Student returns to Salford after dream internship at Formula One team

Gemma Gandy, 21, from Warrington, took a break after two years on the BA Digital Video Production & Marketing course to pursue her dream of working in communications for a racing team by landing a paid role at the BWT Alpine Formula One team in Enstone, Oxfordshire.

As a Communications Intern, Gemma worked with Alpine’s in-house communications team on a range of tasks, including assisting with writing and editing social media content that received millions of views.

Gemma landed the role after impressing the team as a 17-year-old during a week’s work experience that she secured after reaching out to every UK-based racing team for any experience that they could offer.

So when the opportunity came up for a paid internship, Gemma reached out to the team and was able to secure the highly coveted role.

It was a dream come true for Gemma as she knew how competitive the applications would be to work for just one of the nine F1 teams that have bases in the UK.

She said: “I felt so fortunate and lucky to get the opportunity because the world of F1 is so difficult to break into as it is so competitive. I truly had an amazing time and learned so much from it.

“I think the big perks of working in F1 is that, if you are really into the sport, you get to do a job that you love, and that really appealed to me.”

Gemma was entrusted with a variety of tasks across the 15 months, including contributing to the team’s internal communications for its 800+ workforce based at the Enstone factory. She also took up opportunities with the social media team, where she had the chance to write copy and film, plus edit numerous pieces of content that amassed millions of views, showcasing her creativity to the team’s legions of followers.

She added: “I didn’t want to finish the internship and feel that I hadn’t achieved everything I wanted to do or that I hadn’t made an impact in the position. I wanted to leave and the team be wishing that I was staying on.

“I felt like I earned their respect because I wanted to get stuck in with everything and always put my hand up for every opportunity. I knew I was on a time limit, so I just wanted to make the most of it.

Gemma is heading back to Salford for her third year this September ready to put her expanded skill set to the test in a University environment.

She said: “I’m really looking forward to doing my final project this year, where I’ll get to make five key pieces of content for a client – similar to a marketing brief in the real world – as I’ll get to use some of the skills that I’ve learnt here at Alpine and hopefully make some really engaging content.”