Category: Uncategorized

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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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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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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Careers support for students from lower socioeconomic backgrounds

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Career planning can be tricky. We know some students from lower socioeconomic backgrounds can also face specific challenges.

These may include: 

  • Exploring career ideas when you don’t know what’s out there; 
  • Getting quality work experience with fewer existing networks; or 
  • Having time to dedicate to career planning alongside other commitments. 

At the Careers Service, we provide dedicated support to address these challenges: 

Bristol Mentors

The Bristol Mentors scheme matches you with an alumni mentor. They can help you explore ideas, share advice, and give you an edge to break into the job sector that interests you.

Applications typically open in the Spring term – check your university emails. 

The words Bristol Mentors with two stduents smiling
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How to get into green jobs: the takeaways

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In November, the Careers Service hosted speakers from a variety of environmental career paths who are each tackling the biggest sustainability issues we currently face using their own unique skills and experiences.

Meet the panellists:

Ann Cousins, Associate, Resilience and Climate Change Advisory, ARUP

Ann is the lead in the resilience, energy and climate change advisory team at Arup which is a sustainability consultancy firm. The team is multidisciplinary including engineers, psychologists, and lawyers. Ann started as a receptionist with Arup after graduating with a French and Italian degree at the University of Bristol and worked her way up to their leading consultancy role.

Recently, Ann also assisted in setting up the Bristol One City environmental plan.

Pierce Griffith, Principal Economist (Chemical), the Environment Agency

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How to make the most of Gradcracker: Advice for STEM students

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“There are plenty of opportunities available for students looking for STEM placements and jobs! This is a great chance to discover where your degree can take you.”

In October, Gradcracker’s Jessica Luck presented to Bristol students. Gradcracker is the UK’s career website for science, technology, engineering, and maths (STEM) students. The online event outlined how to use the Gradcracker website to search for placements and graduate jobs within the STEM industry.

A graphic of a brain lit up in lights like a circuit board

Key features of the Gradcracker website:

The event highlighted some of the many features available on the Gradcracker website, here are some of the best ones:

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Finding a graduate job at a careers fair – Blue Frontier 

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At our spring careers fair, Get Hired, student Jamie approached Blue Frontier. As a result, he secured a full-time position with them. 

We spoke to Michael Raisbeck, Cyber Security Consultant at Blue Frontier, and Jamie to hear about how a conversation at a careers fair turned into a stepping stone to an opportunity.

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Top tips for making the most of the University of Bristol Law Fair

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It was great to see so many of you at our recent Employer Showcase, and hope you enjoyed the opportunity to network with potential employers. Our next big careers event will be the University of Bristol Law Fair.

Join us at the Wills Memorial Building on Thursday 2 November from 12:30 pm until 3 pm to engage with 41 law firms seeking Bristol graduates. The event even includes employer-led talks from leading firms, so come along to find out exactly what top law firms are looking for.

Two students talk in the Wills Memorial building

This is the perfect opportunity for those of you interested in law to explore a career in the legal sector.

If you’re studying law, considering a conversion Masters, or simply wish to explore your options, make sure you don’t miss out.

Attending the fair is only the first step…

It’s essential to keep things moving after the fair and stay in touch with your contacts. Take a look at these quick tips in order to maximise your pre-fair and post-fair experience:

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AI generated applications – should you, or shouldn’t you?

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Recent research* shows that 17% of students are already using generative AI tools to assist with writing documents such as CVs and cover letters for applications. By the time you read this, that figure will no doubt be higher. 

It’s hard to avoid the news and frenzy around tools such as ChatGPT that can make light work of even complex tasks. Where we have our limitations in terms of knowledge and resources, AI can instantly draw on comprehensive expertise from millions of data points to help us reduce time spent on admin-intensive work. 

So, whether you feel overwhelmed with multiple applications or just find it difficult to produce the right words, it’s understandable that taking a shortcut can be appealing. 

However, assist should be the key word here.  

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