UK Employers expect to hire 18% more graduates in 2014 My placement year at Bright Futures Society Awards Lancaster Uni.
What are your career values?
A day
on Strathclyde Campus
Phoebe’s Pantry | The Review Room | Company Profiles
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contents Editor’s letter This year British Businesses are planning a surge in the number of graduates that they hire What are your career values Interview | Hannah Rathbone, Engineer Graduate, Atkins Adventures in Performance. Rolls Royce Arqiva testimonials Interview | Daria Matkowska, Technical Graduate, Barratts Phoebe’s Pantry A day on Strathclyde campus blog My year at Bright Futures National awards, Lancaster University Bright Futures Society The review room
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Company profiles
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Centrica
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Atkins
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Jobmi
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PwC
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Thales
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tesco Society of the Year [Strathclyde University] www.tesco-graduates.com
RPC Fastest growing society [Lancaster University] www.rpc.co.uk/manifesto
Siemens Collaboration of the year [Lancaster University] www.siemens.co.uk/careers
Wragge & Co Most Diverse society [University of East Anglia] www.wragge-graduates.co.uk
PwC President of the Year [Liam Tollinton – York University] www.pwc.co.uk/careers
Centrica Regional Ambassador of the year [Kamil Bend Chiche – Bristol UWE] www.centrica.com
IBM Investor of the Year www.ibm.com/jobs/uk/graduate
Atkins Newcomer of the Year
[Hull University] careers.atkinsglobal.com
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Rolls Royce Event of the Year www.rolls-royce.com/careers
editors letter This is my final time I will be writing the Bright Futures Ezine, which I find quite sad. Yes it is always a stress nearing the end of the month as I am sifting through trying to find articles to write but I am going to miss finding out all of the events that the societies have been up to or writing about how the current job market has changed so significantly in the past year and of course I will miss writing Phoebe’s Pantry. This months ezine has plenty for you to read. Have a look to see what the new graduates and interns have to say about their new roles at Arqiva and how Bright Futures got them there. Read about how the job market in finally moving onwards and upwards with more and more companies increasing the graduate opportunities but is it still competitive as ever? On the 23rd of June it was women in engineering day; we have 2 blogs about a lady at Atkins and a lady at Barratt Developments ( who is also a new client of ours) talk about their careers in engineering and how they got to where they are today.
Read an article from one of our regional ambassadors Adam, who writes about how Bright Futures has made him more employable and how the awards conference was a great achievement for him. He has also written about ‘what are your career values’, which has had a big success on LinkedIn so make sure you have a read of that. Finally have a read of my year at Bright Futures. It has been a wonderful year and I would like to thank everyone who has been part of it. And of course we have Phoebe’s Pantry, review room and all of our client’s opportunities. Phoebe HirEd Editor
www.brightfutures.co.uk
*If you don’t have a Society at your university then set up your own! Contact us at society@brightfutures.co.uk and we can get you started right away!
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UK Employers expect to hire
18% more graduates
IN 2014
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This year British Businesses are planning a flow in the number of graduates that they hire. They expect to hire 18% more graduates in 2014 which is up from 4.3% in 2013 and the finance sector is set to increase the most as it has upped its intake to 42%. These results are detailed in the latest annual report into graduate pay and progression from employment researcher Incomes Data Services, and provide a long awaited boost for graduates who have been struggling in a brutally competitive market since the recession. The assistant editor at the IDS Nasreen Rahmen, said Recruitment prospects for this years crop of graduates look brighter than they have for a long while as the number of job opportunities are set to rise rapidly. Some sectors such the finance sector are making up for the loss in 2013 by planning recruiting several times more in 2014, with graduate recruitment in financial services expecting to increase by 42% this summer, following a fall of 3% in 2013 Although this sounds good and recruitment is picking up, the IDS research shows the increased
activity has failed to translate into higher graduate starting salaries: 57% of employers froze graduate starting salaries again last year, continuing a trend from the start of the recession; 65% have not increased their rates for 2014. This still shows that the supply of graduates is huge. It will continue to be a enormous competition for those that have been graduates for a while even if they have a few years under their belts as well as having worked in different roles outside of their chosen discipline. However, it is newer graduates that are going to benefit the most from rising recruitment. According to the Guardian it is more than likely recruiters will recruit new graduates who have their education fresh in their minds and then after recruit graduates that have been out of university for a few years who have been doing non-graduate jobs. While these numbers seem to be getting better there is still a huge number of unemployed graduates throughout Europe. According to these figures released by Eurostat there is 20.2% unemployed in the UK, compared with 58.1% in Greece, 54.8% in Spain, 27.2% in Ireland and 7.7% in Ireland.
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I’ve spent the last few years of my life focused on ‘employability’, taking on various graduate recruitment roles at university and enhancing my CV with every opportunity. I felt it important to provide some structure to my own career journey, hence the development of a set of Career Values to shape the opportunities and decisions I take throughout my working life.
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I’ll share my own Career Values with you now: CV1: Be responsible This value refers to ‘doing the right thing’, in terms of legal and ethical expectations – and being responsible for your actions. While it’s impossible to please everyone all of the time, you should be true to yourself, and honest to your colleagues and clients. Example: choosing not to work for a firm that damages the environment heavily, or not blaming someone else for your mistake.
CV2: Develop others This involves devoting time to helping others grow, sharing knowledge and offering advice. I believe that responsibility + support = development, by giving people the opportunity to excel and offering support if needed. Example: delegating tasks or sharing responsibility, and being approachable to junior employees who may have questions.
CV3: Strive to improve continuously The journey to perfect oneself will be a difficult one, and most likely will never be completed – but that’s not really the point. To keep up with the changing markets, you need to adapt and never stop learning. Example: choosing an employer with an excellent training scheme, and surrounding yourself with talented people. CV4: Provide a high quality service (customer/client focus) This value relates to taking pride in your work, and adopting a focus to satisfy (or ‘delight’) the customer - both internally (i.e. colleagues) and externally (i.e. business clients or consumers). Example: ensuring you meet internal deadlines or devoting extra effort to making sure your client’s meeting runs smoothly. CV5: Take opportunities where reasonable This value has two sides – be encouraged to say ‘yes’ to opportunities, but also know when saying ‘no’ is the best option, such as if accepting more work would damage the quality of your current work. Saying ‘no’ has always been quite difficult for me, as I don’t want to pass up an exciting chance to develop or
grow my network – but you must consider your existing commitments with every new opportunity that arises. Example: offering to help a colleague with a difficult project, assuming you have sufficient time to devote your full attention. CV6: Follow the passion ‘Ambition sets the destination, while passion fuels the journey’ – a quote I developed a few years ago to encapsulate the importance of passion in achieving your goals. If you don’t love your job, then you’re sacrificing a huge portion of your life – what’s the point in a high hourly wage if you hate every minute? Ask yourself: what gets you out of bed in the morning? If you can’t answer, maybe it’s time to re-think your career. Sure, every job will have its dull or stressful moments, but if you’re not passionate about what you do overall, then you shouldn’t be doing it. Example: many businesses are started from an entrepreneur’s passion.
demonstrating them – and ensuring not to underestimate the value of soft skills like communicating effectively, motivating others and working in teams. Example: do people come to you for help tackling complex strategic issues… or to borrow your stapler? Hopefully you can see that my Career Values are applicable before, during and after the job search – and developing your own can be useful to structure your decision making, measure career success, and encourage a revaluation of your behaviour and career journey. Of course, the list will need updating regularly as your preferences and ambitions change, but it’s worth considering what’s important to you.
Thanks for reading – interested to hear your thoughts and feedback. By Adam Stephenson If you would like to send your thoughts and feedback to Adam then reply on LinkedIn:
CV7: Build your personal brand Finally, the idea of a ‘personal (Please click the link below: brand’ is particularly relevant in such a competitive job market, www.linkedin.com and seeks to answer the question of ‘What makes you stand out?’ It’s not just about having skills, but also about
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My name is Hannah Rathbone and I am a graduate structural engineer working for Atkins in London I have always been engaged by the built environment and working in the construction industry has always appealed to me. A career in Civil Engineering gives me the opportunity to be continually challenged and to maximise my potential. I am constantly developing skills and learning from those around me as well as contributing ideas of my own. Civil engineering projects are exciting, diverse and influential. It is an industry that has the opportunity to leave a lasting legacy for future generations and is a great industry to be a part of! Whilst completing my degree in Civil Engineering I undertook five summer placements with Atkins which I found invaluable. Experience of the construction industry is an important attribute in civil engineering valued by many companies as well as universities. My advice to young women is that if they are interested in STEM subjects and are considering a career in civil engineering they should seek out a placement and experience civil engineering for themselves. That goes for anyone studying an engineering degree as experience really can make the difference.
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After joining Atkins in September 2012 I spent one year working in a site based role for a nuclear structure. Since returning to the London office I have worked on a wide variety of projects in a design based role. These projects have included mixed-use developments and airport projects at Heathrow and Gatwick, along with some seismic design. My biggest career achievement to date was winning a Women In Construction Award in March 2014. To do my bit and give something back I’m supporting the Atkins event on National Women in Engineering day on Monday 23rd June at our Birmingham offices where we’re inviting in girls from local school to find out more about engineering. I hope to be able to inspire others as I have been by this great industry. To find out more click here www.careers.atkinsglobal.com/uk/graduates
www.rolls-royce.com/performanceisart
Arqiva Testimonials ‘The application process to Arqiva was a vigorous and thorough job, but at the same time also friendly and insightful in to the company and their values. I would even say that I actually enjoyed the application process, aside from the usual nerves of course! I can’t wait to get started in my new job as a graduate systems developer come September.’
My experience with Arqiva was very pleasant. I really enjoyed the whole process starting with the application phase, up to the assessment centre. The first interview, although it was conducted via telephone, felt very warm and friendly and made a great first impression of the company. Although I was quite anxious at first about the assessment centre, it turned out to be a really exciting experience. The assessors made everything in order to make us feel comfortable and perform at our best. I am really happy to be given the opportunity to be a part of Arqiva team, a company with such a long history of successful, demanding and challenging projects. Being employed by such an organisation will definitely contribute to my professional and personal development.
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I found out about this opportunity online from one of the many graduate job websites. Having always been interested in the technology and maths sector, it had my attention straight away. I found the initial application to be very straightforward. After this there was the telephone interview. This was really relaxed which helped with nerves as I didn’t feel like I was being ‘grilled’. The assessment centre was the next stage which entailed 2 individual interviews, a group project and a short presentation. The presentation was a bit nerve-racking as it was something I did not have much experience of, but I faced up to the challenge. The assessment centre was quite enjoyable as everyone was friendly and you got to know potential employers a little better than in other experiences I had in assessments. Before being offered the role I was invited to visit Arqiva at Emley Moor where I would be working. Seeing where I was going to be working was exciting. While relocating will be a big step for me, I am excited and delighted with the opportunity. Stephanie Markwell
Katerina Sidiropoulou
I found the application process to be challenging yet at a comfortable and expectable level and I never once felt out of my depth. The members of staff that I interacted with were always very engaging and willing to help the candidates with their nerves. I am delighted to have been presented with the opportunity to work for Arqiva after having a break (hopefully in the sun) after finishing university.
“I am thrilled to have recently been offered a place on Arqiva’s graduate program and I believe that it will lead me into the career I am looking for. The application process was run smoothly by Bright Futures who explained each part of the process in great detail and gave invaluable advice at each stage. Although nerve racking, this process taught me a lot and has cemented my knowledge of what the industry looks for in a graduate and job applicant.”
Mike Littler
Ben Carson
garduates
Alex Turpin
James Williams
The whole process from application right through to the interviews and assessments was challenging yet straightforward. Both teams from Bright Futures and Arqiva were extremely helpful and immediately put me at ease at the start of each new obstacle, particularly the technical interviews! I am delighted to have been offered the job and can’t wait to see what new challenges await me in my new career!
Arquiva is a leading communications infrastructure and media services company Bright Futures recently recruited a handful of Students for the Arqiva Graduate Scheme. Hear about what some of the student have said about Bright Futures helping them through the process of getting their future job at Arqiva.
internships I applied for a summer internship at Arqiva through Bright Futures. Throughout the process I was in regular contact with them. Both Claire and Caroline proved to be extremely helpful. The first stage of the process was a phone interview, which I had with Claire and she was very patient with me and made sure that I was at ease throughout the interview. The constant support that I received from Bright Futures eased the application process and I am very thankful towards them. I received the internship position and am looking forward to be working with great people.
After completing a year in Industry, I knew I wanted to seek further experience before my Masters begins. Whilst researching various job sites and companies advertising relevant positions, I found that Gradcracker had a position listed through Bright Futures for a 6 week summer position at Arqiva. The position in Baseband and Multiplexing was extremely relevant to my degree programme, so I submitted my application. Soon after my submission I was contacted by the team at Bright Futures to congratulate me on being selected for the next stage. I was then informed that I was required to undergo a telephone interview, for which a date was scheduled. Like clockwork, I received a phone call from a member of the team and was lead through the stages of the interview. The process was seamless and all the stages were explained before the questioning began. Using my experience and research on the company, I found answering the various questions straightforward. The member of staff kept me at ease during the interview. Once the interview had concluded, I asked a number of relevant questions regarding the position and what the next stages of the process involved. After two weeks I received a phone call from the team to review my telephone interview performance. I was informed that I had successfully been selected for a face to face interview at Arqiva’s head office. I followed this call with several emails, questioning if my plans were okay, furthermore I also received a number of phone calls to ensure I had everything in place for the day of my interview! Following my face to face interview, Bright Futures contacted me to congratulate me on being offered a position with Arqiva! My experience with Bright Futures throughout the whole application process has been outstanding and support has been given every step of the way. I would not hesitate to recommend Bright Futures and would certainly approach them again later in my career with job applications. Ryan Wibberley
Sneha Raj Gopee
I am a second year Computing student at Imperial College London and I have applied for a myriad of summer placement opportunities hence experienced many interview types and filled out endless forms. Bright Futures’ process was very well thought out and maximised my chances, allowing me to get an offer at Arqiva; a leading British telecommunications company based in Winchester.
Applying for summer internships is a long and often tedious process. Bright Futures made my application to Arqiva, a communications infrastructure and media services company, easy and enjoyable. Details and information were relayed clearly by email and phone conversation creating a personable and friendly experience. Jan Walukiewicz
Houssem EL Fekih
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My name is Daria Matkowska and I am a Technical Graduate for Barratt Developments In 2010 I graduated from Leeds University with a
I enjoy my job because it is diverse and challenging. In
Master’s Degree Architectural Engineering. Maths,
engineering world every day is different. I spend time
Physics and Architecture have always been my main
both in the office and outside, visiting different sites
interests therefore I was pleased to find a degree
and speaking to external consultants, councils and
course that combined all of my interests. I chose Leeds
contractors.
University because of its high position in the university rankings and a campus that offered an interesting
In 5-10 years I would like to have enough knowledge and
student life.
experience to manage my own team of people and offer expertise in more complex projects.
My degree was varied and inspiring. I spend my third year studying at Pennsylvania State University in the USA
A lot of girls I speak to are afraid to pursue a career in
and gained some work experience through a summer
engineering because they feel it is a male dominated
placement with an engineering firm in Germany. My
environment and that they would not feel comfortable.
favourite part of the degree was working on design
However there is plenty of female engineers with
projects using different pieces of software and making
successful careers in engineering. They are very good at
models.
their jobs and receive a lot of respect and support from their male colleagues. There are also some great benefits
Currently I work as Technical Graduate for Barratt
that come with engineering jobs: good salary, company
Developments. I am spending my first year on rotating
car, opportunities to travel.
between the six operational areas of the business and in my second year I will be placed in the Technical Department.
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To find out more click here www.buildingcareerstogether.co.uk
Phoebe’s Pantry
thai green curry As it is my last Phoebe’s Pantry, I thought I would give you the recipe to one of my favourite meals Ingredients – makes meal for 2 • 2 chicken breasts • Half an onion • 1 garlic clove • 1 chicken stock cube • Thai green curry paste • 1 can of coconut milk – full fat • 1 cup of water • Rice • Vegetables that you would prefer • Salt and Pepper
1. Dice the onion and the garlic and fry in a saucepan until the onions are soft. 2. Dice the chicken and place in the saucepan and fry until the chicken is white on the outside. 3. Add the Thai curry paste to the saucepan as well as the coconut milk, some water and the chicken stock cube. 4. Give the curry a good stir and add a pinch of salt and pepper 5. Add what vegetables that you would like. I tend to put in broccoli, beans and potatoes. 6. Leave on the heat the cook for 20 mins and when the potatoes are soft. 7. Whilst the curry cooking on the stove put on your rice so that it is ready at the same time. 13
A Day on strat On Friday 6th June, Bright Futures Strathclyde continued our commitment to helping young people become more employable and extended our successful partnership with Bishopbriggs Academy onto campus for the second annual ‘A Day on Campus’ event with the new 6th years at the school.
On the day, a leadership workshop was delivered by Bright Futures Strathclyde members, covering topics of identifying strengths and weaknesses and the value of volunteering and getting involved. Pupils were then taken on a tour of the city centre campus, given an introduction to various clubs and societies on offer at the University of Strathclyde. The day finished with a group task that involved planning and presenting a public event idea to celebrate the Commonwealth Games coming to Glasgow in July 2014.
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The planning of the day ran smoothly, and the feedback from the school was great. Ian Donaghey, Head of 6th Year, who liaised with the Bright Futures Strathclyde Committee in the run up to the event, commented that ‘The group task proved to be very beneficial for our young people as it made the pupils aware of the skills and qualities needed in order to work as an effective member of a team. It also gave them a real insight as to how to manage a project that involves planning, budgeting and promoting, something of which they will be required to do a lot of throughout S6. Again our young people did not fail to impress and the future is very bright indeed as we look forward to creating further opportunities for our young people through the work of our own Committee.’
‘This has been the second consecutive year we have visited the University of Strathclyde as part of our S6 Induction and it is something we hope will continue as the pupils take a great deal from the experience. Many of our pupils commented just how inspired they were from speaking to current students and members of the Bright Futures Society, hearing about their achievements and the opportunities available to them. Others said that it gave them a feel as to what it would be like to attend University
thclyde Campus which has motivated them to fulfil their potential in S6.’ Bishopbriggs Academy was the first ever Bright Futures School Society in Scotland, signing up after a really successful ‘Skills for the Real World’ event in November 2012. The Bishopbriggs Committee’s first event was aimed at senior pupils in S5/6 and involved pupils participating in a mock interview situation with a number of employers with the prize being the opportunity of work experience with The Royal Mail, Aviva, Happitots Nursery, Woodhill Primary School, Slater Hogg and Howson and Rolls Royce.
Mr Donaghey added ‘The named companies were blown away by our young people and this increased the number of work placements available to accommodate more pupils than just the competition winners. I have no doubt those pupils involved in events lead by our Bright Futures Committee will not only be inspired with confidence, but empowered and equipped with the skills that are necessary to reach a positive destination upon leaving Bishopbriggs Academy.’ We’d like to take this opportunity to thank ten committee members over the last year and wish them the best in their next exciting steps.
President- Leanne Connelly Vice-President- Ainslie Johnston Treasurer- Ross Wilson Secretary- Megan Jackson Corporate Liaison Officers- Chloe Carberry and Kirsty Martin Publicity and Marketing Officers- Caitlin Connolly and Beth Findlay Membership Marketing Officer- Claire Giffen Events Officer- Inderjeet Singh The success this young society has managed to achieve will not only have helped the individuals involved develop key skills to take on into the future, but also demonstrates the incredible work Bright Futures Schools societies can produce and the huge impact they can have at their institutions. We’d encourage anyone either at school considering joining their Bright Futures Society or a University Society thinking about collaborating with a school on an event this year to go ahead and do it! Our work with Bishopbriggs shows how rewarding this type of work is for the society profile, for the young people participating and for the University Society Committee Members’ own personal growth and development. We encourage you to pick up the phone and call your old school, I’m sure they’d be delighted to work with you! Thanks for reading!
Chris Milborrow Bright Futures Strathclyde President 2012-2014
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myyearat
I have learnt so many new things from my placement year and it has been great to be able to put things into practice to reinforce what I have learnt. At university you sit in lectures and it almost feels like the information can at times, go in one ear and out the other (obviously it doesn’t but it feels like that sometimes). I have an amazing sense of achievement from the work that I have done and the new skills that I have developed. The best thing about being on a Placement at Bright Futures, in addition to the money (the salary every month is definitely a perk and I am not looking forward to going back to university and just getting student loan every term instead of money every month is developing a relationship with all of the committee members from each society either through phone conversations or from one of the Bright Futures Conference’s. I have been able to see how well they have progressed into making themselves more employable. I especially enjoyed the Bright Futures award conference, as it 16
was lovely to see the students’ achievements throughout the year. It has also been great working with the excellent team at Bright Futures and they have taught me things that I will keep with me into my final year at university and throughout my future. If someone asked me would I prefer to carry on working or go back to university? I would say “I can not wait to go back to university and go out throughout the week, spending time with my friends all of the time and not have the responsibility of work but on the other hand it is going to be very strange getting back into the habit of not doing much at all, I will have a job when I go back to university but it is only going to be a bar job which is very different to an office 9-5 job. I’m sure by the time November comes around I will be dying to have a routine of a job again and money coming in monthly instead of once in a while.” About half way into my placement, the university held a placement conference where
we had to go and talk about how we were getting on with our placement. Everyone gave a presentation and many people had amazing jobs with very corporate companies such as Microsoft or BWM. I came back to the office in the afternoon and felt slightly disheartened. I spoke to Claire (my amazing boss) and she said it is fantastic that all of those students have got jobs with big companies but from their presentations, it looks as though they have only learnt and developed a very specific skill set. I have developed so many news skills, such as marketing, sales, communication, social media, event organisation, search and selection to name a few. I have also developed some great contacts with graduate recruiters from a whole host of industries. All in all I have thoroughly enjoyed my placement and if anyone asked me should they do a placement throughout university? I would say yes indeed. It is a great opportunity to make yourself stand out from the crowd…!!
The Lancaster University Bright Futures Society was very pleased to have been nominated for four national awards
The Lancaster University Bright Futures Society was very pleased to have been nominated for four national awards, going on to win two awards; for Fastest Growth and Collaboration. We organised 33 events, with 12 direct society/ faculty/college collaborations and 13 top graduate employers, acquiring about 800 new members; an increase of 300% on last year’s figures). As the Society President for the 2013-14 period, these awards were particularly important to me as they recognised the achievement of two key objectives I had promised during my election speech back in March 2013. They were also highly interconnected, as I saw a key part of substantial growth involving greater collaboration and the expansion of the society’s network on campus and beyond. This included reaching out to the careers service, academic
faculties, the student’s union, societies and a wider range of employers, through honest conversations with mutual benefits. For example, I met with the employability manager for each faculty, explained how the society’s primary reason for existence is to make students employable, and from there they needed little persuading to get involved by promoting our events, contributing ideas and introducing us to corporate contacts. With wider support and a greater student reach, it wasn’t long before people were talking about our events. In my experience, organising great events makes up the other part of growing the society; but what is a great event? I believe it comes down to ROI: Relevance (is the event meaningful to your members?), Originality (is the event sufficiently different to stand out from the crowd?) and Interactivity (will members be engaged throughout?).
Of course, the anagram also refers to return-on-investment, which should be considered when proposing an event to employers; how will the benefits of attendance outweigh their own costs of money and time? Some final tips: surround yourself with a killer team, take opportunities where reasonable and put in a lot of hard work. There’s a lot of competition out there (over 50 societies aiming for your awards!), and it’s so important to put in the hours and take pride in your work. Although I’m sad to move on, I’m confident that the new committee (which saw an excellent retention rate of 44%) will continue to grow the society, and that my own employability has grown substantially over my time with Bright Futures. By Adam Stephenson
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OKDOTHIS
Do you struggle with creativity? OKDOTHIS is a community that revolves around inspiring people to collaborate with each other and create new content. With randomly generated prompts that give you ideas for things to photograph and share with the larger community, it’s the perfect way to motivate yourself and work on your photography.
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City Mapper
Citymapper is reinventing the everyday urban transit app and making the large complicated city simple and usable. A to B trip planning, real-time departure data on all modes of transit where available, weather, alerts, disruptions, and everything you need and may not even realize that you need to manage your life in the city.
Sleep Cycle Alarm Clock
Sleeping through an entire REM cycle is important for your well being, but most alarm clocks don’t take that into consideration. Sleep Cycle will analyse your sleeping pattern in order to wake you up during the lightest phase of your cycle to ensure you wake up feeling completely rested. [£1.29]
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Centrica
As a top 30 FTSE 100 company with over 25 million customer accounts, a £22 billion turnover and more than 34,000 employees, we offer students in the UK unmatched training with a range of global brands: Centrica Energy, British Gas, and Centrica Storage.
Summer programme placements
company profile
Join our paid summer placements and you’ll work on real projects and develop a host of new skills. Over 10 weeks, our expert team of mentors will encourage and inspire you, whether you’re interested in exploration, production or frontline customer service management. Plus, you’ll join an inclusive workplace where individuality is valued – so if you’re assertive, hard-working and ambitious, we’ll support you all the way.
Although our summer placements is designed to help you discover what you’re good at, we also want you to have fun. That’s why we’ll cover the costs of your accommodation and ensure you’re located alongside other students on placement – to make sure your social life is as interesting as your studies. Find out what our previous summer placements have been up to by following #summeratcentrica.
Find out more: Website www.centrica.com/graduates Join us at www.facebook.com/centricagraduaterecruitment Or follow us at www.twitter.com/centricagrads 20
All of our 2014 programmes are now full. Please “Like” our Facebook page or “Follow” us on Twitter (@centricagrads) to stay tuned on when we open 2015 applications.
Atkins
This is our story
Right now, many of you will have finished you exams and will be planning an exciting summer; you’ll also probably be giving some thought to your career, the direction you would like it to move in and your ideal employer. Here at Atkins we are gearing up for our 2014/15 graduate opportunities, but we have some exciting stories to tell you about the success of our graduate recruitment this year…. Our award winning Graduate recruitment team have driven the intake of over 300 talented graduates and 80 apprentices across a range of sectors this year and we’re about to do it all again. We don’t like to shout about our
successes but it’s great when other people like what we’ve done. We’re recognised as being one of the UK’s top employers for people in your position. In 2014, we were the most popular graduate recruiter in the construction and civil engineering sector at the Target Jobs National Graduate Recruitment Awards. We’re also one of The Sunday Times 25 Best Big Companies to Work For 2014 and one of The Times Top 50 Employers for Women 2013.
“We’ve got some really bright people – hard workers and self starters who are passionate about quality and who really care about projects they deliver and the success of the clients” –
company profile
Choosing to start your career with Atkins is more than just selecting where you want to work. It’s about investing in your future and working with like minded individuals to produce some truly inspirational projects.
Andrew, Chief Engineer.
Above: Atkins’ Graduate team accepting our ‘most popular graduate recruiter’ award
Start your story on some of the World’s most exciting engineering projects through Atkins’ graduate programme. Our 2014 intake will be available to view and apply to from September 2014. Please visit www.careers.atkinsglobal.com/uk/graduates 21
Join Jobmi, Help Employers Find You! Jobmi is proud to be partnering with Bright Futures! Jobmi
Meet Josh, a second year Psychology student at The University of Warwick, who will be sharing updates on all jobmi related news and developments with you each month.
company profile
Hi everyone To give you a bit of background about me, I’m really passionate about positive psychology and strengths, and a few years back I decided to pursue a career in this field. This led me firstly to my degree, and subsequently to my involvement with Capp, and also Jobmi, the free to join, online employability platform. I’m really excited about sharing my Jobmi experience and knowledge with you. There’s a few things I really love about Jobmi. The free online practice tests and assessments so you can develop your self-awareness, find out about your strengths, capabilities and passions, which ultimately helps you to develop your career path and employability; the social benefit which I’ll explain more
about below; and also the control you have as a user to build your profile the way you want it to be, so the platform benefits you as an individual, helping to showcase who you are and what you can offer employers! The social benefit of Jobmi aims to overcome the barriers of the points system screening criteria, so anyone, from any background, with any qualifications, can sign up, take assessments and apply for jobs. This means talent will no longer be overlooked because of things like “they didn’t get enough CATS or UCAS points’’, when in the real world they would be brilliant! It is a place where the user gets direct opportunities from employers in a more efficient way than before. The opportunities and experiences on jobmi already are vast, and there are plans to grow
Join us on Facebook www.facebook.com/jobmiplatform Follow us on Twitter @Jobmi_Platform 22
and expand these, with future updates looking very exciting! Signing up and being a jobmi member has already benefited me by expanding my skill set, made me new connections, and given me opportunities I never expected. The tool itself will help me record all of my future goals, and will help me develop towards these. It will also provide me plenty of open doors to try and realise these goals. I look forward to catching up with you next month! Josh To sign up, explore and showcase yourself for employers to find you, go to www.jobmi.com
PwC
Your career is just that; yours. You choose it. You live it. You make it happen. To get the best from it, you need the best opportunities.
Our offer to you... • To be part of the world’s leading professional services network and enjoy the benefits that come with that. • Work directly with big name clients where you’ll get to grips with the value they’re looking for by getting into the detail. • Provide an environment where you’ll be able to explore new opportunities, to help you grow and find your niche. • Give you access to be best learning and development around.
Ways you can join us Get a unique insight into what we offer on one of our undergraduate programmes ranging from our Shadow a Female Leader Programme to our Summer Internships and Work Placements. For final year students, join one of our business areas; Assurance, Actuarial, Consulting, Deals, Tax or Technology. Don’t miss out on our new graduate work placement to start in September 2014 and you could experience all of our business areas across ten months. We welcome all degree disciplines and with offices UK wide, we have something for everyone. Opportunities are still available in Glasgow, Edinburgh, East Midlands and Plymouth.
Interview e-learn Our interview e-learn is designed to better prepare students for what an
interview actually is, to help you to understand the different interview formats, provide tips on how you should prepare and also uses some examples for you to consider. We hope you will find the e-learn useful, there’s no other free tool like it currently in the marketplace.
company profile
Opportunities are at the heart of a career with us. And we’re proud, based on the opportunity we offer, that students have voted us the number one Graduate Employer in The Times Top 100 Graduate Employers survey for the last ten years.
www.pwc.co.uk/careers/elearn What you need to bring to us • A 2:1 or above in any degree discipline (some programmes do require specific degrees) • A UCAS tariff of at least 300 (or equivalent) How to apply We know that the skills and experiences you develop with us, will stay with you throughout your career. So join us, and we’ll help you reach your full potential.
Take the opportunity of a lifetime. www.pwc.com/uk/careers www.facebook.com/PwCCareersUK
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As a major engineering and technology company, our work touches all of our lives – every single day. From BACS, the secure network communications system behind 3.7 billion secure electronic transactions every year, to in-flight entertainment systems for passenger planes and stateof-the-art equipment for military aircraft, the scope and scale of our problem-solving abilities know no bounds. Talented people are the key to our success. So from the outset we’ll encourage you to become professionally qualified and give you the training to realise your potential. Our comprehensive
Graduate Development Programme (GDP) runs parallel with your Engineering role or placements on the Business Programme. It offers everything from an introduction to our organisation, culture and processes to formal training in the form of seminars, specialist courses and visits. We will also pay your annual membership fees for a relevant professional institution.
required the system will reopen and will subsequently be closed approximately one month later. This process is repeated until our recruitment needs are met.
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We love cracking the confusingly complex at Thales. We love investigating the impossibly intractable. We love deciphering the dazzlingly difficult. And we love unravelling the unrelentingly unknowable. Why? Quite simply, creating the most ingenious technological systems and innovations is in our business DNA.
Thales
We love bestowing bountiful benefits
So, in order to allow us analyse your amazing application, we recommend submitting it as soon as possible at: www.ukgrads.thalesgroup.com
The Thales UK GDP is accredited by the following Engineering Institutions: IET, IMechE, Royal Aeronautical Society and Institute of Physics. On top of the accreditations and personal development opportunities provided, you’ll also receive a generous starting salary of £27,000 plus a £2,000 welcome bonus. We recruit on a rolling basis. Our application system is opened for a period of approximately one month and then closed to reassess recruitment needs. If additional applications are
For more hints & tips, videos and information on current roles, visit: www.ukgrads.thalesgroup.com
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