I’ve been working in the Business Directorate Constitutional Team in Glasgow for over 2 months. It has been exciting, eventful and a definite learning experience. I’ve done different tasks almost daily and haven’t had a boring day. I’ve also absorbed the civil service lingo and have already started to speak in acronyms!!
My team is working up to the referendum and is dealing with business related issues, so I’m definitely in the centre of all the excitement. At the moment everyone is very busy planning what an independent Scotland would look like and how we would get there. From my very first week, I have been attending several high level meetings and have constantly been given more responsibility, alongside great support, so none of the tasks have felt too daunting.
I have attended several meetings with stakeholders, including a workshop for health and safety professionals in Dundee, an ombudsman workshop and a competition law discussion. It’s been very interesting to hear the opinions and ideas of people with years of experience on the issues my team has been working on.
I have also tried to seize as many training opportunities as possible. So far I have been on a speech writing and policy making courses, attended a session on how to prepare for First Minister’s Questions hosted by a member of FM’s Private Office and visited the Parliament to see FMQ’s in person.
One of my highlights so far have been attending a pre-meet with Mr Ewing and seeing how our briefing helped him to deliver a speech and to deal with difficult questions from an audience full of experts on financial services. It’s also been very exciting to prepare briefing packs for the Deputy First Minister and to answer questions sent by the public. I’ve started to network with other departments of the Scottish Government.
Despite often quite hectic weeks, I’ve had a great internship so far, and I believe the remaining months will be even more exciting.
Johanna Kettunen
Adopt an Intern Alumni
Scottish Government Intern
Business Constitutional Reform Team
