Internship Title: Global Opportunities Administrative Officer
Global Opportunities (GO) is ARU’s dedicated team supporting students who want to study, work, or volunteer abroad as part of their university experience. The team helps students explore short-term and long-term international programmes, navigate funding options, and understand the personal and academic benefits of global mobility. They guide students through the entire process, from initial enquiries and information sessions, to applications, pre-departure preparation, and support while abroad. GO also manages online resources such as the Canvas-based “GO Abroad” journey and maintains a strong presence across campus and online to promote opportunities and celebrate student achievements.
As an intern, you’ll be working with a team focused on helping students build confidence, gain valuable skills, and broaden their horizons through life-changing international experiences.
An internship with Global Opportunities provides a strong introduction to professional service work in a university setting. You will gain hands-on experience supporting international mobility, develop administrative and communication skills, and benefit from a structured training package designed to boost your confidence, capability, and employability.
Proposed start date: 12th May
Duration: 10 weeks
Hours: 20hrs per week
Rate of pay: £13.45ph
Location: Chelmsford campus
Duties: As an intern with the Global Opportunities (GO) Team, you will support the delivery of ARU’s international mobility activities, helping students who plan to study, work, or volunteer abroad. You will gain experience working within a professional, student-facing service that collaborates with staff across the University, international partners, and a wide range of ARU departments. This internship offers hands-on administrative experience, project support, and opportunities to interact directly with students and staff in a dynamic global education environment.
Based on an existing role within the Global Opportunities’ structure, the following key responsibilities have been identified suitable for an undergraduate Intern, to offer a rare opportunity to learn from a specialist team, build professional skills, and support initiatives that help ARU students access life-changing international experiences:
Administrative and Programme Support
You will support day-to-day tasks such as:
- Helping manage mobility-related documentation, records and tracking processes.
- Assisting with maintaining accurate data and supporting compliance with key systems (e.g., participant lists, attendance, grant documents).
- Manage GO inbox and categorise emails.
Student and Staff Support
- Acting as a friendly first point of contact for basic mobility queries from students and staff, using GO communication templates.
- Signposting students to appropriate resources, guidance, and team members.
Event and Logistics Support:
- Helping with logistical arrangements for mobility groups where appropriate.
- Monitor Handshake for future events.
Finance & Systems Support (Entry-level tasks):
- Assisting with simple administrative finance tasks (e.g., gathering documents, checking forms for completeness).
- Supporting the team with data entry or tracking information related to mobility funding.
Communication & Customer Service:
- Helping draft template emails, update student-facing information, and support the team’s communications.
- Review GO communication on MyARU and social media, and suggest improvements from student viewpoint.
- Demonstrating excellent customer care in responding to queries.
Professional Skills Development:
- Working collaboratively with staff across ARU.
- Understanding University processes around data protection, confidentiality, equity and inclusion, and student experience.
Requirements:
- ARU UG student
- Strong attention to detail and accuracy when handling documents, data, or records
- Good communication skills, both written and verbal—able to communicate politely and clearly with students, staff, and external partners.
- Customer-service mindset: friendly, approachable, and able to provide helpful support, even when queries are varied or unfamiliar.
- Organisational skills—able to manage small tasks, keep track of information, and prioritise workload during busy periods.
- Proactive attitude and willingness to take ownership of tasks, ask questions, and seek solutions.
- Ability to work independently and as part of a team, contributing positively to a supportive working environment.
- Basic confidence with Microsoft Office tools, especially Outlook, Word, Excel, Teams, and SharePoint—advanced use is not required, as training will be provided.
- Respect for confidentiality and professionalism, particularly when handling sensitive student or partner data
- Interest in international mobility, global engagement, student experience, or general administrative work—no prior experience required, just motivation to learn.
- Experience in any customer-facing role (e.g., retail, hospitality, student ambassador work) would be beneficial
- Comfort using digital platforms or willingness to learn new systems would be beneficial
- Curiosity about cultural exchange, international opportunities, or higher-education processes would be beneficial
Learning outcomes:
By completing an internship with the Global Opportunities (GO) Team, you will gain a powerful combination of professional, digital, and interpersonal skills that will directly strengthen your employability, both within the higher-education sector and far beyond it. This internship offers more than administrative experience: it gives you responsibility, visibility, and the chance to make a real difference to students embarking on life-changing international journeys. By the end of the internship, you will have developed:
Professional & Administrative Experience That Employers Value
You will develop real, practical skills by working alongside experienced staff in a fast-paced professional services team. This includes:
- Managing documentation, data, and mobility records with accuracy and confidentiality.
- Supporting the coordination of international mobility programmes and seeing how complex processes operate behind the scenes.
- Handling genuine operational tasks rather than “shadowing,” giving you evidence-based experience to show future employers.
Outcome: You will leave with concrete examples of tasks and responsibilities you personally handled—ideal for CVs and job interviews.
Confident Communication & Customer Service Skills
Through daily contact with students and staff, you’ll learn to:
- Respond to live queries with confidence and clarity.
- Tailor communication for different audiences (students, academics, partners).
- Provide calm, professional support—even when questions are unfamiliar.
Outcome: You’ll build confidence in your professional voice and strengthen transferable communication skills that employers look for in entry-level roles.
Teamwork Experience
You will gain meaningful experience working as part of a supportive, collaborative team that operates across multiple university departments. Throughout the internship, you’ll contribute to shared projects, work alongside experienced colleagues, and develop confidence in communicating within a professional environment. You'll also learn how different teams within a university coordinate to deliver services, giving you insight into organisational dynamics and cross-departmental collaboration.
Outcome: You will build strong interpersonal and teamwork skills, highly valued by employers in every sector, while experiencing what it feels like to contribute to a professional, mission-driven team working to support students across the university.
Digital & Systems Competence (With Built-In Training)
You won’t just learn digital systems, you’ll use them. Throughout the internship you’ll gain working knowledge of:
- SharePoint, Teams, OneDrive
- Canvas
- Astra
- e:Vision
- MS Forms
- Excel, PowerPoint, Word
Outcome: You’ll finish the internship with practical digital skills that give you a competitive advantage in both administrative and graduate-level roles.
Extensive Training & Upskilling Opportunities
To support your development, you will access a structured package of role-specific and optional training workshops, including:
Recommended role-specific training:
- Managing content on MyARU
- MS Forms (Beginner/Intermediate)
- Introduction to ASTRA & data extraction
- OneDrive, Teams & SharePoint
- Editing staff intranet (HERON)
- e:Vision
Optional Skills Training (to boost your CV even further)
- Copilot Bitesize – Productivity Skills
- Excel Bitesize
- Outlook Essentials & Tips
- PowerPoint Essentials & Advanced
- Word Essentials
How to apply: Please click on the apply button and submit a CV and Cover letter as part of your application
Closing date: Monday 27th April
Interview date: Tuesday 5th May
Important notice: When making your application, feel free to use AI to enhance your CV and cover letter, but make sure to include REAL-LIFE EXAMPLES that clearly demonstrate your skills, experience, and knowledge. Applications that appear overly generic or lack evidence will be referred to the Employability and Careers team for further support and will not progress to the next stage of recruitment.