To mark this year’s celebration of National Apprenticeship Week (5 – 11 February), a Carryduff intern and Bangor born intern-turned-employee from Northern Ireland based learning technology company Synergy Learning are sharing their stories.
National Apprenticeship Week provides employers and businesses with the opportunity to promote the positive impact apprenticeships and early career programmes make to individuals and businesses across the UK. The annual week-long celebration commends the value, benefit and opportunities apprenticeships can bring.
Synergy Learning offers a range of internship programmes to students and graduates, integrating into the company’s 1Team. Today, the company’s senior members of the team are former participants of its internship programmes.
David Martelli is from Carryduff and works as a Support Intern at Synergy Learning. David, who is part of Ireland’s gymnastics team, joined the company in August 2023 as an intern from his Computing Technologies degree at Ulster University and is due to complete his internship in the summer.
Looking for an internship programme, David was keen to find out more about Synergy Learning’s remote working and flexible hours. He said: “When I applied for an internship at Synergy Learning, the company’s remote-first working really stood out to me. I feel like I have a lot of freedom to choose from working at our hub in Titanic Quarter in Belfast or working remotely.
“The flexibility in work hours appealed to me as well. I compete in gymnastics for Ireland, so a lot of my spare time is spent training. Synergy Learning’s flexible working culture has really helped me to fit my training into my work schedule.”
Speaking on his favourite thing about his internship at Synergy Learning, David said: “The constant support I get from the team is unbelievable. Any time I have an issue, even when I’m remote working, there will always be someone to reach out to without the anxiety of asking a silly question. The 1Team ethos at Synergy Learning is that they think of you as a person and not just a number getting the work done which I find incredibly beneficial.”
David has some advice for anyone considering an internship opportunity: “It may feel daunting at first but if you’re doing something you love, it won’t feel like work at all. There will be days when it’s harder than others but in the grand scheme of things, it’s worth it to do something you love!”
Bangor-born Lewis Robinson joined Synergy Learning through an Intern Developer programme in August 2020, completing the programme in 2021. After graduating from Queen’s University in 2022, Lewis now works at Synergy Learning as a Graduate Developer.
Lewis was initially drawn to Synergy Learning for the closeness to home. He said: “When I was looking for an internship during my time at Queen’s University, Synergy Learning really stood out to me. I loved the fact it was a Northern Ireland based company working with clients across the world. It sounded like a great company to work for and now, I couldn’t imagine working anywhere else.”
Speaking on his favourite thing about working at Synergy Learning, Lewis said: “During my internship, I was working with a team to build my skills in software. It’s one thing developing software on your own, but to develop with a supportive team is a great experience. The team at Synergy Learning is always around to give you a hand with anything. There is always support available which is greatly appreciated when you’re first starting out in a role.”
For other students considering an internship opportunity, Lewis has some words of advice: “Go into your internship with an open mind. If there are setbacks, don’t worry about it too much. Take a breath, find the needed support, and just keep going. It comes with great fulfilment at the end of the day.”
Synergy Learning Head of People, Performance and Culture Tory Kerley said: “At Synergy Learning, we are proud to provide as many opportunities as possible for people to find the perfect start to their career through early career programmes and internships. Apprentices are becoming more and more valuable to the economy, and it is hugely important to us that we continue to support internships to provide an informative, professional environment for the next generation of leaders.”
“David and Lewis have been an incredibly positive addition to our team and have contributed hugely during their experience at the company. Individuals like David and Lewis are the leaders of tomorrow, and apprenticeships and internship programmes are a fantastic asset to all organisations to help promote the power of learning.”
