Recent student, Becky Large, recently spoke to Queen Mary about her experience undertaking an internship with London International Development Centre (LIDC) as part of her studies. This intership opportunity is open to postgraduate students on development programmes alongside students undertaking the new BA in Global Development.
The communications internship at LIDC involved a wide range of activities from creating social media content for all of their channels through to creating the monthly newsletter for student members. I had the privilege of undertaking some paid work during my internship to help with the administrative running of the organisation. Besides creating social media content, I helped plan various upcoming events as well as undertaking a social media analysis of their Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn accounts. It’s safe to say that during my time there I was given a verity of tasks and responsibilities, and no day was the same!
I really enjoyed getting to know what the communications side to international development looks like from the academic side, as well as getting to work with some very lovely and knowledgeable people about the international development sphere. I hadn’t thought much about a career in communications before this internship but came out of it interested in pursuing this further.
I would definitely recommend this internship to any future student at Queen Mary if they are interested in a career in international development. You get to be a part of the latest developments in the sphere, as well as getting training sessions on employment in international development as well as having your CV looked at as well. It is a fun and engaging internship that can help you get your foot in the door as well as gaining some valuable work experience alongside completing your studies!
I would definitely recommend becoming a LIDC member so you can get all the latest developments and jobs straight into your inbox every month as well as access to so many wonderful events they put on throughout the year, from careers in international development to the latest developments and debates in the field.
Many thanks to Becky for her responses.
For 2022, the LIDC internships is open to students on the new BA Global Development programme, MA Development and Global Health, MA Global Development and MSc Development and International Business students.