My King’s internship and career journey

By Isabella Trujillo-Cortes, Biomedical Engineering, Department of Biomedical Engineering

My second year at university has probably been the most challenging academic year so far. Aside from coursework and exams, the pressure of “figuring out” my future career has been creeping up on me. King’s, however, has definitely supported me through this.

To prepare before starting the academic year, I registered on King’s CareerConnect where I’m sent weekly newsletters notifying me of internships (both at King’s and at external companies), and other part-time job opportunities. To further prepare, I also utilised the Careers & Employability team throughout the year by booking mock interviews and application advice slots.

Through CareersConnect I was notified of the King’s Global Internships Programme and it caught my eye straight away – both because I was really looking for an internship and the idea of travelling abroad spun me! I attended the information evening hosted by the internships team and began my application in December for a spot in Cape Town. However, by January I began having second thoughts. This was because my budgeting was not so great and hence, I was worried I would not save up the money required to travel. Nevertheless, I took a leap of faith and sent off my application as well as applying or the King’s Global Bursary.

At the end of January, I also heard about the King’s Global Internship Careers+ Programme and I was super excited! They offer a global internship in HONG KONG for students from disadvantaged backgrounds and low-income households like myself. This was the best news EVER because I now had the opportunity to apply for a global internship AND I was much more at ease with the budgeting. What’s even better is that the programme offers EXTRA support. This support included workshops, CV and interview advice, and best of all a week-long micro-internship at a professional office at King’s to prepare me for HK. I thought it was too good to be true! I had an interview and I can only thank God that I was 1 out of the 10 students to get the spot!

I took my micro-internship in the Sustainability Department at King’s. During the placement, I researched how the university applies the UN Sustainability Goals across departments and faculties. I also researched the Department of Biomedical Engineering in more depth and found news on cutting-edge research the academics are currently undertaking. The most interesting article I found was the Artificial Intelligence Healthcare Revolution. I then summarised all my findings in my first ever blog! The internship definitely helped me to work on my communication, writing and project management skills. I am now more prepared and confident for my internship in Hong Kong this month (which will be at an engineering start-up firm).

I am SO looking forward to it and am super excited to grow as an individual, as well as discover more about the engineering career I am looking to pursue!

Learn about Mariam’s experience with the King’s Entrepreneurship Institute

Find out more about King’s School of Biomedical Engineering & Imaging Sciences