b'What do trinity graduates do?demilade adeniran, trinity undergraduate Q: How did you get your internship? (and was it background to any meetings I was invited to. Videobefore or during the pandemic) were set up between me and several companyI got my internship in the Optum Ireland (UnitedHealth employees throughout the internship. From seniorGroup) legal team during the pandemic. I saw the project managers to a legal intern in America. Anyinternship advertised on Linkedin. The process challenges or concerns I had, I was made comfortableinvolved an application form, sharing my CV, a pre- to share them with members of my team.recorded video interview and a live virtual interview.Q: Do you think it was worthwhile and what did youQ: Was this internship virtual or in person and how gain from it?did you manage the changes and logistics due toYes, I definitely think the internship was worthwhile. Itthe pandemic? gave me the opportunity to experience what it is like toThe internship was remote for 7 out of the 8 weeks as work from home. It also impressed upon me theeverybody in the oice was working from home. I was importance to reaching out to other people for helpthe sole intern in the legal team, The oice opened when necessary, as unlike in an oice setting, it mayback up again during the last week of my internship not be immediately obvious to others that you areand I was one of the two people from my team struggling. My team very helpfully gave me learningallocated seats back in the oice. To facilitate working sessions on various areas of law, this was beneficial infrom home, I was delivered a company laptop, headset, building my knowledge on areas of law both in theorykeyboard and other accessories. and practice. I was oered the internship while in firstyear despite it being targeted at 3rd/4th year studentsQ: How did you feel during the internship and what so I was able to challenge myself to do work at a verywere the challenges you faced? high level. It gave me the ability to better to determineI felt very supported during the internship as my team whether a career practicing law is for me and behad virtual coee mornings three times a week and a exposed me to dierent areas I might be interested inquiz on a Friday evening. People were very happy to such as tax.text each other on the company\'s instant messagingplatform of choice - "Jabber" throughout the day to Q: Are you planning on seeking any more internships?answer queries or check in on one another. Whenever I Yes, I\'m hoping to get internships in businesswas assigned a task as part of my internship, I was often (consulting), in law, in career consultancy and trygiven a video call where the task was thoroughly internships abroad too.explained beforehand. I was also regularly given aadvice from industrysinead darcyJameson Graduate Programme. International Graduate Programme Manager,Irish Distillers Pernod Ricard.\x01 Start thinking about what you want from your career early in your studies. Dont leave it to final year. gradireland.com/get-started is a good place to start.\x01 Build up a portfolio of experience and skills. Getting relevant work experience and internships are a great way to do this but there are other ways to build up these skills too, such as volunteering, organising events to raise money for charity or becoming an active member of a college society or local club. \x01 Highlight your proficiency in a foreign language and make it an eye-catcher by including it in the headline summary on your CV, application, or online profile 67'