A blog post from Samantha Munnelly, studying BA Accounting and Management at the University of Reading, who is completing an internship with HolyBrook Associates over the summer period
With the increasingly competitive job market, it is always a concern that after completing years of education you will fail at obtaining a job. You are constantly told to ‘make yourself stand out’ and ‘put yourself out there’, but it can be hard to know where to start. As someone who has just completed their first year at the University of Reading, it became my mission to search for an internship over the summer period.
Fast forward to now, I was offered the amazing opportunity to experience working at Holy Brook Associates as a student intern through the Reading Internship Scheme. My first couple of days went by so fast, as with starting any new job at first there is so much to learn, but I managed to pick up the speed and get to grips with the work that I was assigned. During my first week, I have been able to get involved with such a diverse range of tasks, from the typical intern roles such as updating client contact details to working on client accounts.
Further into my internship, I was able to train and get certified on Xero, an accounting software and use this to create invoices for Holy Brook, create manual income journals and also add receipts. I also got to take control of the social media posts, scheduling posts and updating Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and the website. Last week at Holy Brook, we had a team meeting at Ufton Court, which was such an amazing day, it was great to be able to see what the future holds for Holy Brook!
At University we are taught very theoretically, and examined by giving solutions to ‘made up’ problems. Although you do learn the content, it does not give you the best understanding. Being an intern has given me a greater insight into this industry, it has allowed me to apply my theoretical knowledge into the practical field which has been rewarding.
It has been very interesting to be able to understand the amount of diversity that you have to undertake as a small business, the fact that your responsibility does not just amount to one job. Tasks such as IT difficulties, updating social media, and chasing invoices is all tasks that in multinationals would be outsourced and therefore you would never see that side of running a business. However, at HolyBrook Associates you can find yourself doing all three!
It has been such an eye-opening experience and such a privilege to work with such a hard-working team that generally cares about the work that they do and the people they work for. I have had such an amazing time working as part of a team that are so welcoming and made my first experience in working in an office such memorable one! Although I only have a few days left now, I’m so glad I had the opportunity to be an intern and I wish that I didn’t have to leave!
Samantha