My Snook Journey: From Professional to Personal Development
I count myself lucky to have found about Adopt an Intern, and to have found Snook. For the last 2 months I have been an intern at Snook and it has literally changed my life for the better.
Six months before graduating from Stirling University, and filled with anxiety about job prospects, I launched a job hunt setting Europe as a parameter. My eagerness in the first few months saw me apply for graduate positions within international humanitarian organisations and political institutions. An enthusiast for social change and social justice, the reality of the apparent lack of space for recent graduates within the field hit me hard – 16,500 graduates fight for 500 positions within some core institutions. Determined to find an opportunity which fitted my personal values and vision, my quest led me to discover Adopt an Intern and, subsequently, the Communications and Media position offered by Snook.
After an eventful summer school in Sarajevo, I found myself on Skype with Sarah Drummond, the Managing Director of Snook, in the middle of nowhere, in Bulgaria and during a thunderstorm. Her courage, ambition and enthusiasm for social change instantly grabbed me. I admit that I initially did not have much knowledge of Snook or what they do, but after extensive research, I was fascinated by the company; one which believes in the power of people and everyone’s ability to transform their own realities. With their unshakable optimism, they believe anything is possible.
I was touched that Snook believed in me – and so, my Snookster journey began. I am now involved in delivering the social-blended marketing campaign for Whose Round – an alcohol awareness campaign for young people in Greater Glasgow and Clyde – and I have been designing the campaign’s messages, delivering its online social media content and analysing the results from our work.
To be honest, I was fearful throughout the beginning of my internship – a social scientist within a team of designers, entrepreneurs, idea makers and people genuinely good at anything – literally, anything!! But this made me thirsty for learning and knowledge. Since starting working with the team I have transformed immensely and learned a great deal – from creating social media strategies and marketing techniques, to innovative ways of engaging with people and systems; working not only in a fast paced environment but one that adopts the most creative approaches in testing and taking risks. Some additional key learning also includes how to run a Freshers stall and do a street intervention, how to build a raft and some extensive knowledge of sugar levels in different alcoholic drinks!
My adventure as an adopted intern finished recently, but my journey as a Snooker continues. I am happy to announce that I am a full time employee within the team now. I am thrilled to continue to deepen my knowledge in service design and marketing techniques, to further my career working towards lasting impact and social change, and thriving within a company which allows me to work on my personal development. I am lucky to be part of Snook’s vision of designing the future.
Ivelina’s Update in January 2018
I have now been working with Snook for over 3 years. I started as a Communications Intern through Adopt an Intern. Since then I have gone from being Junior Researcher to Service Designer and User Researcher project manager. This journey has taken me across the world, having lead roles in projects with clients such as Comic Relief, UN OCHA, Scottish Government, Joseph Rowntree Foundation, and the NHS. It has been a great adventure so far and my current project has taken me to Edinburgh on a secondment, supporting a public sector organisation through their digital transformation programme.
Ivelina Georgieva
Adopt an Intern Alumni
Communications and Media Intern, Snook
Connect with Ivelina on LinkedIn
