July 2011

Saltire success for SBS students


Strathclyde University undergraduates who will be participating in the Saltire Foundation's internship programme

Six students from Strathclyde Business School have just embarked on summer internships as part of the Saltire Foundation's prestigious internship programme, the Saltire Scholarship.

Together with a further ten fellow students from across the university, the business school students have been awarded the opportunity to work in global companies such as the Trump Foundation, Citibank and the Wood Group. The 16 Strathclyde students secured the highest number of placements out of any university in Scotland.

The successful students had to undertake a tough application process and compete against hundreds of students from all Scottish universities to be selected for one of the 61 fully-funded undergraduate internships available. They completed three stages in the application process. The first stage involves completing an application form with a number of open competency based questions, as well as assessing your motivation for applying for a Saltire Foundation internship. The second stage is a speed interview, consisting of 2 interviews with a former Saltire Scholar and a Saltire Foundation representative, both of which build on the questions in the application form. The final stage is a phone interview direct with the host organisation.

The internships give the students the chance to experience life in leading global companies, working on projects of real significance to their host companies while allowing them to develop their own skills.

The business school students are: Jack Nicoll, Tina Dickson, Jane Manson, Kirsty Chalmers, David McKniff and Claire Martin. They were selected for internships with companies situated from Scotland to the US and Hong Kong.

Jack Nicoll has been placed with the Wood Group in Houston, USA; Tina Dickson and Claire Martin are with Vets Now, Dunfermline; Jane Manson is in New York with the Trump Organization; Kirsty Chalmers has been placed with the Illinois St Andrews Society, USA; while David McKniff's internship is with Citigroup in Hong Kong.

Tina Dickson said, "I got a training and marketing internship with a Scottish company called Vets Now. They are currently one of the fastest growing companies in Scotland and last year they had an annual turnover of £22m. This is the first year that the Saltire Foundation has offered placements in Scotland as normally they are based abroad so I and the five other interns working in Scottish companies are trialling the development of Scottish internships.

"I was absolutely ecstatic when I found out the news and the process beyond this point moved very quickly. Contracts were signed, there were social events where I got to meet the other interns and learn about the internships that they were going to be carrying out over the summer period as well as finding out more about the Saltire Foundation itself. It was very exciting and demonstrated that beyond having a basic internship I had become part of the Saltire family and community which was going to give me a really good opportunity to network with business men and women established in the industry and make good contacts, something that gives the Saltire Foundation internship programme an edge."

Kirsty Chalmers said, "I got involved in the Saltire Foundation process for two main reasons: it offered an amazing chance to gain a placement in an exciting company in a completely different country and culture, creating lots of learning opportunities, and secondly, the Saltire Foundation supports their interns even after placements and encourages a community where networking and engaging in top-end business is a way of life, which greatly improves the chances of all those involved in terms of graduate employment."

Kirsty underwent two telephone interviews to get her placement and she is now involved in organising a Celtic Rock Concert in order to engage the younger generations in Scottish Heritage in Chicago, Illinois. She added, "I feel the application process has taught me a lot of valuable communication skills and key competencies that I will be able to reuse when it comes to graduate applications."

David McKniff said he was 'amazed and inspired' by the range of internships on offer, and added, "It's a cliche, but I was speechless on being offered the opportunity to work with such a significant financial institution such as Citigroup and experience an entirely new culture and city in Hong Kong."

The outstanding achievements of the programme's alumni demonstrate that investing in tomorrow's leaders early in their careers will develop a global perspective which pays dividends to the Scottish economy in the medium to long-term.

Sandy Kennedy, CEO of the Saltire Foundation, said, "I'm delighted that The Saltire Scholarship continues to go from strength to strength. The 2011 cohort of scholars is an outstanding group and will undoubtedly do Scotland proud. It should be remembered that these life changing opportunities would not be possible without the support of our host companies and in particular the GlobalScots."

Sandra Wright of the Careers Service, said, "The vast majority of students leave university with some work experience, but a Saltire Internship gives a competitive advantage when applying for graduate positions. The experience of living and working in another country is valued by graduate employers but the Saltire Internships also require students to take responsibility for identifying areas of the business that can be improved or developed, contribute ideas and deliver their findings via reports and presentations to senior members of staff. These tasks develop the skills valued by all graduate employers."

For more information, go to www.saltirefoundation.com. Saltire Scholar blogs can be followed here.

In This Issue:

 

Scottish Chamber of Commerce and Fraser of Allander Institute report

Accounting and finance executive training programme

Deloitte prize for winning team of first year Management Development Programme

Hospitality and Tourism leadership information session

Social Media and Exporters meeting

One Day Workshop on International Marketing

40th anniversary dinner honours

Emeritus professor awarded Leverhulme fellowship

International Business first cohort graduates

Marketing researcher joins Social Media Week advisory board

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