found the process of creating accessible and engaging content to represent an organisation incredibly rewarding.
I began applying for positions in early 2022. I interviewed for a few roles here and there, and after three rounds of interviews I was offered the position of Digital Content Executive, which I am so excited to start in a few short weeks. I credit a lot of the experience that led to this role to my internship with Employ.Ed, as I learnt so many relevant skills that helped me achieve this position. Working with content about careers was also very helpful, as it taught me a lot about the graduate labour market, recognising relevant work experiences, applying for jobs, and different interview styles. I would definitely encourage others to make use of the Careers Service content, and for 2nd to penultimate year students to take advantage of the Employ.ed internship opportunities. It was an informative and exciting experience, which in my case helped me plan and achieve some exciting career milestones!
Paulina used her internship to help her Become Professional. Find out more about this on our website.
