Hello all, my name is Mia McTighe and I am an undergraduate student from the University of Leeds reading BA Linguistics and Phonetics. At the University we have the opportunity to undertake a year in industry for our third year, I was lucky enough to be successful in securing the role of Business and Marketing Officer at the White Rose Academies Trust.

I was attracted to the role after experience volunteering in a local primary school revealed to me how rewarding a career that involves enhancing the education of young people truly is, something that is prioritised first and foremost by the WRAT central team. Further, I felt myself to have great understanding and empathy towards the diversity that exists within the academies due to my degree knowledge, as many students have English as an additional language.

The application process for the role involved me writing a A4 letter to the Trust Project Manager explaining why I was interested in the role and believed myself to be suitable. I then found out in April of this year that I was shortlisted to be interviewed by the Trust. Due to lockdown, this ended up being slightly more nerve wracking as it was done via webcam on Microsoft Teams! I began by completing a few set tasks and then was virtually interviewed by the panel which involved 5 members of the Central Trust Team, including the CEO and CFO.

Upon hearing the Trust wanted to offer me the position, I was delighted as throughout the whole application process I had increasingly realised that it was a dream role for me. I had discovered a passion for Business and Marketing through my role as President of Society at University and part-time retail work, and was passionate to take an active role in projects that improve the education of young people in the community. It was clear to see from researching the White Rose Academies Trust that their values aligned with mine with regards to constantly seeking ways to improve the education of their students. Further, it revealed that this organisation would give me experience in a professional and enriching environment, enabling me to progress in this career by introducing me to a variety of areas within Business and Marketing.

In the short time that I have been with the Trust, I have already been given many exciting tasks to work on. From contacting suppliers to request quotes and assess these with the finance team, to looking at ways to strengthen EAL support and even calling up our TSLG to check in on them prior to their long-awaited return to the classrooms. I have also recently been told that the White Rose Academies Trust will be enabling me to do a Agile Project Management Course while I am interning with them, highlighting that as an institution they truly value the success of every member of the team and strive for the highest possible outcomes. I am extremely grateful for the level of responsibility I have been given in just a few weeks and I can’t wait to welcome more responsibility and see my own skills develop, over the course of my internship with the Trust