Author: Careers Service

Challenges of tomorrow – festivals and events

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Glastonbury festival at night

Events are a major element of the UK economy, with an estimated £3.3 billion revenue in 2023.

We ran the “Challenges of tomorrow – festivals & events” panel to give students an insight into how to get into this exciting sector, with expert input from Pauline Bourdon, Stevie Lee-Bennett and Charlie Wall.

Here is a quick introduction to our panellists, their backgrounds, and current roles:

Pauline Bourdon

Pauline Bourdon is a Director at Soliphilia (a green touring & sustainability consultancy), a lecturer in event sustainability at BIMM Bristol, a sustainability consultant with UNSW Cardiff, and the Head of Sustainability & Social Cohesion at Team Love – an event production company producing 6 festivals a year including Love Saves the Day in Bristol, Silver Hayes at Glastonbury Festival and Waterworks, London.

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My SME Internship: Cecilia – Bristol City of Sanctuary 

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A photo of Cecilia smiling. She is smartly dressed and looks like she is at a conference.

Hi, I’m Cecilia. Having completed my internship at Bristol City of Sanctuary during my International Development MSc, I am filled with gratitude for the invaluable experiences and personal growth it has brought me. Working as a campaigns and communications intern in such a vibrant organisation has been an incredible opportunity, and I am excited to share some insights and highlights. 

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Mentoring matters – your chance to open doors and create opportunities

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With just one week to go, Bristol Mentors is still open for applications for home UK students returning for study in 2024/25.

Bristol Mentors provides successful student applicants with an alumni mentor working in the sector/industry they are aiming to break into.

Mentorship can be an enriching experience and our student mentees are always happy to tell us more about the range of benefits they have gained whilst on the programme.

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Getting started with networking as a state school student

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Some people have more experience of professional networking through personal contacts, but where do you start if you don’t have these existing connections?

Carlos is a second year Law student and Co-President of The 93% Club (UoB’s State School Society). In this blog, Carlos shares his experiences and advice for developing professional networks at university as a state school student. 

“It wasn’t until my second year at university and my role as co-president of The 93% Club that I truly grasped the importance of networking. For students like me, who don’t have family connections in high places, networking offers a crucial opportunity to connect with employers, learn about companies, and expand future career prospects. 

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How to get into… working for regulatory bodies 

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In February, the Careers Service hosted a panel of University of Bristol alumni who now work for regulatory bodies in the UK. 

But what is a regulatory body? 

Regulatory bodies are organisations established by governments or other authorities to oversee and regulate specific industries or sectors. Their primary role is to create and enforce rules, standards, and guidelines aimed at ensuring safety, fairness, transparency, and efficiency within their respective sectors. This is an interesting line of work, and one which students might not know a huge amount about.    

The panel that kindly spoke for us all work for regulatory bodies and shared what it is like to work in this area, along with the journey they took to get to where they are now in their careers. 

The panel were: 

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My SME Internship: Chaeyeon – Learning with Parents

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Hi, I’m Chaeyeon. During my second year studying BSc Psychology, I completed an SME Internship as a Content Intern at Learning with Parents. They are an education charity, empowering families, schools, and communities to have enjoyable home-learning facilitated by parental engagement.  

A photo of Chaeyeon smiling at the camera.

Parental engagement, involving parents to support child-led learning activities, can be promoted to families of different shapes, sizes, and socioeconomic backgrounds to tackle educational inequality that is largely driven by early provision.

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Reflecting on the Universities Business Challenge

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On 1 March this year, two teams consisting of members from the University of Bristol Business School and School of Economics, were delighted to attend the semi-finals of the Universities Business Challenge held in London. 

One team of five students, and one of four, made the journey to London after their work in the first round of the competition was recognised as being worthy of a semi-final place. 

Universities Business Challenge Worldwide logo
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A career in law for STEM students

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Justice statue

Graduate Recruitment Manager, Zoe Reid and Alexander Gower, a partner at Osborne Clarke (a law firm in Bristol) gave students an insight into how to navigate the legal career as STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths) students. Here is their advice to students in the Faculties of Engineering, Life Sciences and Science who are interested in a career in the legal sector.  

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How to get work experience (even if you don’t have experience)

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At this time of year, you might be thinking about how to make the most of your summer break. It can be an ideal time to get work experience before the next academic year begins.

Work experience not only looks good on your CV or LinkedIn profile, it can also help you: 

  • Gain a competitive edge when applying for graduate jobs or further study. It can also be a requirement for some careers. 
  • Develop skills and confidence, gain insights, and build your professional network. 
  • Decide whether a career area is right for you. 

But where to start? It may feel like many internship deadlines have passed. Or perhaps you want to know: “how am I supposed to get experience without previous experience?” It can feel like employers ask for lots of skills and experiences to apply for their internships. 

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A guide to overcoming the perceived challenges of networking events

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Throughout history there have always been some words that strike fear into hearts; an ever-evolving list that make most people a little nervous, and maybe just a little sweaty.  Arctic blasts, brussel sprouts and traffic jam are some that do this for me. Oh, and one more…

Networking.

Colleagues networking in a cafe.
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