If I can offer you one piece of advice it is this: Don’t settle for something that doesn’t make you happy.

A career is a lifetime investment. You wouldn’t go into a car dealership and buy the first car you were offered, nor would you accept a marriage proposal from a mediocre stranger, just because they’ve asked you. Choosing a career is no different – it’s a decision that’ll be with you for years to come, so take your time and choose carefully.

When I graduated with an MA from Edinburgh during the depths of the global recession, I had to forgo dreams of landing a grad-scheme job in a multinational corporation with years of stability ahead of me. At the same time, I couldn’t bear the thought of being a dogsbody in a dead-end job, working just to make ends meet. Instead I decided to ride out the recession, committing myself to a year of gaining experience and invariably working for free. I moved in with Grannie, ditched the gym membership, and signed up for jobseekers allowance knowing (hoping, praying) that in a years time I would have found the job of my dreams and it would all be worth it.

3 months into my graduate year, and one internship down, I came across the WEXO site, and more importantly came across an internship posting at LeapAnywhere.com. It was one of the only sites that listed jobs for skilled, savvy and interesting grads, with not a ‘sales clerk’ or ‘admin assistant’ role in site. Phew!

(This is now the section where i have to sum up my job and company; an incredibly hard task at the best of times, not least when I’m sitting at my desk, smiling at my boss, and already 100 words over the word limit.)

I rocked up to interview for the role of Charities Associate and felt immediately at home in an office-come-playroom, scattered with Macs, beanbags, park benches and laughter. In a somewhat overly friendly mood, I sat discussing philanthropy, politics and above all giggling with my interviewer for well over 2 hours. When asked if I had any questions I responded with “Do you like marmite?’ “Can you juggle” and “Would you rather have 6ft long arms or knees the size of footballs?”. I had a call the next morning offering me an intern role to start ASAP.

9 months later, I am the full time Head of Charities and Partnerships in an exciting, dynamic and familial internet start-up. I’m the happiest I could imagine, working in a company that begins the week with an ‘Inspiration Session’ and ends with week with ‘Beer-o-Clock’; combines my passions of charitable engagement with creative technological innovation, and offers me responsibilities well beyond my experience (but not beyond my aptitude). I have 400+ Charity partners on my books, and already feel like I’m making waves in an industry I’m professionally and emotionally committed to.

The moral of the story is this:

1. Be honest with yourself and your employer. (Offering my personality in interview paid dividends and meant that I was employed as a person not just a skill set).
2. Find something that makes you happy – don’t ‘settle’ for the first job you come across because you feel you have to.
3. Instead, get the experience you need.
4. Don’t rush your decision, you will find something that ticks all the boxes!

Click here for our YOUTUBE channel, and you can check out our WEXO Profile to view any current opportunities at LEAP ANYWHERE.

Felicity McLean

Everyone’s telling you what a fantastic idea internships are – how you learn so much, build your CV and get your foot in the doors. All true, but once you’re sold on the idea, having cultivated that ‘can do’ attitude and bagged the internship(s), then making the leap from hungry intern to fully fledged employee can be troubling.

It strikes me the problem is it’s easy to be good value for money to a company when only being paid expenses – almost whatever positive contribution you make will be a help. But to become essential to everyday working life and worth good money, not to lose takes a different skill set than just being a good intern. I’ve done numerous internships whilst attempting to find a way into fashion journalism, and at times I’ve wondered whether I haven’t fallen into an ‘intern trap’ – forever a great intern, without ever being employed.

Sure I’d had great feedback, people were always sorry to see me go – but with the lack of budget allocated to editorial staff, no one was putting their money where their mouth was. Editorial positions are not advertised with ‘competitive salary’… just ‘salary’.

BUT, finally, I was offered my first paid editorial job – editorial assistant and fashion news writer for a well known website. It was temporary, but a huge validation, confirming months of hard work hadn’t been in vain. In taking my first step (which I was convinced I was overly ready for), despite all my work experience, I realised what a big one it actually was. With jobs so difficult to come by, everyone on the payroll has to pull more than their weight – especially newbies. Value for money will now mean more than an inquisitive nature and an exceptional cuppa. All the great ideas you had as an intern will now have to come more frequently, on demand and into fruition if you’re to meet steep expectations.

I say this not just to prepare you for the fact that dream jobs will be hard work even after you get them – I’m sure by the time you get there you’ll be willing to work hard enough to face those challenges. The experience has shone a bit of light for me on how I could have come across a more employable intern because as I now see it, giving an employer what they may want from an intern and what they need in an employee is often very different. Here are my tips on convincing employers you’re up to the job, not just the internship:

1. Take on responsibility wherever you can – think long term projects, e.g. redesigning any inefficient systems they use. Make their lives easier, but do it all yourself – don’t just have the idea, be prepared to see it through and manage the project from start to finish. Let them know when it’s done and how it makes life easier. If possible be the only one to know how the new system works!
2. When work loads are heavy, ask to do the low priority work of the paid staff – depending on your placement you might be doing this already, but use their state of panic as the opportunity to take on new tasks you haven’t yet been asked to do. This will have the effect of narrowing the psychological gap between them and you.
3. Write a list of everything great you’ve done since being in the placement (if you can, include one unfinished project) and have a list of ideas for the future. Request a meeting with whoever is responsible for your placement, present them with the list, your ideas for the future and say you would like to stay with the company and why. Explain why this would be cost effective for them (all the time you would save them, how much more work could be done overall, what impact this would have on the company etc). Most company budgets are strained at the moment – could they afford to take you on part time?

There are so many more ideas that could help with making the jump. If you think of one, post them below and help fellow impoverished graduates get employed. Or just tell other people your experiences – they really do help.

Ruth Gibbs

I have just finished a month-long internship at Carve Consulting, a digital engagement practice who advise clients how to successfully manage their social media strategy and online image.

I became interested in this internship after hearing Paul Harrison, managing partner at Carve, talk at a WEXO ambassadors meeting earlier in the year. His impressive presentation described the effect social media is having in changing the way companies think and operate and made me keen to learn more about what Carve do.

After doing my own research on their website and reading some articles about social media on the Internet, I applied to become a summer ‘twintern’ at Carve. Following an interview with Paul Harrison and Adelaide Harrison, I was offered to join the team for a month.

My experience at Carve has completely surpassed my expectations. Not only were the Carve team extremely welcoming, they have also taught me a great deal. What I loved about the internship was that I was immediately given useful work to do, with real clients to engage with. For instance, even after the first week at Carve I was accompanying the team to meet clients, taking part in devising strategies and helping to write proposals and presentations. I found being able to have this level of input and responsibility was invaluable as work experience.

Looking back on the following few weeks of the internship, I am amazed at how many different projects I was able to work on. In one month I worked on projects for music companies, wine companies, charities, banks and online video companies. What was exciting was that each company required a different strategy and approach, which brought a great deal of variety to the experience and kept it very fast-paced.

My internship at Carve has been a hugely rewarding experience and one that will undoubtedly help me in the future.

This experience has emphasised to me the value of real work experience, which may have a direct benefit for gaining employment in a similar area or provide an invaluable insight into employment opportunities you may have been unaware of to help your career choice.

It’s been a while since I stuck my oar in on the blogging front but I wanted to share with you my comings and goings with WEXO over the last week or so.

Last Saturday, WEXO were one of the Exhibitors at The Sunday Times Festival of Education at my old school, Wellington College. This was a unique event with presenters ranging from OW Rory Bremner to Michael Gove MP, Lord Baker to Germaine Greer and the Duchess of Kent to my old economics teacher John McArthur (now at ISCO). I counted 84 speakers in total who waxed lyrical on everything from dyslexia to addiction, the disadvantages of exams (too late) and British schools preparing a world class workforce. I was busy preaching the WEXO word and getting people to guess how many sweets were in the jar (217 – well done Mark Little on 210 – your £50 M&S voucher is on its way) but I did make it to the last of these talks. John Morewood, Graduate Recruitment Manager of HSBC (my old shop), Hugh Husband (McKinseys), Sir Anthony Cleaver (nice red socks) et al discussed how poor numeracy and literacy are from applicants (please at least use spell check for starters). The audience then quizzed the panel about children not knowing what to study for specific vocations (we have just started working with www.u-xplore.com to this very end). At the end, it was particularly interesting to hear the Secretary of State for Education talk about his new ambitions including a return to traditional A-levels with exams at the end of 2 years. Bizarrely, his patter sounded more socialist than capitalist and I was particularly impressed with his ability to take 6 questions in a row and then address each in turn with no more than a glass of water in his hands. There seems to be a common view (which I subscribe to) that teachers need to be better trained and supported; and that this country needs to focus more on Science, Engineering, Maths & Technology.

On Monday, WEXO were honoured to be invited to a Gala Dinner at the Royal Albert Hall to celebrate The Prince of Wales’s 25th Year as President of Business in the Community (BITC). HRH, Sir Stuart Rose, Philip Green and Stephen Howard were there to present the prizes and Stephen Fry compèred. It was uplifting to hear such homage paid to HRH. It even made me wonder whether Price Charles was in fact a force for good?! It was a shame that Sir Stuart’s Work Inspiration initiative, which WEXO wholeheartedly supports, (and as a business you can too here) was not referenced; but it was encouraging to see SMEs recognised in The Small Company of the Year Award which went to the wool company Herdy. Was it their lamb that was so delectably rustled up with the buttered spring greens and warm rosemary vinaigrette (washed down with lashings of Rothschild Viognier Vin de Pays)?

After three days of hard labour, on Wednesday evening I was due a break and got invited to go and play tennis at Buckingham Palace (pathetically childish excitement ensued). A great friend works for the royal family (now there’s a WEXO blog we’d like to read) and had been asked if she’d like to use the tennis court. The gardens at ‘BP’ are lush and beautiful and HRH has one of the biggest flower pots known to man. Sadly the only Queen in residence was of the Apoidea variety.

Robin Kennedy
Co-Founder & CEO
WEXO

P.S. As per a recent Press Release, WEXO is campaigning to let SMEs recoup the costs of a 3 month paid internship from forthcoming VAT hike. To register your support, please comment below.

It all started last summer. I was due to undertake a professional training year as part of my degree. I applied to over 35 different companies went to several interviews and struggled to get anywhere. The only response I kept getting was an email saying “Thank you for attending the interview, but sorry on this occasion your application has been unsuccessful.

Sound familiar….. then carry on reading.

After much consideration I still wanted to gain more experience related to my course International Hospitality & Tourism Management. I decided a bold decision, that if I couldn’t secure a placement, I would try to undertake as many smaller work experience placements as possible.

I found WEXO on my Universities Intranet site and browsed a couple of blogs and reviews then eventually decided to sign up. I thought “£10” that doesn’t sound that much in comparison to what I had already spent on train fares and previous interviews all I had to do was save £10 on a night out and it wouldn’t affect the bank balance.

From the word submit, I gained a couple of responses from companies that actually wanted me and eventually I landed my first job with Ecommo, a website development company for holiday accommodation providers. I was allowed to work from home as their offices were in Dundee and I lived in Southampton (bit of a long commute!). I worked on a marketing strategy project to gain as many new sales for business as possible. I combined this with my current job working three days a week at the golf club.

I thoroughly enjoyed it, although I did have the odd problem to overcome for example, when I made telephone calls through my Mobile. This is something to look out for.

From there I applied to STA Travel and with a bit of luck I eventually landed a role as a Marketing Assistant. Although this was an expenses only placement, I became part of a strong marketing team and my role included coordinating metro adverts and communicating with the 44 branch managers nationwide. Whilst working for STA I gained a number of important skills as well as meeting many new contacts. Luckily for me as a consequence of my networking skills I secured an internship with one of their Social Media agencies 1000 Heads.

I didn’t stop there. I had a few months before my internship was due to start so I managed to secure a job at the golf club where I worked as a Promotions Executive. I combined my duties behind the bar with gaining as many new golf days and function bookings for the club as possible. This again was a unpaid placement. I eventually went and worked for 1000 Heads where I have to say I gained a variety of skills in the Social Media field. I found it very useful. Although my superiors didn’t take much interest in what I was doing due to there very busy schedules. I decided to use my initiative and talk to other people in the business which eventually led me to do a number of roles for the company including writing a blog.

I am now currently working for Larch Computer Services as a Telemarketing Executive and broadening their social media presences, a skill I developed at 1000 Heads, which without STA Travel, which I applied through WEXO, I probably wouldn’t have achieved! Again this is an unpaid scheme but if my sales technique works then I will receive commission on my sales.

During this summer and I am going to be working for Macmillan Cancer Support another job highlighted on WEXO as a volunteer for the Worlds Biggest Coffee Morning.

You can probably see an underlying theme running through all of my placements – I didn’t get a buck for working for them, but it was the experience I was after and you can’t put a price on experience. It wasn’t all that bad though as I decided to fund my work experience through other means such as eBay (have built up a feedback rank of 50) and car boot sales. In total I have made about £1000.

I have gained a number of new skills too from my work including website design and have recently developed a website of my own and also websites for other clients too, putting into practice what I have learnt. I also enjoy trying out new things, and this summer I have launched a drinks catering service near where I live. I delivered 50 leaflets, offering to serve drinks etc at garden parties. So far I have 5 confirmed bookings. All of these skills have been built from my experiences and entrepreneurial spirit.

To this day I still think, Work Experience is somewhat of a grey area and in some instances it is over exploited by some companies as an opportunity to get in free labour.

I am due to go back to University this October. I have thoroughly enjoyed doing this last year. I have gained more experience than a typical 9 – 5 job would ever have done as I have been allowed to test out my strengths and weaknesses. In comparison to my peers on placement schemes I have done a lot more than just work for one company. I have worked for several different companies in a mixture of industries across a range of marketing roles.

Right that’s enough about me!

What advice would I give to any prospective student who is in my position this year, well yes I have been lucky, but not without instinct. The general perception of students in this day and age, is that we are lazy, this is certainly not true. If you actually can be bothered to motivate yourself then what I did can be achieved.

WEXO has been great for finding a stepping stone into the Industry. Would I say it is worth £10? Yes and No. Yes, as it is great stepping stone to showcase yourself, easy to use and find prospective jobs. No because I think it is unfair for students to have to pay to use it. In most case’s recruitment companies charge the company the fee, I guess it reduces competition amongst students as they will find alternative sources, but in total I think it is unfair that students have to bare the brunt of fee in most cases it is the other way round.

So WEXO is the first stage, once inside the company you have to show that you’re actually worth employing, have a positive attitude and never say no to anything. In addition don’t be afraid to network with as many people as you can, you never know what it might lead to, even if it is a just a beer, a chat or maybe even another job prospect it is well worth it. Without these skills and experience you probably won’t get very far amongst other competitive graduates.

For those of you who only read the first line of an article, I’d just like to say that joining WEXO was how I found a placement that suited my aspirations. And that’s it!

Now for the rest of you (I’d say ‘us’ but I’m placed and happy now) I’ll give you the whole (short) story.

Before the end of the recession in 2008 I was on placement with a Dutch insurance company which; when the recession hit, had to cancel their whole placement scheme. This is how I landed in April 2009 in the middle of a recession year without having anything arranged for my University compulsory placement year. Tough.

I had the choice of giving up that placement year, skipping it and going straight into my final year at uni in September. But I didn’t do that. Why? Because I had some GOALS. I did not choose the 4-year programme for fun, but because I wanted to finish it. And giving up that easily just wasn’t me.

Summer came and I remained in the UK (I’m from Romania) to search for an alternative. So no holiday, no going home, no relaxing this time, but instead I tried to ‘fix my little piece of recession’.

What followed? Well, hundreds of emails & applications, about 20 interviews throughout the summer. I was progressing, getting better at it as I was tracking my self-development, but that just wasn’t enough. Due to the economic climate and the shortage of time (deadline for finding a placement was September 2009) it was clear that I needed some support.

So I went through several ‘agencies’. What happened (as you might very well know) is that usually I registered, I got added to their database, and started getting their newsletter. That’s about all. No contact, not a lot of results, you feel about the same except for feeling more ‘registered’.

The thing with WEXO is that I started getting responses the next 2-4 days after registration. I was contacted directly by companies asking for availability for an interview, phone numbers and all that. Robin Kennedy (founder & CEO of WEXO) met me personally and advised me how I should proceed, and their team always answered all of my emails in a timely manner.

Look, I’m not saying WEXO is the best, because I had several interviews and support from other organisations, on the contrary, it can be even better. But, and it is a big ‘but’ here, they were the people through which I got my placement in London; they responded the fastest; their online system for interacting with the companies is efficient and it allows direct messaging. It clearly shows clear, concise company information. It is these little things that might be just what you need in times like this to get to where you want. It was clearly what I needed.

I’d like to also take this opportunity to thank Robin and his team. You’re there with something that works both ways guys, thank you.

Best regards,

Cristian Paizan, Cambridge

Last Wednesday evening, WEXO and 5 of our members, attended one of a series of ‘Big Conservation’s’ organised by Work Inspiration at ITV studios. Work Inspiration is a campaign run by Business in the Community’s (BITC), to make work experience more inspiring. Established in September 2009, it is already on track to meet its aspirational target of 100,000 Work Inspiration placements by September 2010.

Wednesday’s event was a ‘Big Conversation’ for the creative industries and WEXO was invited along as one of the exclusive advisory partners. The forum involved 100 Chief Executives and 100 young people meeting to discuss how to improve young people’s first experience of the world of work. The Work Inspiration Campaign is led by Sir Stuart Rose, Chairman of BITC and Marks & Spencer.

Watch the video below to find out more about the Work Inspiration Initiative:

Last Wednesday’s discussion highlighted the great success of the programme to date but also the huge amount of work still to do.

One young person I spoke to at the event recalled how his earlier work experience had seen him spend a week stacking supermarket shelves! Having tried unsuccessfully to secure himself work experience in his chosen field of journalism, he was left with the last pick of opportunities from the ‘catalogue book’ of work experience offered to students, ending up in a job that was completely irrelevant to his interests. This was just one of a number of similar stories I heard that night. Clearly something needs to change here.

While the majority of large companies now offer some sort of internship programme, Wednesday night’s event concluded that unfortunately these are often not structured in a way that puts young people first. In order to change this status quo Work Inspiration have come up with ideas to help employers make their opportunities more effective.

• 1. All About Me – Discover the young person’s own passions and interests as the starting point to providing an inspiring first experience of the world of work.
• 2. Look Behind The Scenes: Introduce young people to the wide variety and scope of different jobs and roles in any business.
• 3. Careers Happen: Bring alive for young people how careers unfold, and how their first job can be the start of their journey.

These ideas are all about creating a better future environment for young people and with this in mind WEXO would love to hear your feedback.Do you think they miss anything? Do you think there is more we can do? What was your work experience like? In today’s environment work experience is more important than ever, let us help you get the most out of it. We look forward to your input.

Paul
WEXO TEAM

Once upon a time (November last year), having come back from a year in Mexico, I decided to go to a Graduate Fair. No, no, don’t shy away just yet – I didn’t get offered a job at an investment bank (nor was I looking to go in that direction). My mate roped me into it, and although a little reluctant at first, I decided it was better than sitting in front of a computer screen, trying to scour through job applications on the internet. The usual GFC (Grad Fair Crew) were there, all suits, branded pens and free Fosters mints, but as we made our way through the multitude of stands and gleaming faces, something caught my eye. Maybe it was the name ‘ThirdYearAbroad.com’ (being a Language graduate myself, I knew that term only too well), maybe it was the huge map with Ben Fogle’s cut-out smiling at me or maybe it was the nostalgia of travelling that drew me in; either way, going up and having a word with its founder, Lizzie Fane, was one of the best things I ever did.

Competitions and signing up for the newsletter aside, we got chatting and after a few questions about Ben, I found out the company was a start-up for students planning a year abroad. Having got hold of Lizzie’s card, I sent her a speculative email, following up on my meeting her and explaining my interest in writing and languages. She replied straight away (now that’s efficient!), asking if I would be free to meet later on in the week. I prepared a few questions and mapped out a few potential ideas I had for the company which I discussed with her when we met.

Starting as an intern in November, I am now currently working full-time as an employee for ThirdYearAbroad, as the Creative Director. Essentially, I work on the site’s content and the marketing side of things, but, as with any start-up and small team, you inevitably get to work on all sorts of tasks, which is great as you try a bit of everything. Some days, I’ll be writing country profiles, others I’ll be interviewing academics and travellers, others still I’ll be meeting potential sponsors for the site. Variety is the spice of life and you’ll get to see just how much it is as you go from one project to the next and test your skills in different areas. You’ll get a better idea of what you’re good at – and essentially, what you’re not, making it easier for you to see what you’d like to work in in the future.

I’ve had my fair share of internships in the past, some more interesting than others, but I found that it’s not necessarily big names that mean better internships in terms of tasks to do. Start-ups and small companies tend to be more open to new ideas, subsequently giving interns a chance to dabble in different fields of work – but the golden rule, for big or small ventures is this: you need to show willingness to learn. Get a feel for the company and speak up if you’ve got an opinion on something; having done internships in the past, I realised that you’ll get more out of them if you show yourself to be pro-active in the office. Not every day is going to be a holiday, as they say. Don’t turn your nose up at making coffee or photocopying, but rather show your employers you could be good at X or Y, by asking questions and getting some of your ideas across to them. A good impression isn’t just made at the interview stage; it’s relevant to your approach throughout your time there. Whether they decide to keep you on or not, your experience will definitely help you in the future. You’ve really got to show a bit of flair with a good amount of common sense to get the best out of it, and get your colleagues on your side. It worked out really well for me at ThirdYearAbroad as I like working in a young and buzzing environment, concentrating on topics that interests me – mainly languages and writing; but I also discovered that I quite liked the business side of things, too. Having been on both sides of the spectrum at ThirdYearAbroad, as an intern and an employee, I really value initiative in the workplace. We’ve had a few interns working for us since I started, but I can guarantee that it’s the ones who show a ‘can-do’ attitude that get the best results out of their internship. Make yourself relevant to the company you want to work for and you’ll be sure to reap in the rewards. As long as you’re passionate about what you’re doing (whether it’s data entry or editing the newsletter), your colleagues will take note and you’ll be more likely to be given responsibility as time goes on.

Work experience is essential on any graduate CV these days, so most will need an internship or two to really show what they’re made of. The best thing about it all is you can practise the ‘tried-and-tested’ approach, getting a feel for what works out best for you. Some people love working with a huge team, others like to get stuck in all sorts of bits and bobs…An internship, whether it’s in the public sector or at a niche company, will be the real decision-maker for future employers; make sure yours stands out for the skills you’ve acquired and put into practice.

Exactly one month, three weeks and four days ago I started my internship at WEXO. Now from working here I know, statistically speaking, I’ve got three sentences to catch your interest before the vast majority of you type in Facebook and head off to stalk your mates instead. Read on and I’ll share with you what my internship has personally done for me, the new skills I’ve learned and what it’s like to work for a start up.

WEXO, you may be surprised to hear, has a core team of five people. You all know what it does so I won’t waste your time talking about that. My role is in ‘Business Development’, which de-jargoned means a bit of everything. Like many graduates straight out of University I had a general idea of where I wanted to go but little clue as to how to get started. The issue with having a general clue is that there aren’t many general jobs out there. It became clear to me that I needed to get some experience to help me decide where I’m going and help me get there. This is how I found WEXO and subsequently my current role.

So what does ‘Business Development’ entail for me? At WEXO I write the copy for the newsletter and blog, I manage the affiliate marketing campaign, I help track the analytics for the site and newsletter as well as general duties such as sending invoices and dealing with queries from both members and companies. One of the key aspects of working in a start up company is that your role is less defined, mainly because there is so much to do. In terms of experience, for those of you in a similar position to me at the end of uni, this is pretty perfect.

The first week or so I spent gleaning the general skills that everyone needs to survive in an office.

Once I was on top of the general office duties I got the chance to experience a wider variety of things. For me, I found the affiliate marketing particularly interesting and I was given greater scope to pursue this. I was sent on an Affiliate Windows seminar where I got an oversight of the value of this industry; roughly £3.8 billion in 2008, and its increasing prominence, it grew by 22% between 2007 and 2008. As well as this I was made aware of trends and techniques used in this market place by one of the biggest affiliate market programmes in the UK.

Writing copy for an internet audience was the next thing I found interesting and enjoyable. Every week, as you know, WEXO publishes a new blog and newsletter. In doing this I have built up a portfolio of writing that I can show anyone in the future. The constant practice has undoubtedly helped me further develop my writing style as well as familiarise me with HTML code. All these skills are hugely transferable and when added to my CV significantly enhanced my marketing know how. Keeping a regularly updated CV is another tip I would give to anyone. For those of you a little unsure on your career direction, adding your new skills to your CV can help you focus on where you are going. I didn’t set out to go into on-line marketing particularly, but from my current perspective, it is looking more like this is where I am naturally inclined.

My best tips for you are keep your ears and eyes open (clichéd but true) and make sure you speak up about what interests you. Interning has allowed me to assess my options by giving me firsthand experience of different roles; I think it should undoubtedly become a part of all uni degree courses. In fact, why it isn’t already is beyond me.

For those of you looking to get in to the notoriously oversubscribed music industry our latest interview should prove to be music to your ears. Robin, CEO here at WEXO; in affiliation with t5m, tixdaq and WE7, once interviewed the legendary Ron Fair about producing records, discovering artists and making music. For those of you that don’t know, Ron Fair is a veteran A&R executive that has had a hugely successful 25 year career in the music industry. He is famed for discovering unknown artists and turning them in to huge stars. Some examples of the acts that Ron Fair has been responsible for are Wild Orchid, Christina Aguilera, Prima J, Vanessa Carlton, Ashlee Simpson, the Black Eyed Peas and the Pussycat Dolls. He has also helped engineer Lady Gaga’s single ‘Speechless’ and her album ‘The Fame Monster’.

By bringing you these interviews with leading industry figures WEXO hopes to give you an insight in to what you will need to do and what will be expected of you if you get in to the career you want. Gleaning information on industries by learning from the experiences of others can be very useful, but, as the old adage goes, ‘information’s pretty thin stuff unless mixed with experience’ so let us help you get out there and grab some first hand experience as well.