Utilising the opportunity for interns

Gleem was growing but we had limited funds. I started researching apprentices and other ways to help keep costs low. I found that the University of Bristol had a fantastic internship scheme available.

I set up some vacancies for ⫘Business Development⫪ interns. Over the next month the applicants started rolling in.

I conducted some interviews and was amazed by the calibre of the applicants.

I ended up taking on 3 interns: Jay, who was an articulate and well rounded editor of the university newspaper, Khurram who was studying his masters in accountancy, and Pili, a graphic designer.

Myself and these three interns were Team Gleem. We moved into an office that was large enough for the four of us, and set to work developing the business.

The University of Bristol was invaluable in helping Gleem find interns.

Without these internships, Gleem would have struggled to grow in the early days, but the support of the University of Bristol was fantastic: it offset the cost of growing and enabled the interns to gain some fantastic experience working in a start-up.

Something that doesn⫪t happen too often with Universities relentlessly focussing on students applying for graduate schemes.

The internships were for a limited amount of time, so I decided the best thing to do would be to address these periods as ⫘projects⫪, letting them focus on working towards achieving a specific goal instead of just using up hours ineffectively.

We talked about it and identified which projects would utilise their skills and interests the most, enabling them to really dig their teeth into something that they care about.��

This is the method I⫪ve decided to focus on in every job role and hire I make at Gleem.

[Tweet "'Give people a significant say in determining what their role will be.'-Joseph Edwards"]

Based upon their interest and skill set so as to make the most of the time available.

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