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Completing your Postgraduate Advantage Internship
Now that you’ve completed your Postgraduate Advantage Internship, it’s important to take some
time to look back on what you’ve done and achieved - completing this document will help you to do
that. There are two parts:
1. A case study
This is a description of the project, the work you undertook and the outcomes of the work
you did.
2. A skills reflection and record
This is a series of questions about you and what you have learned from the experience
of the PAS Internship. As the graduate labour market becomes more competitive,
employers look for potential new recruits who can offer more than a degree alone.
Some employers, e.g. in engineering, law and medicine will require specific technical
skills or knowledge. However for all jobs, including those with a strong technical
content, employers want individuals who possess a much wider range of skills and
personal attributes such as communication and interpersonal skills, initiative,
problem-solving and team working abilities. These are known as transferable skills
because no matter where you develop them (e.g. via a part-time job, internship or
voluntary work) you can transfer and use them in any job you do, including graduate
jobs.
To impress future employers, it’s not enough just to have done work experience. You
must be able to demonstrate that you have thought about your experience and show
what you have learnt from it. All too often, applicants don’t pass the first stage of the
recruitment process (application or CV) because they have not provided enough
evidence about what skills and attributes they have developed as a result of their
experience.
Your Skills Reflection will:

help you think about your transferable skills in a way which will enable you to communicate
them clearly to employers during the application process

act as a handy reminder of the above when you make applications (for jobs or courses) in the
future

provide a useful resource to show your tutor and other contacts, when you ask them to write
references for you.
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Name: Click here to enter text.
Email:Click here to enter text.
Name of host organisation: Click here to enter text.
Job title of your internship position:Click here to enter text.
Part One: Case Study of your Postgraduate Advantage Internship
Please describe your internship experience. This should be approximately 500 words in length
and include information about the organisation, your project within the organisation and what
you achieved.
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Part Two: Skills Reflection
Please answer each of the following questions as honestly as you can.
1. What were the objectives that you set for your internship, or what were you hoping to
gain from it? List them below: Click here to enter text.
2. To what extent have you achieved your objectives or fulfilled your hopes? If things
turned out differently on your internship, what did you learn instead?
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3. Have you been offered a job or encouraged to apply for one with your Postgraduate
Advantage internship organisation? Click here to enter text.
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4. Skills for your next steps – we hope that you developed a whole range of skills during
your Postgraduate Advantage internship that will prepare you for your next steps. In
this section, reflect on at least four skills that you have developed as a result of
completing your internship. An example skills reflection is included in the appendix.
To get you started, some of the skills that you might reflect on are:
Commercial awareness
Communication skills
(written and oral)
Confidence and assertiveness
Creativity and initiative
Decision making
Drive and determination
Enthusiasm and willingness to
learn
Flexibility and adaptability
Initiative and motivation
Interpersonal skills
Leadership
Negotiation skills
Networking
Numeracy and IT / computer literacy
Planning, organising and time management
Pro-activity and commitment
Problem solving
Self-management
Teamwork
Research
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5. Finally, we would love to talk to you to find out more about your Postgraduate
Advantage internship. If you would be willing to be contacted, please give your contact
details here:
Name: Click here to enter text.
Home email address: Click here to enter text.
Telephone number: Click here to enter text.