Alum of the Month

Amy Clarkson

October 2013

New York Program

August 2011 Intake

What and where did you study before your Mountbatten internship?
LLB Law at the University of Sunderland.

What made you apply for the Mountbatten programme?
I completed a 3 month internship in Miami with Marriott during the summer before going into my final year of university. I had an incredibly fun time and loved living and working abroad. Following the completion of my law degree, and having had quite a lot of work experience in the legal field, I wanted to combine working abroad with trying something new which turned out to be HR. Mountbatten provided the opportunity to gain an internship that was more in line with my career aspirations than possibly other work abroad programmes could.

Describe your sponsor company and your role within it.
I worked for UBS in the HR department. I supported a team of HR Business Partners and Managers covering back office and front office functions. I was involved in a variety of HR related tasks and projects including grievances and disciplinaries, recruiting, administering the annual performance and compensation review, voluntary and involuntary terminations and policy development.
What was the highlight/most memorable moment of your working experience during this year?
It is difficult to pin point one particular moment, but I would say the relationships I built with my colleagues whilst there, were invaluable and continue to have a positive effect on my professional development and level of success within my current role.

What was the social highlight/most memorable moment during this year?
Impossible to pick out just one! There was some fabulous weekends away: Atlantic City, Boston, Washington DC, Lake Placid, even Princeton and extremely memorable nights out where only Mountbattens could go out with $20 and come home with change! I also had a notoriously large number of visitors from home with whom I had some amazing weekends, seeing their excitement stopped me from taking the city for granted.

Please share a little wisdom/philosophy that you acquired during your internship.
No matter what the task/project/job is that you are doing, and even if it something you find boring and not in the slightest bit challenging, do it to the very best of your ability. When doing an internship, a good attitude means more to your managers than what is on your CV.

If you could change anything about your internship, what would it be?
I had a job secured for post-MB which meant that I had to leave the US the day after I finished work. I was disappointed to not have the opportunity to travel like many of my friends. Whilst I would never have turned down the job, it would have been nice to have had longer than a week to turn around before starting my job in another foreign country!

What happened after completing the year - what did you do next?
I accepted a job with UBS in Krakow, Poland. As previously mentioned I had about a week to leave NY, go home, and arrive in Krakow to start work.

Where are you now in your working life and what do you do?
I am still working for UBS in Krakow, I have been working in Operations & Advisory through what has been a huge year of change and challenges for HR at UBS.

Do you have any future plans that you would like to realise & what are they (career & social)?
My future plans include another move within UBS to another region or possibly back to NY, at this stage it could be anywhere!

http://www.linkedin.com/in/amyclarkson1