My Experience at Action Sustainability: A 7-week Internship

My 7-week internship at Action Sustainability has been an insightful and interesting experience as I was able to dive deeper into the field of sustainable consultancy.  I had the chance to work on a range of projects that enlightened my knowledge of sustainability as well as understanding how sustainable practices are used in the business world.

Internship Overview

Throughout my time, I had the opportunity to learn how the business functions and how everyone has their own part to play. Everyone was so welcoming, and I found it interesting talking to each person and finding out about what they work on day to day. I now have a good understanding of what it is like to work both in the office and from home.

I worked on several tasks during my time, including developing video scripts and creating questions for the new e-learning modules that will be on the new Action Sustainability Supply Chain School in the US. I also had the opportunity to work with the business development team, where I shadowed a call with a potential new partner. This gave me a valuable insight into the presentation and the negotiation of sustainability projects in a more commercial setting. Additionally, I worked with the partner relations team where I shadowed a call with a current partner. This experience allowed me to learn and understand what is needed to keep the partners interested and engaged as well as understanding how much of a vital role Action Sustainability plays in assisting with their partners’ sustainability initiatives.

Furthermore, I got to find out about and work with new sustainability developments and companies such as the CO2 Performance Ladder which is a new initiative made to keep sustainability through the supply chain in the construction industry. I had the opportunity to shadow the first introduction call with the company and got to learn how Action Sustainability is going to work alongside the CO2 Performance Ladder and how they are going to help bring it into the UK markets.

I also had the opportunity to assist on tasks like benchmarking and working on a gap analysis. Working on these tasks helped me learn how to carry out effective market research. Benchmarking allowed me to improve on my decision-making skills as I was comparing businesses performances to the industry standards. Working on the gap analysis helped me improve on my analytical skills as I had to research many companies in the same industry and compare them.

My key Learnings and Reflections

The team at Action Sustainability gave me a much greater understanding of the sustainability industry. I learnt that there are so many factors that all play a part in it, including both social and economic factors as well as environmental. I learnt that more regulations are now being implemented and that when businesses start adopting sustainable practices, it puts them at a competitive advantage in the market and sets them up for long term success.

One of the more challenging aspects of the internship was managing and keeping on top of all the various tasks that different people had set for me. However, this helped me overall to better my organisational skills and communication skills when asking for help which everyone was happy to provide.

Overall, my internship at Action Sustainability gave me a valuable experience for my future and boosted further my interest in sustainability. I really enjoyed my time at the company, everyone was so kind and helpful. I really appreciate the work put in to help me and I’m excited to apply what I have learnt in future situations. Thank you Action Sustainability!