“It makes the last year of my studies less stressful because I know there is a job waiting for me”
Fourth Year Accounting student, Patrycja Cwalina, shares her experience of turning a summer internship into full-time employment after graduation. The Business School’s focus on employability allows students the opportunity for work-based learning in all undergraduate courses and enables students to build an evidence base of soft skills deployed in practical situations.
This ‘applied’ skill set has become acknowledged by employers as the ‘Edinburgh Napier graduate signature’ and is highly valued.
“During my studies at Edinburgh Napier University, I applied for an internship during the summer after my third year of studies. I was informed by one of my lecturers that the university has a summer internship programme, where they do help students with finding summer internships to gain a little bit of experience. I decided to try but I didn’t have any expectations.
I got an interview from Saffery Champness in Edinburgh and got an internship offer in March for 9 weeks during the summer of 2023. At the interview I was “competing” with two other students, resulting in myself and one other person getting an offer for 9 weeks each of paid summer internship. After receiving an offer of summer employment, I had to send all required documents such as a signed contract, passport, bank details, etc. to secure my place for the internship.
I’m really glad I decided to take an offer for this internship because it was a tax department that offered full-time jobs, and that was the study area I was the most interested in. At that time, I had my part-time job that I was going to keep as well because I was already working there for five years so I didn’t want to leave it just for 9 weeks of internship. I was working every day during this time, but it was worth it. I’ve learned all the basics for how to work in a tax department in a real tax job, I even did some tax returns for clients which I think I am the proudest of from this whole experience. Overall, this experience was amazing. It was a great opportunity for me because it allowed me to see and experience what an accounting job looks like and what to expect when I graduate. Also, because I was always interested in tax, it was good for me to have this internship so I can confirm if that’s what I want to do after I graduate.
At the end of the internship at Saffery Champness, I got a graduate job offer for a Full-time Assistant – Tax. The job is starting in September 2024, and I have already accepted the offer sending all the documents needed. It is a great opportunity for me, and it makes the last year of my studies less stressful and keeps me motivated because I know there is a job waiting for me. “