Intern Interviews: Becoming a Saltire Scholar
Previously on our social media channels as part of our Meet the Team series we have introduced our summer intern Keira, but today we thought we would let her tell more about her experience with the Saltire Scholar program ran by Entrepreneurial Scotland which allowed Keira to gain this internship with us at DragonflAI. Our hope is that by allowing her to write first hand about her experience, Keira can encourage other students, as well as other companies like us, to take part in this really exciting program set up by a very ambitious and patriotic charity.
The Entrepreneurial Scotland Foundation is an independent, non-political, OSCR regulated, Scottish charity that works to ensure that the leaders and talent within Scotland are equipped with the entrepreneurial skills, mindset and connections to create an impact. Through their innovative programmes, including their talent development program- Saltire Scholars, and their active trustees, teams and alumnis, the charity hopes that the entrepreneurial minds that they nurture will continue to create jobs and generate wealth. The foundation believes that those who are part of their community of entrepreneurs past, present and future will shape Scotland into becoming the world’s most entrepreneurial society by 2030, through their creation of new opportunities and added enrichment to the entrepreneurial culture of Scotland, ensuring the foundations are laid for future generations.
The Saltire Scholar program is the charity’s world-leading talent development program. Designed to find, nurture and create Scotland’s entrepreneurial talent, the experiential approach of the program allows the connecting of firms to collaborate on the mission of this program, and ultimately that of the foundation too. By working with Scottish universities, the Saltire Scholar program, companies can save on resources, as the talent is filtered through a lengthy and thorough application process of those in their penultimate year of university- no matter what your age or nationality.
With 1200 initial written applications the team then over a matter of months then whittle it down to a final candidate pool of 180 scholars, however not all are guaranteed an internship. With only 600 students being selected from the first applications, speed interviews are then completed, of course this year this was done virtually for me due to the current pandemic. The interviews were split into two fifteen minute time slots, one being with a member of the Entrepreneurial Scotland or Saltire Scholar team, and the other being with an alum. For me, I would say that I enjoy interviews (although that may be hard to believe) so although I was nervous due to the competitiveness of this program, I knew that this part of the process would be my strength. After an anxious wait till four in the afternoon UK time, the interviews went well and I felt that I had showcased myself in the best way possible.
Luckily after a short wait I was then lucky enough to make it through the candidate stage of the program where along with 450 other students I was then given access to the six lists, which were posted around every 10 days or so from February through till April, to apply for internships. This part of the process for me was definitely the toughest. Bearing in mind that I had been working on becoming a Saltire Scholar since November, when the time came to apply for the internships in the lists, juggling the time it took to write tailored CVs and Cover Letters every week on top of my university work, my part-time job and my volunteering, it was definitely a test of my time management skills. On top of that the resilience needed when I was knocked back saying that I had been unsuccessful in getting an interview with one of the host companies, I kept asking myself what I was doing wrong? After every application you are given feedback on elements of your CV or Cover Letter you should change so as the process continues, everytime I wrote one of those documents I felt like I was improving, again another great skill to have alongside resilience and time management.
Luckily by the fifth list I came across what seemed out of all the internships I had applied for the one that I felt was best suited to me. When I read the job description, what DragonflAI stood for and doing some research about the company I knew that this was the summer internship for me. I was to be honest however not hopeful, as once again I knew that even at this stage in the process how stiff the competition was. Despite this I was luckily enough to get my one and only host company interview with our CEO Hannah, and I was immediately made to feel so comfortable and welcome (no she did not pay me to say that I promise).
Besides how amazing the opportunity is to work with Hannah and the team at DragonflAI this summer, the chance to even get as far as the candidate pool felt amazing. The Saltire team that work with the students are so passionate about what they do and they make sure that this experience no matter what the outcome is valuable to all. I love that being a Saltire Scholar means that I am now part of a unique community created by the 2021 scholars, and a large part of that responsibility is giving back. I am very passionate about this due to my volunteer work with a charitable organisation, so it was great to see that the Entrepreneurial Scotland charity was doing the same and only added to my desire to become part of the 130 Saltire Scholars this year. The Saltire Scholars this year, like every year, are very diverse in their backgrounds, nationalities, work experience and degree disciplines, meaning that networking with everyone is always interesting and I am always learning something new.
With some of their Saltire Alumni having started a total of 99 new businesses, with 35% of those being in C-level roles, including our own CEO Hannah Mercer, who was a Saltire Scholar herself, it is easy to see why our intern Keira was drawn to this program.
