Lujein Ali Hamad from Haverstock School in Northwest London spent 4 weeks working with us at Career Ready across the Comms and Impact teams. Discover how she was able to expand her skills and shift her mindset on her internship.
Before starting her internship at Career Ready, Lujein was initially apprehensive about adapting to a professional office environment. She thought it might be hard to settle in because it was her first office-based job.
“I was kind of nervous before starting the internship because I didn’t know if I would be able to fit into the workplace. I did also think that it would be hard to talk to new people and start conversations with them, but everyone was welcoming and kind.”
Meeting new challenges
During Lujein’s internship, she had the opportunity to meet and work with people across the organisation – an experience that boosted both her confidence and interpersonal skills.
“My experience at Career Ready was completely the opposite of what I thought it would be. I’m now more open to talk to new people and I am a lot less shy when introducing myself. I’m definitely much better at networking now and I feel like I’m more adaptable, especially in new situations.”
She worked on a few different projects across the 4 weeks, including interviewing another young person about their time on the Career Ready programme, and creating a LinkedIn guide for other young people with fellow intern, Afsana. They presented their guide to the Comms and Impact teams at the end of their internship.
“I really enjoyed working on the success story because I could really see how young people develop throughout the internship, and what skills they’ve improved. The LinkedIn project was also one of the projects that I enjoyed, it showed me how important teamwork is.”
One of Lujein’s supervisors and our Head of Impact, Anna Trocme Latter, reflected on Lujein’s growth over her time with us.
“It was a joy to have Lujein on the team and see her develop from a quiet, shy girl to a confident and well-presented young woman who sets herself stretching goals and then smashes them!”
A world of new possibilities
Lujein went from feeling nervous about the prospect of entering the working world to excited about her options for the future. In fact, learning about different roles and responsibilities in an organisation helped her expand her own thinking about what job she might like to do.
“I’ve had an amazing opportunity to explore different job roles that I’d never have thought about before, or knew they even existed! I know this internship is going to help me with my future because it’s opened up a lot of options for me, and I don’t have to worry about if my university degree is not related to the job I want to do after university.”
While she considers her options for her future, she learned about the benefits of a positive working environment, and how important that is for her own sense of wellbeing and growth.
“My internship did really influence me on my future. It didn’t just show me how many options I have but gave me idea of how important a good workplace culture is and how everyone should be kind to each other. That’s the kind of environment that I want to work in, whatever industry I choose.”
