Tag: Case studies and profiles

Bristol Connects: How one click of a button solved all my job hunting and career fears

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Hi, I’m Avellina, a recent Biology graduate from Bristol and I’m here to tell you how in my final year all my worries about job hunting, choosing the wrong career and job applications vanished and it’s all thanks to Bristol Connects.

With graduation looming, all the responsibilities and changes that were coming up weighed heavily on my back. For the first time in 17 years, my life wouldn’t be structured by exams, lectures and academic calendars. Instead, my life would diverge into an entirely new, unique path as I pursued my first job.

Amongst the excitement, fear and the uncertainty for what lay ahead, one thought routinely replayed in my head: How am I going to achieve my dream career?

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My SME Internship: Lana – Supported Independence

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Hi, I’m Lana. I carried out my SME Internship as a mental health support worker at Supported Independence (SI), within their Redcliffe branch.

I began by attending three days of training: the first two days were company-specific training carried out by SI staff, and the third was run by an external company regarding breakaway and challenging behaviour.  On the days of my inductions, I shadowed a few different experienced mental health support workers with clients they supported.

After approximately one week of shadowing, I began working with clients one-on-one. This included: 

  • meal supporting clients struggling with eating disorders 
  • supporting clients with their day-to-day activities, such as trips to the supermarket, appointments, managing finances, and supporting with medication  
  • listening to those who wanted to talk about how they were feeling. 
Lana drinking a cup of tea

Throughout my internship, I learned how to better support clients in a person-centred way, whereby their individual needs were my priority.

I was given the opportunity to ask other support workers about individual clients’ needs in order to make them feel more comfortable with the way I approach them.

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My SME Internship: Mengying – NuNano

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The SME Internship Scheme enables you to gain quality, paid work experience from small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) in the UK, including charities, social enterprises and start-ups.     

Mengying’s internship ran with funding from Bristol Innovations, here’s what she had to say about her experience: 

Mengying next to a red phone box

Hi, I’m Mengying, a current postgraduate student studying Management (International Human Resource Management).

I have just completed a Sales Internship with NuNano Ltd through the SME Internship Scheme, from January to April this year.  

NuNano is a company specialising in the design and manufacture of probes for atomic force microscopy and cantilever-based sensor devices.

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The social mobility superstars breaking barriers

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The Student Social Mobility Awards (SSMAs), organised by upReach, celebrate the achievements of undergraduates from lower socio-economic backgrounds from across the UK.

The SSMAs recognise students who have excelled in their studies and beyond, and have demonstrated great resilience, determination or initiative, or boosted their employability in innovative ways.

Filipe Costa Figueiredo is a 4th year joint Honours Politics and Spanish BA and has been shortlisted for two awards:

  • Undergraduate Awards: Academic Success for those who have achieved the most impressive academic feats whilst at university, breaking through barriers in the process
  • Undergraduate Sector Award: Professional Services and Consulting which recognised outstanding achievement in specific career sectors while at University.

We chatted to Filipe (pictured below) about why he thinks he was nominated and why social mobility is important.

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My SME Internship: Rowan – Educational Action Challenging Homophobia

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Educational Action Challenging Homophobia (EACH) is a multi-award-winning charity which works to affirm the lives of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people and reduce discrimination experienced because of sexual orientation or gender identity.

Since 2013, EACH has hosted 15 SME interns through our SME Internship Scheme. 

EACH branding, a cartoon drawing of people lined up in rainbow coloured clothing.

So why does EACH participate in the SME Internship Scheme each year? Here’s what Jonathan Charlesworth, Executive Director of EACH, says:

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My SME Internship: Emelia – Rubbish Ideas 

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It’s World Environment Day! We’re celebrating by recognising the great work that our SME Interns do with organisations that are making a difference. 

Emelia

“Hi, my name is Emelia. I am in my fourth year of my Maths MSci and last summer I completed an internship with Rubbish Ideas as part of the SME Internship Scheme.  

Rubbish Ideas provides products and services to their clients relating to improving the lifecycle of rubbish. This takes a few different forms, such as education, design ideas, and web applications. 

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My IKEEP project helping to protect children online 

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The IKEEP programme offers students free business training and industry experience through a paid team placement with a small enterprise.

Marketing undergraduate Nina tells us about her IKEEP project placement with non-profit Better Together and how it’s inspired her future career plans. 

Nina, can you tell us about your IKEEP project with Better Together?

Marketing student Nina Yang

Better Together offers workshops and resources on online safety, specifically targeting parents, guardians, caregivers, teachers, and other professionals working with children and young people. They also provide workshops tailored to adult internet use.

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Outstanding PLUS Awards: Meet the Winners 2022/23!

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"Outstanding PLUS Awards" against a purple background

Let’s meet the outstanding eight who have cinched an Outstanding PLUS Award for going above and beyond their Bristol PLUS Award activity.

But first, what are the Outstanding PLUS Awards (OPA)?

The OPA celebrates Bristol PLUS Award students who have made a significant change or impact in their PLUS Award activity.

There are eight award categories, with just one winner per category. This year, we received 114 applications across the eight categories (the highest number of applications yet!).

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