Roselyn Le tells us about her time as an intern with the team...
Hi, my name’s Roselyn! I have just spent six weeks interning at the Department for Culture, Media and Sport with the Digital Engagement Team. They work on a number of projects to support people and organisations to gain the motivation and skills to confidently go online.
From the day I started, I immediately felt like a valuable member of the team. My typical day to-day activities included attending meetings, liaising with colleagues by email and helping them to write reports and briefings. Not the usual coffee fetching and photocopying jobs that you’d imagine interns do!
I really enjoyed helping out with the ‘What Works Toolkit’. The Toolkit will provide an overview of the barriers to and enablers of digital engagement for different groups of the population and is due to be published later in the year (as a follow-up to the Digital Inclusion Outcomes Framework). I had to compile the important points from relevant research and evidence, and format the document so that it was consistent and presented clearly throughout. I was given a lot of responsibility with this applied research product and felt that my input was very much valued.
I had the opportunity to attend a number of important stakeholder meetings; it has been very interesting to see how the team work with other government departments as well as external partners. Another thing that I’ve really enjoyed about this internship is the variety of work that I’ve been given – every project that I do is different from the last one.
My most challenging piece of work was writing a guidance document suggesting different ways for government to implement the Digital Friends programme. I had to do my own research on the programme and give recommendations on the best approaches for departments to take. It was great that I was given the opportunity to take initiative and complete a project from start to finish.
I have definitely learnt a lot throughout my time here. I still remember reading emails and attending meetings on my first day and having absolutely no clue what was going on. 6 weeks later, I can understand the discussions that take place during meetings and comfortably reply to emails. On top of that, the internship has helped me to work on my communication and time management skills. I happened to join the team at an interesting time, right after the EU referendum results. It made me realise that it is important to be adaptable when working in the Civil Service.
I have really enjoyed my time here at DCMS, and highly recommend the Summer Diversity Internship Programme (SDIP). The process of applying was relatively straightforward and consisted of an application form, online test and telephone interview. Throughout the process I was given plenty of opportunities to highlight my strengths. The SDIP has given me a great insight into the different career paths within the Civil Service. Being such a large organisation means that are so many departments with plenty of opportunities. It is an amazing place to work and I will definitely be applying for the Fast Stream.