Every October, for the last three years, Winchester Cathedral has welcomed a new intern to the Marketing and Communications team. Students at the University of Winchester complete the 30 day placement as part of their degree, giving them real-life experience to prepare them for post-graduate life.
With students joining the team in October and leaving in March (two days a week during term time), they work on a range of events from Christmas to Easter!
My internship at Winchester Cathedral has been an incredibly unique and rewarding experience. I feel privileged and grateful to have had the opportunity to be involved in such an amazing organisation, contributing to remarkable events such as the Christmas Market, the Christmas Tree Light Switch-on, Whales, and Jane Austen’s 250th anniversary.
From the beginning, the entire team has been so welcoming and supportive, making me feel that my work was genuinely valued and appreciated. In particular, the marketing team has been fantastic, and I have learned so much from each member – especially Lauren, who provided invaluable guidance and support throughout my journey.
This experience has been both insightful and educational, exceeding my expectations. I have gained vital knowledge, developing key skills along the way. It has allowed me to apply what I have learned at university to a real life busy marketing team, including creating social media content, implementing important marketing techniques, and understanding branding strategies.
I now feel more than ready to step into the professional world, and I truly believe that this internship has prepared me in the best possible way.
Winchester Cathedral was the perfect place to immerse myself in marketing and communications. There was so much diversity in this role for learning, from social media marketing to designing newsletters, to getting involved in exciting events (including Winchester Christmas Market, Festival of the Moon and a Luxmuralis light and sound show); there were endless opportunities to grow my knowledge and experience.
I am extremely grateful to my wonderful colleagues at Winchester Cathedral, their guidance and support was instrumental to my development in this role and for future roles. A particular thanks goes to Lauren, who continues to support me in my career endeavours.
If I could sum up my time at Winchester Cathedral in three words it would be invaluable, supportive & diverse.
I came into this position with little knowledge of how to navigate a marketing and comms role, and feel as though I am leaving with a confident range of skills to set me up for a graduate job in this department.
One of the key skills I have developed is communication; learning how to interact face-to-face and digitally (e.g., via email) with colleagues, external partners and volunteers. I feel this will be useful and transferable to any future roles I might endeavour in.
The best part of my experience would be collecting social media content for the Cathedral, especially creating Instagram reels. With this considered, I hope my future career leans on this element of marketing in particular.
Thank you to everyone at Winchester Cathedral who has supported me in my role, and a special thanks to the marketing and comms department, you have been wonderful mentors.
Working for a prestigious institution is an honourable privilege. The professionalism at Winchester Cathedral is exceptional. I would sum up the organisation and my placement as: collaborative, engaging and democratic.
I entered this role in October with enthusiasm and determination to succeed, therefore I shall be leaving my placement with a broad range of versatile skills to help me get a graduate job in the Marketing department.
Working collaboratively with my fellow colleagues and external partners in-person and digitally on various projects, gaining vital knowledge on using content management systems, has been perfect for my work experience and career.
The best part of my placement has been working hard on social media content, articles, and newsletters, especially the social media report.
Therefore, I would love for my marketing career to be this fun and exciting.
This opportunity is open to third year Business/Marketing/Events students at the University of Winchester, who are offered a chance to complete a 30 day placement as part of their course.
If you’re interested to learn more about this internship opportunity, please contact your course leader at the University of Winchester to find out more.
