FH Undergrad Interns - Introducing the Sixth Generation

Back in 2005/2006 I got annoyed with hiring highly competent people with several degrees as interns, most of whom really wanted a job not an internship (if you’re in that boat read this). In a spasm of proactivity I went about setting up our lovely undergraduate internship programme together with my alma mater, the University of Newcastle Upon Tyne. The idea being that we got keen and intelligent interns for an entire academic year (long enough to be of value), while our interns got an unforgettable year of (hard) work in their third (Erasmus) year of University.

With living expenses covered and the opportunity to be a fully paid up member of a leading public affairs firm, I reasoned that I would have jumped at the chance back when I was 20 (a long time ago). After all, the principal value of my Erasmus year was that I got to know all the greatest kebab joints in Strasbourg and spent time hanging out in an Irish bar. As it turns out, I was not wrong. Six years on our programme has seen nearly 30 students go through our office and become part of the FH Brussels family (some would say cult). Two members of the programme are current members of staff after we hired them post their final year (Ed Ratcliffe and David Turier) and others remain good friends of the firm.

After saying goodbye to the likes of irrepressible Ms. Cracknell recently, the beginning of September saw our sixth generation of interns arrive with us. They’ll be here until the end of June 2013…by which stage we’ll be wondering how we ever survived without them. Here they are with the name of the teams they are joining in brackets and their universities.

  • Lauren Beaty (Manufacturing & Industrials) – Kings College, London
  • Alexandra Necula (Financial Services) – University of Essex
  • Roisin Carlos (Manufacturing & Industrials) – University College Dublin
  • Thomas Murray (Energy) – University College Dublin
  • Vassia Popova (Digital and Media Specialist Services) – University of Warwick
  • Jack Tabner (Healthcare) – University of Warwick
  • Matthew Scott (Financial Services) – University of Sheffield
  • Paulius Vainauskas (Technology) – University of Sussex

If you’re wondering how the experience is for this year’s crop, Jack is writing a blog called “a Yorkshire sprout in Brussels” that promises to be an interesting read about his time here. And if you’re a student looking for next year, our website has details of how you can badger your course leader to linking up with us for 2013. The application process starts towards the end of this year for September 2013.

James