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

I’m onto my second ‘through-WEXO work experience,’ and it’s just been BRILLIANT!
It’s strange – lots of my friends have been going for those ‘4 months of solid hard-core slave-labour and number-crunching’ internships in the city (and look slightly like death as a result of it), whereas here I am, doing the most awesome work experience over in quirky Camden Town, with Frank PR (clients have included Innocent Drinks, Virgin Media, Haagen-Dazs and the NUS).

It’s like being let through a locked door.  From day one, I was treated like ‘one of the gang,’ listening to brain-storming sessions and getting insider information explained to me by all the cool, young people who work there (I really had no idea about anything PR-related before this…all I knew was that it sounded creative and right up my street!).  So I’ve been kept busy with lots of interesting and varied work with different projects and clients, and by the time ‘home-time’ comes about each day, I’m just really excited about cracking into the next day.

I’ve been getting calls from my ‘city-squashed’ friends, asking how the work experience malarkey is treating me, and immediately I begin to waffle away about all the amazing things I’ve been able do.  They’re always slightly taken aback; ‘are you sure this is work experience you’re talking about?! What about the coffee-making and photocopying?!’  But that’s just it, I think – work experience, when it’s done properly, is supposed to be a fun way of finding out what you really want to do… It’s all a game of ‘trial and improvement,’ and wow I’ve just been shown this whole new world that I want to be part of – perfect timing, too!  Now I’m all inspired to work seriously seriously to make it through the final year of uni, and get myself up onto one of those career ladders.

Thanks again WEXO and Frank!

Nell Fane

‘Work experience, have you got any work experience? No no but WORK EXPERIENCE. Because you know your CV will be NOTHING without work experience!’ We’ve all had this conversation far too many times, whether it was with earnest yet guilt-tripping adults, or those slightly patronising ‘our CVs are soooo obese with experience that they’re practically dieting!’ fellow students.

The truth of the matter is: they’re right.  Work experience is important.  But they seem to always succeed in putting the emphasis in the wrong place – it’s not just for the CV, though that’s always lovely; it’s for the actual experience.

Because so few of us know what on earth we’re going to be when we ‘grow up’.  And how can we be expected to know?  At school, we’re effectively given a list of about four pathways to choose from: ‘would you like to be a) a doctor, b) a lawyer, c) a banker or d) a teacher?!’  So we just do our exams and leave, feeling slightly bewildered and thinking ‘oh dear, I don’t particularly want to shimmy-my-way into any of these categories!’

And then you reach the big-wide world and are hit by a massive realisation: you can do ANYTHING in the whole universe, not just a measly four things.  Right.  So where to start?!

It was at that point that I turned to WEXO.  I had absolutely no idea what on earth (or universe) I wanted to be, and here was a lovely ready-built website set out to help me discover just that. Plus, all the companies registered with WEXO have done so because they want interns – they want to give students the experience and to give them a glimpse of an entirely new field of work.  So instead of calling upon ‘a friend of a friend of a friend’s’ father, who probably owes that first friend a favour but who’d frankly rather eat wasps than actually have a student following him round for a couple of weeks, you should just get searching on WEXO!  Because they genuinely offer everything.

I’ve now had 2 fantastic and completely different ‘batches’ of work experience through WEXO, first at Quintessentially last year and this Summer at Frank PR (more on that in Part 2 next week!). This has helped me to gradually pin-point my perfect job, and I have officially become an ambassador for WEXO at university, hoping to spread the word to other students about its amazingness… Work experience doesn’t have to be a boring means to a ‘CV-decorating’ end; it can be really good fun if you go about it properly, helping to point you in the right direction (which is always good news!).

Nell

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

I think I originally thought it would all be very clear-cut. Finish university, have the summer off and then ‘Bang!’ – straight into the dream job I always wanted… Well it’s a year down the line and I’m afraid to say I’m still looking for it BUT I have spent the last 4 months doing something. Actually doing something every day, having something to get out of bed for and to make weekends feel like they are well-deserved! A friend of mine introduced me to WEXO and after a couple of interviews, I accepted a paid internship.

For the past 4 months, I have been working for new start-up, made.com, an online furniture company, backed by Brent Hoberman, that cuts out the middleman by ordering in bulk and thus delivers at affordable prices. Design or furniture was never something I thought I’d start having an interest in at all so it took a while for me to come round to the idea. My responsibilities here have been varied; I am first port of call for all customer and press enquiries (which can get pretty busy), I also write the design blog on our site and have started doing the copy for product pages. It is a varied role and although I am still trying to explore and pinpoint what I would ideally like to do as a career, it has been an enlightening experience. Working in a small start-up company is educational as you are exposed to all sorts of vocations and involved in many different decisions. Opinions count and working in a small team makes you feel like you’re really part of it.

Since starting here in April, our collection has tripled and we launch a new product every week. This means there is always something to do and with our first deliveries, lots of customers to deal with. This can be quite testing but it does teach you to be patient and deal with all sorts of angry, frustrated or sometimes even happy people!

Looking back over the past few months, this has been time well spent, as I had come to the end of my tether with temping agencies and tedious, unrewarding roles. I have now gained more hands-on experience, feel like a part of something and I’m still not entirely sure what I want to do but I’ve learnt a lot and it has undoubtedly been a good starting point.

Nicola Seagroatt

Thinking about the future can be daunting, especially if you are undecided about which path to follow. When I graduated from Edinburgh University early this year, reality kicked in that I needed to immerse myself in the job market. Constant reminders of bleak employment statistics proved discouraging for my future.

Although I knew that I wanted to pursue a career in the media and entertainment sector, there are very few recruitment agencies that specialize in this field. A friend mentioned she had signed up to WEXO and managed to secure interviews at a number of great places.

As soon as I searched in the media column, a range of work experience, internships and jobs came up for the most fantastic companies. I applied straight away to a portfolio of companies to broaden my chances but my heart was really set on one company in particular – Platinum Rye Entertainment – to work as a celebrity and music intern!

It seemed luck was on my side, and after an interview with the MD of the company I was given the opportunity to work with Platinum Rye. I was made to feel one of the team straight away and was given the responsibility to focus on research for commercial deals between brands and celebrities. Platinum Rye source the best celebrity for an advertising or PR campaign, as well as securing the rights to hit songs for a commercials – we have worked with a number of high-profile celebrities, including Sienna Miller for the Hugo Boss advertising and Naomi Campbell, Eva Herzigova, and Claudia Schiffer for the Dolce and Gabbana campaign.

I have worked in a number of companies over the last 7 years and Platinum has been by far the most exciting and enjoyable business I have been involved with. Without the help of WEXO I would have never been given this incredible opportunity……

Issy Stainforth

All well in WEXO Towers…

We’ve just signed up our 70th company (looking to launch to users when we get to 3 figures) but one of the comments we come up against occasionally is “Why would we want to open up our offices to more work experience students?”. The companies we talk to are generally of two types. Company X is small, dynamic and growing and welcomes talented graduates (on the cheap) with open arms. Company Y tends to be larger, more conservative and already gets quantities of applications for work experience, feels compelled to accept some (especially from clients’ children etc) but does not necessarily subscribe to the benefits.

Company X is most commonly found in the Media sector (especially PR and Advertising). Company Y typically comes from vocationally geared sectors. Company Y is more often sold on what WEXO can provide in terms of marketing, matching and managing applications through the scarily named Web 2.0 tools and STP (Straight Through Processing) techniques that we provide.

An article by Rosie Gamble in the Sunday Times last weekend picked up on this theme. Despite a tacky title, it made a compelling case for student placements not necessarily being a burden. The argument here was that in smaller companies in particular, giving students responsibility gave them the impetus to rise to the challenge - and being new to the working world they often did so with a fresh perspective. With internships in particular (placements of 2 months plus), companies could really benefit, effectively conducting long term interviews that enabled them to then hire the best students in good faith when they left their studies.

The biggest problems then came down to how you sourced and picked your candidates. The answer here of course is WEXO…