The New Enterprise Competition (NEC) drew to a close last month at our online celebration event where Peequal were crowned the winners of the Growth stage winning £15,000 in funding.
The UK’s first women’s urinal showcased their first prototype at Bristol Comedy Gardens at the beginning of the month and following the news of their win, have been making headlines across the UK, gaining 60 million views of their business since winning the competition:
Co-founder Hazel McShane said: ‘’Winning the competition has given us the opportunity to follow our dream for pee-equality. I want to give a massive shout out to the New Enterprise Competition and Basecamp team who have shown us support and encouragement from day one. The funding and recognition has lit the fire beneath PEEQUAL and we are now so excited to get our PEEQUAL urinals out there to free the pee.”(more…)
The scheme provides school leavers, current university students, and recent graduates with a valuable insight into one of 8 key sectors of the UK job market, giving participants the opportunity to connect with and learn from a range of leading employers.
Handily, there are an unlimited number of online places available on each of the 8 different internship paths available, and since every experience is fully online, they can be completed from anywhere in the world.
Whichever pathway you choose, your experience can be completed either as a three-day ‘live’ course, or in an ‘on demand’ format, which you can complete at your own pace. This means it’s really easy to fit the experience around your other commitments over the summer.
Congratulations to the 22 students who achieved an Outstanding Award this year, with a special shout out to the 7 who achieved with distinction!
Achieving the Outstanding Award is a great success. It requires students demonstrate they have made a significant contribution to an extracurricular activity though a rigorous application and interview process – no small feat.
The selection process technique and breadth of activities showcased from students this year was trulyOutstanding! Here are just a few of the highlights:
Brandon Man, Economics and Accounting (BSc) Year 2
“I founded Aspiring Interns, a national student-led social initiative which aims to bridge the gap between incoming university students and first-year internship opportunities in the highly competitive mainstream city professions through student-to-student mentoring.”
Freya Mutimer, Anthropology (BA), Year 3
“I co-founded the Sanctuary Scholarship Legal Fund. This is a fund in the University of Bristol’s Student Union which provides financial aid to students from refugee and asylumseeking backgrounds when they do not qualify for legal aid. These students are known as Sanctuary Scholars and are vulnerable to study bans, as well as other legal fees relating to their asylum claim. Due to their scholarship they are disqualified from legal aid, this puts them in a situation of immense financial and emotional turmoil. I supported the set-up of this fund to support them and raise awareness about the issue.”
Lucy Mcgowan, Dynamic Molecular Cell Biology (PhD), Year 4
“I was City Coordinator for Pint of Science (PoS) in Bristol, a global non-profit organisation which brings local scientists into pubs to deliver engaging talks on their research to the public. I lead the PoS Festival in May 2019, whereby multiple events were delivered simultaneously to increase local engagement with a broad variety of STEM topics. I also organised and hosted unique collaborative events between PoS and other charitable organisations, such as Bristol Pride, We The Curious and the International Space School Educational Trust, to widen participation and accessibility to our events.”
Obafemi Alabi, Mechanical and Electrical Engineering (BEng), Year 3
“I co-founded and was the Chief Operating Officer for a football league company called MOB Football, for university societies and teams to tackle the problem of racism and representation within football. I organised events in collaboration with the Bristol SU and BME Network for black history month to create more awareness of the problem of racism in footballand engaged over ten university societies within the last two years to participate in the league.”
Sadie Karia, Dental Surgery (BDS), Year 5
“As The Welfare Representative for University of Bristol Dental School Society (UBDSS), my main goal was to raise awareness about Mental Health & Wellbeing for both students and staff within Bristol Dental School.
My biggest success and Outstanding Award activity was pioneering the first “It’s Ok to Fail” Wellbeing Week, and in particular organising the first “Welfare Fair” within this. This week helped signpost people to available support, gave students and staff a chance to openly discuss Mental Health & Wellbeing and made students feel better understood and supported by the School.”
To fully understand the Award process, please visit the Outstanding Award webpage. For more inspiration on the types of projects used towards the Award you can read about last year’s achievers here.
Hi! I’m Gelsica, a Psychology of Education MSc student at Bristol. It was an Erasmus year spent working with young offenders in France which really ignited my passion for Psychology, and my career goal is to work in cognitive behavioural therapy with young children and adolescents.
I recently went to an online Careers in Psychology Q&A event, organised by the School of Education and the Careers Service. We heard from professional speakers working in a range of roles within Psychology, including Educational, Clinical, Counselling, Academia and Research.
Here are the key things I learned from the event, as well as some top tips from the Careers Service on starting a career in Psychology:
Be open-minded to career options within Psychology
A key message was the wide and diverse range of roles in Psychology – so if you aren’t sure where to begin, there are many options to explore.
There are several routes into Psychology – including a career change. One speaker began her career in recruitment before moving into mental health care – and she is about to become a Clinical Associate in Psychology (CAP).
There are many forms of work experience in Psychology. Although Psychology Assistant roles are a good starting point, they are highly competitive – so be proactive and open-minded about other ways to gain experience. The key is that you apply Psychology within the role – as one speaker advised, it is about “following your interests” and using “your passion”.
Careers Service tip: See Prospects information on work experience options within Psychology.
Think ‘on the ground’ for clinical opportunities
‘On the ground’ healthcare positions, whether bank employees or contract workers, are an excellent way to gain relevant knowledge and experience – and they are always in demand. For example, starting as a Healthcare Assistant is ideal for gaining experience in mental health.
Any experience in an educational setting is valuable for educational Psychology – e.g. working as a teaching assistant, youth worker, or volunteering with an educational charity.
Volunteering in your field of interest is a great way to gain relevant experience and build your CV – e.g. one speaker recommended volunteering in research laboratories that work with babies.
If you are considering a career in academia – why not speak to your supervisor about the possibility of your master’s or final year research project being published? There are also opportunities to publish your research through the Bristol Institute of Learning and Teaching (BILT).
Seek out ways to interact with people working in your field of interest – several speakers mentioned opportunities gained through their network. Consider who you know – peers, lecturers, supervisors, friends, family – and seize opportunities to build on this.
Attending this event counted towards my Bristol PLUS Award. If you haven’t considered the Award and will be studying next year, I highly recommend it – it’s helped me to meet new people, improve my leadership skills and increase my understanding of careers in Psychology. To maximise your time at university, join the amazing Bristol PLUS Award community!
Hundreds of you attended the Faculty of Arts Careers Series, where alumni shared their fascinating journeys from their Arts degree to their current career.
The Outstanding Award is the perfect platform for students to be recognised and rewarded for making a significant contribution to a project or extracurricular activity.
It is the Universities highest employability accolade and acknowledges students who have gone above and beyond in their chosen context.
Mirrors a real-life recruitment process.
Rewarding outstanding contributions and high level application and interview technique
Provides engagement with industry experts on the interview panel.
We asked a few of our experts why they were dedicated to the Outstanding Award process, and here is what they had to say!
‘I’ve always been really impressed by the creativity and innovation of the projects that the students have done, and I’ve been inspired by how they have put their ideas into action in their own time. This is such an important programme for Bristol University, because it’s really helping to develop the leaders, innovators and pioneers of the future.’ James Fortune, Head of Service, Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust
‘Achieving the Outstanding Award demonstrates that a student is willing to go above and beyond what is required or expected of them. It shows their capacity to offer meaningful contributions to topics and areas beyond what could be considered a student’s ‘normal sphere of influence’ Leah Eatwell, Community Led Housing Enabler, Ecomotive.
‘Without doubt, at the heart of the Outstanding Awards are the students themselves. Their drive and ambition, their dedication to their projects, and the benefits such endeavours provide for the wider community is truly inspiring.’ Matt Gibbs, WGGB Award nominated writer and editor
If you have already achieved the Bristol PLUS Award and feel that you have made a significant contribution to a project or activity that meets the brief of the Outstanding Award, now is the perfect time to start your application! The deadline for submitting applications if 7th March 2021.
You can gain inspiration on the types of projects used towards the Award and read about last year’s achievers here.
Successful applications will be invited to interview during the week starting 19th April 2021. Our team and this year’s expert panellists very much look forward to meeting you!
Hello! I’m Dan and I’m in my third year of studying History.
I recently undertook an SME Internship with St Werburghs City Farm(SWCF), a charity providing vital community services for people from all ages and backgrounds facing disadvantages by connecting them to their food in various ways.
My role as Communications and Engagement Intern involvedconsidering how the farm engages with its visitors/audience in an impactful way and conducting research – and petting the farm animals!(more…)
The pandemic has impacted so much, including the world of work. The ongoing uncertainty can feel de-motivating; it may feel easier to avoid thinking about careers right now and to put it off until later. However, it could be an ideal time for career thinking and looking at what the Faculty of Arts Careers Series has to offer, (more…)
Eveline has written about her recent internship at Tumelo, which was supported by our COVID-19 SME Internship Fund. The aim of this fund was to support local SMEs including charities, social enterprises and start-ups who are operating at maximum capacity as they respond to the challenges of Coronavirus, while giving students valuable and meaningful work experiences in a difficult economic climate.(more…)
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Freya 
Obafemi Alabi
