Get Hired, our flagship spring career fair is taking place on Wednesday 3 May, from 12:30 pm to 4 pm at Bristol Beacon, Trenchard Street (near Bristol Hippodrome).
On the run-up to Get Hired, we will be hosting a series of employer-led sessions to help you prepare for, and make the most out of, the fair. So if you are unsure what to do at a careers fair, or want some tips on how to research the attending employers, and what questions to ask; head to mycareer to explore our Prepare to Get Hired sessions.
Jumpstart, whose mission is to make startups a valuable career path for everyone, are one of the organisations presenting a Prepare to Get Hired skill session. We recently caught up with Jumpstart’s co-founder Kabir, to hear about his experience as an entrepreneur.
Tell us more about Jumpstart? Why is it a good opportunity for Bristol students and alumni?
Whilst I was applying for jobs at university, I was pretty disappointed by the lack of choice – it felt like the only viable options were banking, consulting, finance or law.
So we set up Jumpstart to provide graduates with a genuine alternative. The chance for you to work in London’s most exciting start-ups in a commercial, generalist, or marketing role, whilst Jumpstart provides you with the training, mentorship, and career support you need to thrive.
Start-ups currently aren’t able to access talented graduates who want to work in commercial roles, so Jumpstart provides a great opportunity for Bristol students and alumni who also crave the dynamism and innovative environment of a start-up.
If you are interested in finding out more, please see the Jumpstart website homepage.
Why did you decide to become an entrepreneur?
After graduating from university, I joined a Strategy Consulting firm (original I know..). Whilst consulting definitely gave me a useful ‘box of tricks’ and experience to draw upon, I would always look at the managers and directors in the firm and think “I definitely can’t see myself doing your job in five years’ time”. I have always been a bit of an idealist, with a number of good, bad and downright terrible ideas that I wanted to try out! Ultimately, you can only really put these ideas into practice if you are working for yourself. So after a few years of work, it was a no-brainer to make that transition!
If a new entrepreneur came to you looking for entrepreneurship resources & recommendations, what would you send them?
In terms of books – the two which stand out for me are Eric Ries’ “The Lean Start-Up” and Clay Christensen’s’ “The Innovator’s Dilemma”. The latter is lucid in the theory of innovation, and how it manifests itself in the economy – a useful frame for any aspiring entrepreneur – and the former is more about how to apply an empirical hypothesis-driven approach to validating business models. “The Lean Start-Up” has become a bit of a fad, and a lot of blogs and articles are written about it that misinterpret some of the core ideas – so it’s well worth reading the original for inspiration!
A podcast which I think really stands out is Reid Hoffman’s “Masters of Scale” – which is full of great tips and techniques to stretch ideas. The “Eleven start Experience” that AirBnB used is a personal favourite.
Book your place at Get Hired now and start exploring the attending employers.
Don’t forget that PLUS achievers get early access to Get Hired, giving you 30 minutes to network with employers before everyone else!