ARM INTERNSHIP – PART 1
I spent some time early in the year developing my CV and improving my interview skills with the Careers service and as a part of that process identified several companies that advertised student internships on their website. After keeping track of these for a few weeks, there was one on the ARM website (http://www.arm.com/about/careers/students/student-vacancies.php) that caught my eye and I began to go through the application process. Firstly I had to create an account on the website and then upload my CV and cover letter to the application.
This took a while as my CV was still in an incomplete form but after getting several people to provide feedback on it I felt it was polished enough to upload. Just a note on CVs: mine lost some of it’s formatting when I uploaded it to the application form so it is worth checking and taking the time to reformat to make it look good once it’s online. Also, I’ve got a small section on my CV where I outline some of the Units I have done as a part of this course and will make sure to adjust those for every application to show I have been taught the skills for that particular job.
The cover letter was a little bit more difficult as I didn’t have time to get feedback on it before the deadline for the application. However, a large portion of it was simply describing and expanding upon sections of my CV that I thought were particularly applicable to the job. After the interview, I mentioned to the recruitment manager that I thought my cover letter was too long. She responded that it wasn’t and a page was just about the right length.
Anyway, I submitted the application along with the details of a couple referees and a few weeks later heard back from them asking if I would be available for an interview. The interview was too early in the morning to travel there the same day, so I took a train to Cambridge the night before and stayed in a B&B. ARM is a brilliant company and reimbursed me for my expenses.
The interview was surprisingly short and consisted of a few checks about my CV, a few technical questions, and a quick test. I got somewhat lucky and the man interviewing me was brand new to interviewing so with my tendency to talk and get sidetracked when I’m a bit nervous, we spent a large portion of the interview just chatting in a very comfortable manner. A note on interviews; visit the careers service for a practice interview. I was amazed how similar in style the questions during my practice interview were to my interview with ARM and cannot stress how helpful it is to be forced to think along the right lines prior to the real thing.
The rest of my day at ARM was spent talking to the recruitment manager. I’m not sure how important being friendly there was, but I believe it may have played a large part in me getting the job. Companies want someone who not only fulfils their technical requirements for the job, but someone they can work with, so make sure to be yourself and to be friendly to everyone you meet, even the receptionist.
It took over a month for them to tell me I got the job, during which time I kept in contact with them. Firstly I sent an email thanking them for the interview and for reimbursing my expenses, and then several weeks later sent another asking about the status of my application. They ensured me that it was being processed and they were waiting on another interviewee before they made their final choices. Again, I’m not sure how much of a part it played, but being eager and inquisitive is never a bad thing.
Anyway, I got the job and then just had to arrange dates and length of internship. I may write about the actual internship in another blog post, but for now this will do.