Internships: insights from our 2021 interns

At Cambridge University Press & Assessment with offices in over 70 countries around the world, we are committed to creating and maintaining a forward-thinking working environment, and supporting and engaging with our local communities. One way we do this is by offering paid work experience and internships. 

This July and August we welcomed seven young people taking part in our internship programme in three of our teams. Our interns were recruited with the support of Creative Access, a UK-based diversity organisation, as well as the University of Oxford’s Crankstart internship programme and our disability and neurodiversity staff network. 

Our interns are undergraduates and recent graduates from a variety of academic disciplines. Alongside the projects they worked on within their teams, they were encouraged to speak with a wide range of colleagues across our organisation. One session was a meeting with our chief executive, Peter Phillips. 

“It was a pleasure meeting our 2021 interns,” said Peter. “Even more than usual, because of the consequences of the pandemic, we want to support young people to gain experience and insights into what we do for teachers, learners and researchers.” 

Reflecting on their experiences of their remote internships, our 2021 cohort say it has been valuable to them and our colleagues appreciated their contributions to the work we do.  

“My time at Cambridge Partnership for Education has been instrumental in allowing me to get a grounding of what the industry is like,” said Amraj Singh. “It has been fascinating to be in meetings with national education ministries and international organisations such as UNICEF, as well as conducting research on Bangladesh, Malaysia and Qatar. Also, to explore and see how much of an impact education has on development has been inspiring. This experience has definitely opened a path for me in international development and given me first-hand experience.”

Our Cambridge Partnership for Education senior education advisor, Steve King, said: “We’ve really benefitted from having Amraj around. We are constantly looking at and evaluating new markets, so the research Amraj was able to do on NGOs in Bangladesh is of tangible use to us, and will be of help as we explore opportunities there.”

Evie’s internship was with our content management team who create our Elements series which spans the arts and sciences. “As an Oxford Crankstart Scholar (selected on a household income of less than £16,000), it was really interesting to attend the social mobility panel as part of intersectionality month.” The panel was a discussion between colleagues on their experiences of work. “My internship has helped to make publishing feel so much more accessible,” Evie said. “It was a career path I didn’t know that much about, but the meetings have helped to give me an insight into all the different jobs in publishing, beyond editing. Despite working remotely, I’ve really appreciated the support from my supervisors, who have gone above and beyond to make my experience as social as possible. I’ve absolutely loved feeling like part of the team.”

Lilian Dosanjh promoted recent book launches as well as book campaigns with our colleagues who market our academic books to retailers. She said: “I have had the opportunity to attend networking sessions; from editors to researchers, it has been an eye-opening experience to meet with people throughout the organisation, to be able to gain an insight to their careers and to be able to learn that there are a range of jobs on offer within the publishing sector. I have been provided with incredible support by my team; in fact, I am surprised about how the Press has managed to maintain such a friendly, online working culture! There are so many highlights and important lessons that I will take away from this internship.”

Our editorial and marketing teams in academic publishing and our education team had the benefit of Max Fisher’s skills, who wrote blogs and looked over manuscripts. Max said: “I had the opportunity to explore a new career path, so that I can move forward in a different direction, as well as learn new skills, and build on skills I already have. I was able to talk to fellow LGBT people and fellow disabled people about how they landed a job, and how they manage their employment and any obstacles their identity brings them. I have grown into my disabilities hearing these are obstacles, and that I will be lucky to be employed, but Cambridge showed me that in fact, the opposite is true. My skills as a DeafBlind person were not only valued, but requested, and put to good use.”

S Crispino said: “This internship has been very informative and fascinating: learning about the Open Access revolution in academic publishing, tapping into Cambridge's fantastic resources and global networks, talking with regional leaders and experts in their fields. Before this internship, I was not aware of how varied publishing could be. Thanks to the inclusivity of Cambridge University Press & Assessment and Creative Access, I have been encouraged to continue developing my skills such as in public speaking and networking. I look forward to where the future may take me with this experience!”

Sumaiyah Rahim worked with our Cambridge Learning for Schools team. Sumaiyah said: “My time here has been very insightful. My role as a content development assistant specialised in diversity and inclusion. Reviewing and assessing how diverse and inclusive photos, key experts, and case studies are in textbooks has been really eye-opening. I have been able to make suggestions on how to make them even more diverse through this assessment. The numerous skills and advice I have gained during my time here has prepared me to confidently step into the world of work.”

“Sumaiyah has been invaluable in helping Cambridge Learning for Schools with assessments of our current publishing in relation to equality, diversity, inclusion and belonging”, said Rosalyn Scott, a content lead in the team. “We will be able to build upon the insights Sumaiyah identified when we next conduct pre-approval research, brief authors or develop content for future projects, and also use her reviews to contribute towards developing our approach to equality, diversity, inclusion and belonging in our content.” 

Our chief executive concludes: “Both Cambridge and the interns gain from the experience, and the energy and fresh perspectives they bring are infectious. I wish them all every success and hope we might see some of them in Cambridge in the future.”

Find out more about careers at Cambridge, our community engagement programme, and our commitment to diversity and inclusion.