A De Montfort University Leicester (DMU) graduate has landed a prime social media job after showcasing her internet blogging skills during an internship.
Gabriele Povilaityte credits DMU's Graduate Champions scheme with giving her the experience needed to be offered the Social Media Co-ordinator role by online retailers KD Trading.
The Leicester company is equally positive about the initiative - which offers recent graduates the chance to take up a paid, six-week long internship with a leading UK business to help them stand out in the jobs market - and plans to offer more internships.
The directors were impressed by Gabriele's ideas, initiative and hard work, including setting up a blog on the website for men's grooming experts Mo Bro's.
Gabriele said: "It's very hard to get a job because you don't have the experience. I'm very glad I did the internship.
"I feel great landing the job. I love doing what I do."
Gabriele originally chose to study Media and Communications at DMU because of the course's practical elements.
The 22-year-old said: "I'm a creative person and loved having the opportunity."
Having left Lithuania to study in Leicester, she struggled initially, but benefited from the support offered by DMU.
Gabriele said: "It's hard at first because it's a new culture and you have to speak the language in real life. But the support from the university and my tutors was great.
"I enjoyed my time at DMU - it was a great experience."
Straight after graduating in 2015, Gabriele took up an internship. Then Graduate Champions contacted her again about the role with her now employer.
She said: "Graduate Champions was very good because I had the opportunity to try two different jobs. The first one was marketing and through doing that I got to know that I wanted something more creative, but it was still good experience."
The team at KD Trading, which specialises in retail cosmetics, concentrating on beard grooming products, say offering an internship through the DMU Graduate Champions scheme was good for them.
Company director Kev Dattani said: "When we first started looking we went down the apprentice route but didn't have much luck.
"So we offered an internship and set a programme for Gabriele. We were able to help her but she had initiative, was interested in the job and put the effort in. She followed the programme, finished on deadline and completed in her own time when needed.
"She is doing a great job. Gabriele set up a blog dedicated to beards - every week she gets a customer in and does an interview on mobro'sblog.
"She also suggested some images on our website were dated and has taken lifestyle shots.
"There's always something new with Gabriele. We've taken on a lot of her ideas and love working with her.
"One hundred per cent we'll take on a Graduate Champion in the next round of the scheme."
Posted on Thursday 14 April 2016