Alexandra has been named the ‘SES Intern of Year’ winner for 2017.

The Retail Management student from Bournemouth University has beaten off a strong set of entrants and accumulated impressive votes from SES Judges to win the Annual Intern Recognition Award.

Alexandra who has now successfully completed her placement year, told us how she felt when she heard the good news:

“Honestly – It was a complete shock! At the end of each month we have a commercial meeting where all the divisions within the commercial division meet to discuss what they have been working on in the last month. At the end of each meeting there is always a star of the month where good work is rewarded. Once this concluded my manager announced that I was the Intern of the Year for my hard work and contribution to the team. This was truly a surprise for me as, to me, all I was doing was the work assigned and never expected any recognition in any capacity. The important thing for me was getting the work done and to a high standard – so to be recognised for my work in such a big way was an honour and a privilege. I am very grateful to all my team members who believed I deserved to win!”

Alexandra who did her placement in a Tourism company, worked as an eCommerce & Retail Intern, and took on the ‘real-world’ work in her stride and with passion.

Her main role was working on a wide range of tasks and across different levels of responsibility. Alexandra was given a couple of regions in which her target was to source products. She owned these areas and was solely responsible for delivery on Product sourcing from start to finish. Alex represented the company online shops in Stockholm, quickly learning the tricks of the trade and confidently represented the company at one of their top trade events overseas. She quickly learnt how to engage with the travel trade, how to present to them and how to promote what they do. She showed great entrepreneurial spirit and possessed a great amount of confidence which allowed her placement company to trust her to deliver this task on their behalf.

She added: “They smashed the Intern role stigma out of the park. I never once got tea or coffee for anyone nor was I expected to. Each day I was treated as an employee and not someone who was just there for one year and that is it. I was given important tasks within the team, not mundane tasks as may be expected, and was given the freedom to develop my role in the team but also to develop as an individual through training and other initiatives. I will be returning to University a much more rounded and confident individual – and it is all down to them.”

Kathi, Alexandra’s supervisor, who nominated her gave us an insight on her contributions:

“We definitely wanted to nominate her as she had done an outstanding job during her time here with us! Alex had hit the ground running when joining us but very soon established herself as a full member of the team – no one considered her to be ‘just an intern’ but saw her as an established and respected member of the team. Alex has proven to be a brilliant colleague who despite her young age she is very mature and professional in any situation, making her a joy to work with.

Early on she impressed us with her ability to take feedback on board and roll with it. She constantly strived to improve herself and her skills, but was always ready to help her colleagues, no matter what the question was. She has great personality, always jovial and up for a laugh in the office – characteristics which had contributed to the overall team morale in which it will be greatly missed!

A very ambitious young woman whose determination, hard work, self-confidence and positive attitude will help her to go far in life.”

Well there you have it, she is the deserved winner for this year’s Intern award.

We wish her all the best with her final year at University and for the future. 🙂