Summer Internship at the ARC

Interning at the archive can be a wonderful experience for students and graduates gaining invaluable experience hoping to go into heritage and working with collections. One way of doing this is working a couple of days a week; you will adopt many tasks, roles and projects that can help you and the ARC grow. Becoming an intern at the ARC means that you can bring your unique perspective in the archive on how to continue preserving collections and expanding the vital work that goes into caring for an important part of women’s social history.

Interns will do a wide variety of tasks that are not always archiving related and can help you expand all your skills. From cataloguing, digitising and learning conservation practices to outreach, PR, and fundraising. Attending camps, and helping prepare for them can help you expand your interpersonal and organisational skills. An internship will help you grow in all areas with real skills that are applicable for all careers.

Whether you are a Guide or have no knowledge of the institution, your talents can be put to use and you will be able to learn how to work with others, partake in projects, do research and build confidence being a part of a busy workplace.

And here we have Holly, a summer intern in 2023, giving her take on the opportunity.

As a previous UEA student looking to go into work at museums, I realised that without experience it is a hard industry to crack into. After deciding that I wanted more experience before undertaking a Masters, I went about searching pages for a job that would accept someone with more passion than experience. So when I was searching through the university career page and saw a paid internship for an archive that preserves the history of a group I was once a part of I jumped at the chance to apply.

In preparation, I was supported by UEA through having them look through my application, CV and through a mock interview that let me know how to speak to those who would be on the other side of the computer. They helped me construct answers and understand where I was falling short.

After being accepted and beginning working at the archive, I met my fellow intern and we have worked together to help improve and preserve the history of the Guides. We both brought our own skills, ideas and personality to the jobs we did. Knowing I had a friend and peer to help me in tasks that I was just learning how to do and couldn’t do alone, such as lift heavy equipment when packing away camp, made each task reassuring. At the ARC you are always supported in your learning, whether it is the head archivist or the volunteers they will always give you the help and support you need to learn what you want to learn. I have learnt the practice and theory of archiving and collections management that can help me expand into new career opportunities. It has helped me understand that archiving is more than putting away boxes and sorting the occasional item but it is a whole collection and variety of skills, tasks and responsibilities. My fellow intern who was an English student has learnt work skills that she will be able to use and carry on in her future careers that exceed that of archiving.

As an intern employed by the University of East Anglia, the careers central have helped support me continuously throughout, being ready to respond to emails and paying me to be able to do the internship.

Interning at the ARC is a wonderful opportunity for fellow interns to grow and learn. In an industry that is often hard to get into, the ARC works hard to help you use the skills you already have and grow them all whilst adopting new ones. You will learn so much about Guiding and gain a fascination with a group that has such a long and at times surprising history.