After graduating from Newcastle University in the summer, I was unsure of what route to go down. After a few months of job hunting, where unimaginative and mundane jobs appeared to be my only option and numerous rejections were coming my way, I was starting to lose motivation and feel very disheartened. Thankfully I came across Wexo and I was immediately attracted to the fact that the internships they offered were with small, unique and quirky companies. These are the type I aspire to but are often overlooked when huge graduate schemes are thrown at you. Wexo really tried to get at insight into my strengths and preferences in order to focus on what I would be most suited to, so that I would end up doing something I really enjoyed. Unlike many other recruitment companies they really care and focus on you, giving you a lot of time and thought.

Wexo found me a month long internship in travel PR working at a small, exciting and unconventional company called Wedge and Wildlife. As I was living in Oxfordshire at the time, I was able to work from home, allowing me to save money. I spent my time writing spiels for their website about a number of locations across Africa. I had around 30 locations to describe, consisting of beach, safari, wine land, battlefield and fly/drive trips. Not only did this allow me to dream about going to incredible five star lodges, but also improved my writing, vocabulary, research skills and allowed me to get an idea of what a job in travel PR would be like. It also improved my time management and organisational skills and gave me more experience at working to a deadline. Originally I had never considered working in travel PR; however the internship helped me realise that it is something to think seriously about. I could not have enjoyed the internship more and my time there would not have been possible without Wexo!

Chekkie

It’s hard enough leaving university and finding a job, let alone not having a clue what you want to do in life. At least I’ve got a year to decide but with a long 3 month summer ahead of me I was beginning to panic about what I was going to do to fill my time. Having done various money earning jobs in the past I wanted to invest a little time into my future and do some work experience. Having exhausted my own contacts, I discovered WEXO thanks to my sister and it opened up a whole host of options, not to mention the time it saved trawling through the internet sending hundreds of applications to millions of companies. I can honestly say WEXO bent over backwards to help me – after a couple things fell through, WEXO made sure they were on the case and looking for other alternatives. Through one of their targeted alerts, WEXO informed me of a placement for work experience available in a small bespoke travel company run by Laura Jeffrey and I was put me in touch with her.

I have now done 2 weeks work experience at Passepartout Travel and have thoroughly enjoyed every bit of it. It was exactly what I was looking for, a small company where I could be really involved with the day to day running of the business, and involved in decision making. I knew from the beginning I didn’t want to be one of a million in a huge company and this experience has suited me perfectly. I have taken on real responsibility in the form of creating Passepartout’s monthly newsletter, working alongside Laura and learning how to create the right ‘look and feel’, be concise and help set apart Passepartout from other companies. It has been a fascinating experience and made me realise how much hard work goes into some of the smallest tasks. Another benefit of working for a small company was the opportunity to get out and about, going to meetings with contacts in other industries and not necessarily working 9 to 5; I worked until what I was doing was done. But probably the most valuable thing I have learnt has been how much hard work it takes setting up your own company and but how great the rewards can be, and I can safely say this would not have been possible without the brilliant help of WEXO who made it all possible.

Huge thanks WEXO!

Tessa Robinson