Andrew Lindsay

Name: Andrew Lindsay
Club 21 Employer: The Scottish Parliament
Degree Subject: Politics
Year of Graduation: 2011

After lobbying both Club 21 and the Scottish Parliament for almost 2 years to offer University of Glasgow students work experience opportunities, I was delighted when I learned that places were offered through Club 21 in the Parliament’s voluntary internship program. I jumped at the chance and after a long and nervous application process I was delighted when Karen Gillon MSP offered me the chance to join her team as a Parliamentary Intern.

Don’t get confused by the ‘stereotypical’ view of what political interns do, such as stand around and make coffee, photocopy page after page and answering phones (although at times you do do some of these things!). The Scottish Parliament Internship is more constructive and, more importantly, it lets you get involved with the whole process of parliamentary politics. For example, on my first day of work, I accompanied my MSP throughout the day and sat in different meetings with a local manager of the Citizens Advice Bureau, the Managing Director of Scotland’s largest livestock auction, and the Head of Education of South Lanarkshire Council. It was a very busy and exciting day, but not a typical one!

Within a week of starting, I was given responsibility for a project which was the proposed construction of a waste incinerator in our constituency. My responsibilities included taking care of correspondence from and to constituents and government ministers. I also had a lead role in researching this proposed construction which also included liaising with the Parliament’s independent research centre- the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (SPICe). I also attended several meetings alongside my MSP regarding my project where I was encouraged to contribute to the discussion. I was also actively involved in helping my MSP to formulate her formal objection to the proposed plans. I never really had a ‘typical’ day, but in general I reviewed and processed all the mail which was pertinent to my project in the morning, then did research in the afternoon. To break up the week we would deliver news letter leaflets to towns in our constituency; usually once or twice a week.

I feel that the experience I have gained through my Club 21/Scottish Parliament placement is highly valuable to me. Not only did I extend skills that I already had (such as organisational skills), but I widened my experience with several new skills including public speaking. Furthermore, I was happy to feel like one of the team and that my contribution in my role was highly appreciated by my MSP. Finally, I met many new people and made several new friends during my internship, which is always a bonus and made all the hard work fun.

If you want to develop skills you already have, learn new skills, gain invaluable experience in the working world, make friends and have fun, I would highly recommend an internship with the Scottish Parliament.