MITIE Engineering Maintenance

Jade Wiseman, Office & Administration Manager 

MITIE hosted two students from Lambeth College during summer 2009.  This was MITIE's first experience of working with Career Academy students. 

The initial contact was made by the college with Jeff Lee, Apprentice Manager, who asked Jade to take responsibility for selecting and supervising the students as she is the Office & Administration Manager and best placed to do this.

Jade used real job descriptions for the interns' roles as there were vacancies for Contract Administrators, so the interns were fulfilling a real need in the business.  After initial training and mentoring within the administration team, the students were sent to complete their duties on separate sites.  Jade was impressed by the speed at which both students grasped the skills needed to fulfil their roles effectively.  A colleague noted that their work ethic was comparable to existing employees!  One of the students impressed the team so much that they requested she specifically return when a team member was on sick leave.  Within days, the students were granted permission to approve payments up to £500.

"The students far exceeded my expectations. In the past we have had students for two weeks of work experience, but our Career Academy interns raised the bar.  The students were well prepared for their initial interviews and even asked me some challenging questions about the way we run our business. I almost felt as though I was the one being interviewed!" said Jade.  Both students were keen to learn and sought out more work when they had completed the tasks requested of them.  Jade and her team were so impressed with the quality of the students' work that they eventually completed eight weeks with MITIE rather than six and both would be welcomed back for temporary work in the future. 

Jade liked the fact that the students were very different characters who, despite coming from the same college, did not know each other very well before they began their internship.  She saw both students develop and grow in confidence during their time at MITIE and they both became valued members of the team.

Jade has some advice for potential internship supervisors following her experience this summer.  She believes the key is to treat the interns as any new starter, making sure that the team is prepared for their arrival and that they have a real role to fulfil.

"We found the presentations the students gave at the end of their internships incredibly professional and useful to us as a team, and to MITIE as a business.  We would be delighted to host students again next summer but they will need to be as good as Sara and Gus!"