My Interning Experience - By B. Ahmed

It was that time after my undergraduate degree, when everyone kept asking questions - what your position was, have you managed to grab a job?  As a graduate, it is probably the most daunting thing you hear.  There’s a lot of pressure to find your dream job, yet I was still struggling to find my feet being back from University! I was finally approached by The Maine Group CEO, Meeta, who was willing to give me a chance to get some experience and develop my skills in an administrative role. It was time to go back to basics; at first this had me slightly confused…I’m a graduate, why would I need general admin experience? But I soon came to realise that this is something we lack. By learning the basics, I could use my own initiative to solve other administrative problems and resolve larger issues with ease.

My first day started off with a big introduction to the office, a meeting was held and Meeta took the time to introduce me to the whole team; however, each consultant approached individually me and gave me a warm welcome - making me feel more at ease.

I sat with the team and was shown my tasks for the day and helped to prioritise according to urgency. As an intern, I tend to ask a lot of questions – it can be a little overwhelming because you want to prove yourself but at the same time you want to avoid any mistakes. As the week continued I decided what type of work should be prioritised and kept the deadline in mind. It is always probably worthwhile to check in with your manager to find out what tasks they have for you and keep up to date with the needs of business. The tasks I completed ranged from registering candidates on the ITRIS database, to editing the terms of business contract for clients, to the simple tasks such as shredding papers, and even screening candidates. It was a varied role in a very busy environment which kept me on my toes. After all the hard work and meeting targets, The Maine Group team never missed the opportunity to celebrate their winnings with a glass of prosecco on a Friday.

The Maine Group offered me a chance to prove myself, they mentored me and helped me understand the basics of administrative tasks that helped me deal with the more complicated issues. They also taught me how to interact with people on a professional level. Interning with The Maine Group has given me a foundation that I can build on and helped me develop both professionally and personally. Also, being a recruitment consultancy is a real value add! I was able to ask the Recruitment Consultants for advice and help with my job search, and they even took the time to prepare me for interviews I had during the internship. Anyone looking for an internship should get in touch with The Maine Group, it has really given me the confidence and experience I was looking for.