English Literature and Philosophy student Tarika shares her experience on the B-Experienced Internship, open to University of Birmingham students
My view from the best study spot on campus (if you know, you know) one afternoon when I was designing a board game about renewable energy.
In the summer of 2025, I, like many other final-year students, began a tentative exploration of how I wanted to shape my last year at university. I considered the academic side - putting my pride aside and employing any assessment feedback I’d received, especially the humbling variety. I considered the social side - going on hiatus and having a much-needed break from socialising. However, I hadn’t fully considered the professional side.
Since my second year, I had been working as a Student Ambassador and thoroughly enjoyed meeting new people whilst gaining new professional skills. However, I was looking for something more specific where I could dip my toes into interests I developed throughout my studies - writing and communications, research, analysis and marketing.
The benefit of my two course subjects, English Literature and Philosophy, is that they gave me a foundational set of skills that could be transferred to a diverse variety of work. The only downside was that it was up to me to choose where exactly I wanted to employ those skills, what would excite and challenge me but also what I would succeed at doing.
I began searching through the Careers Network. I had heard about the B-Experienced Internship Programme which boasted a variety of trusted companies and industry experience. My approach was to firstly go through the available internships in that specific batch, create a shortlist of companies I liked and work I thought I was a strong candidate for, and then finally nail it down to 1-2 companies whose purpose and work I resonated with.
I successfully secured a remote internship with It’s Our Planet Too, an eco-subscription box company that creates fun and interactive activity boxes for children to teach them about environmental awareness. I have always wanted to work with youth education and wanted to gain first-hand experience of how a mission-led company is run. This internship was genuinely one of the most helpful, meaningful and enjoyable work experiences I have had thus far.
Over 140 hours (which sounds like a lot but was only around 1 hour’s worth of work a day), I worked directly with the founder and CEO, Kate Cohen, to provide flexible administrative support.
I researched and developed components for future boxes (think recipe and fact cards, worksheets, and hands-on creative activities), created a year-long social media plan, managed the company social media accounts and gained general marketing and business experience.
Not only did this give me the chance to explore my professional interests and expand on my skills in a measurable and evidenced way, but it also helped me begin building professional relationships outside of part-time University work.
I think this is the greatest benefit of the internship programme: you get the opportunity to work directly with experienced professionals who genuinely want to help you explore and build your skills, who then become strong professional connections you have going forward.
If I could have done a second, or even third B-Experienced internship, I would have jumped, or rather sprinted, to reapply.
English Literature BAPhilosophy BA
I wanted to study English Literature and Philosophy because I am a voracious reader and was keen to build my future care...
