Student Testimonies
"Interning at the Health and Social Care Alliance Scotland (the ALLIANCE) through Q-Step was an invaluable work experience and certainly the best first internship I could have wished for. As a Sociology with Quantitative Methods student, the internship not only allowed me to use my previously acquired knowledge but to gain valuable skills in both my subjects as well. I utilised and expanded on the quantitative techniques taught through the Q-Step Programme and also gained useful qualitative research skills as well. The team I worked within was very professional and approachable, they treated me with respect and as part of the organisation. I was involved in a variety of research practices (which I extremely enjoyed) and left with having a thorough knowledge of what conducting a nation-wide research entails." - Dora
"Q-Step really opened my eyes to the career opportunities available to students of quantitative social and political science. During my time at university I completed two Q-Step internships: one at Glasgow university, and one at the Scottish Government. These internships cemented my learning by allowing me to apply my skills in the real world. I made contacts, built my confidence, and improved my CV. I was also able to try out different career options, which helped me to decide where to apply for graduate jobs." - Rosie
"During my time as part of the first cohort of Q-Step students at the University of Glasgow I won places in 3 Q-Step Internships. They were with the Urban Big Data Centre, the university’s School of Education and the Scottish Human Rights Commission. All three provided me with unique indispensable skills and opportunities. The first internship, with the Urban Big Data Centre, led to a publication in Environment and Planning B: Urban Analytics and the City. As an intern my contributions to this publication were cleaning and analysing data collected over multiple years from cordon counts of Glasgow and crowdsourced data from a popular cycling app. This experience taught me a great deal about working with big data and designing research. It also provided me with insight into what its like working in academia, which I now call upon as a first year PhD. I am grateful that I was able to gain these skills while earning a living wage, without which these internships wouldn’t have been accessible to me. I would highly recommend Q-Step internships to any students but particularly those interested in a career in research after graduation. My internship experiences have aided my career progression further than I could have imagined when I first started the Q-Step course." - Kirstie
Check Kirstie's Podcast on their experience of doing a Q-Step Internship.