The ‘Intern competition’, ran by Enactus Sheffield, is a project now in its fifth year and sees Sheffield University students pit themselves against each other (Lord Sugar has a lot to answer for this) to win a coveted summer internship with Enterprise Rent-A-Car.
This year over 50 students signed up to take part in the competition which ran for twelve gruelling weeks and saw the students taking part in a number of challenges, from flea market selling days to marketing tasks to hosting a large commercial event. The idea, much like ‘The Apprentice’, saw students competing not only to stay in the competition but also win a place at an assessment day (the final challenge) where one winner will be crowned.
During the twelve week competition the Enactus team responsible for the project, who incidentally had been previous year’s winners of ‘The Intern’, whittled the fifty down to a final ten based on individual performance during the exercises. The final decision would then rest with the team of employees from Enterprise Rent-A-Car hosting the assessment day. This arduous task was made even more difficult after meeting the final ten and getting to know them individually, as they were all worthy of winning the competition – but a winner had to be picked nonetheless.
After careful deliberation, Rony Schulte – a Biomedical Engineering student who performed exceptionally well during the entire assessment day – emerged victorious. He has now started his internship at our Milton Keynes office. Rony entered the competition to have some fun and enhance his CV, but along the way has developed key competencies in leadership, effective communication and team work which will make him more employable when he starts applying for jobs.
Rony commented after the competition: ‘Taking part in ‘The Intern’ allowed me to explore a new business area and career path that I wasn’t familiar with because of my scientific background. It has helped me identify key employability skills that I will use in the future. All in all, the competition has given me an amazing opportunity to work for, and ultimately learn from, the exponentially growing and exciting company that is Enterprise Rent-A-Car.’
Fancy joining Roni on his internship journey? Apply for an internship or placement now!