Linking alumni and students through our Careers Programme Sarah Richey

Linking alumni and students through our Careers Programme

Sarah Richey, Careers Mentor

Digital platform

We launched Jesus Connect in October 2021 to create opportunities for more students to research careers and make useful connections with alumni in their area of interest. It is an online mentoring and networking platform that matches students and alumni, and it is part of the career development programme, running alongside other initiatives.

The platform works by allowing alumni to complete a profile about their experience and how they can help current students. This feeds into a searchable database, which allows students to filter by profession and type of support on offer. Sometimes alumni offer a one-off coaching session and sometimes the relationship develops into a long-term partnership. We offer guidance for the initial conversation, then allow people to agree on how to continue.

Students often want to be certain of their career choice before signing up, but that isn ’t necessary. Our alumni are happy to answer questions about whether their own career is a good fit and not. They can also help students to develop soft skills, such as CV writing or delivering presentations. We work closely with the University of Cambridge Careers Service, who provide excellent resources and careers advisors. Our added benefit is that we can tailor support by offering one-to one introductions.

In the Business of...

Our programme of events includes internships workshops, CV clinics and regular “In the Business of... ” talks, which introduce expert speakers from different industries. One recent visiting speaker was Kemal Shaheen (1995), Director of Paper Boat, a UK-based charity

Jesus Connect in numbers 1965

members

59

countries

73

matriculation years 813

mentors available

45

internships/work experience available 313

student members

116

mentoring requests 394

connection requests 21

career groups established

working with children in some of the poorest communities in India and Thailand. He returned to the College in November 2021 to speak about careers in the charity and voluntary sector alongside Claire Leigh (2000) from Save the Children.

He said, “The power of networking is that you don ’t know what may come out of it. When I spoke at Jesus College, I didn ’t have a specific vacancy in mind for internships. One student, Jezz Brown, approached me and showed that he shared some of my passions and was willing to get involved. His questions and ideas led to an internship project, which I hope will unite young people in the UK and in India through creative learning.

As a student at Cambridge, I didn ’t take the opportunities available to prepare for the world of work. I didn ’t run a society or get involved in the recruitment milk rounds. I became skilled at sitting long exams but had never given a presentation. I had passion, conviction, and willingness to go the extra mile, but I had to develop work and leadership skills on the job.

There ’ s an opportunity with Jesus Connect to reach out to students in a structured way to support them to develop their skills to become strong, sustainable leaders in the future. We need to reach the students who might bypass the normal routes into careers. That’ s why I look forward to seeing the network grow. ”

Jezz Brown (HSPS, 2021) said, “I attended the event with Kemal Shaheen because I’d like to work in NGO/ charitities and in education in the future. I have also attended CV/LinkedIn workshops and peer-peer internship and further education sessions. I am signed up to Jesus Connect and I think it is a fantastic platform. I remember attending the launch of Jesus Connect and being positively impressed by the concept. Having now used the platform a few times I can firmly say that it is of great use. Meeting Kemal and discovering the work of Paper Boat really helped me fuse together two possible future paths I was passionate about: development work and education. Since, I have investigated various International Educational Policy programmes and charities that work in these areas. Working with Kemal has given me a great insight into possible next steps beyond University. One of the most significant things I have taken from the work of Paper Boat is the power of creative opportunities and non-traditional learning in empowering young people. Paper Boat has really inspired me to think beyond my preconceived understanding of education and think about how education can best be delivered and improved in the future. ”

As we go to press, Kemal is taking up a new role at Caplor Horizons, a charity that works with other charities to inspire and enable leaders to deliver a sustainable future. Jezz and Kemal plan to continue their collaboration by working together on a ‘Next Generation Changemakers ’ programme.

Subject dinners

One opportunity for alumni and students to meet is at subject dinners hosted by Directors of Studies. Dr Jim Bellingham is Director of Studies in Natural Sciences (Physical Part IA and Physics Parts IB) and Secretary of the School of the Physical Sciences at the University. He also sits on the College Careers Committee. He recently organised a dinner for students with three alumni guests in attendance. He said, “Inviting alumni to dinner was an easy way to introduce them to our students. Our guests work in the fields of space science, technical consultancy, and hedge fund management. They spoke for five minutes each about their specialisms before leading a more general discussion. Students feel more pressure to plan their careers these days and there ’ s a danger of being rushed into making decisions. The support that we offer needs to be informal and easily accessible. It’ s important that our career programme reaches out to as many students as possible. ”

Entrepreneurship clinics

Visiting Fellow, Dr Jason Mellad (pictured right), is a scientist entrepreneur, CEO of Start Codon and co-owner of the LAB cocktail bar. He has met around 20 students at monthly entrepreneurship clinics, a service he ’d love to expand in the future. He said, “I’ ve received mentoring throughout my life, through introductions by great teachers then through colleagues. Now I’ m passionate about paying that forward by meeting students and hearing what they ’ re really interested in. They have some phenomenal ideas, which often start with, ‘Nobody knows that I’ m passionate about… ’

Career discussions should happen early and often, and they should branch into alternatives to normal employment, because people want flexibility now. Instead of applying for a job, people should feel able to approach a potential investor and say, ‘I’ ve got a great idea, can you help me with it?’

My top tips for students are: 1. Know yourself. What kind of person are you and what do you want in a career? 2. Talk to as many people in professions as possible because the reality is very different to what you see on paper. 3. Nurture your relationships.

Most of my jobs have come through my connections, so make the most of every opportunity to meet people then stay in touch. ” n

How to sign up?

If you have an opportunity you would like to promote to students, please do not hesitate to contact Sarah Richey, careers-mentor@jesus.cam.ac.uk