Transform Society’s Hackathon Challenge

“I was looking to reinforce familiar transferable skills, discover new ones and ultimately strengthen my CV”

We recently caught up with third-year Social Policy and Sociology student, Anne, to hear about her experience taking part in the SPAIS Transform Society Hackathon Challenge.

How did you find out about the Hackathon?

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Looking to find an employer that shares your values?

According to Paul Polman’s 2023 Net Positive Employee Barometer, half of UK Gen Z employees report having previously resigned from a job because their company’s values didn’t align with their own.

Indeed, it’s widely reported that young people today want to make a difference in their job, favouring companies with sustainability plans and policies.

As a university, we understand the importance of sustainability when it comes to our students researching their career options. We also appreciate that reviewing a potential employer’s website and reports for information about their mission, purpose, and social and environmental impact is time-consuming and that each company presents their data in varying formats.

That’s why we’re delighted to be able to point you towards Windō, a great free resource for students to easily access, digest and compare the sustainability plans and progress that employers are making.

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Graduate stories: Yasmin Gledhill, Frontline Graduate Intern

Frontline is an organisation that is creating social change for children who do not have safe or stable homes, by developing excellent social work practice and leadership.

We recently caught up with History graduate, Yasmin, to hear about her experience taking part in the Frontline Graduate Internship.

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Joseph Battle: working at TLT as a Bristol graduate

Joseph Battle graduated from Bristol with a law degree and is now a first seat trainee in TLT’s London office.

We recently caught up with Joseph to hear about his journey so far at TLT and his advice for students considering a career in law.

Hi I’m Joseph, 

While studying I tried to get as much exposure to the legal industry as possible to confirm that I wanted to start a career in law and to work out which area of law suited me best. This included work experience with a barristers’ chambers, a boutique private practice, larger full-service corporate firms and a firm operating in a different jurisdiction. These experiences were invaluable for me to gain an awareness of the different disciplines within the industry and to figure out what clicked for me.

I was appreciative of the opportunities to attend numerous networking evenings and law fairs whilst at Bristol. I found these to be a brilliant way to informally chat to representatives from a whole host of firms and to quickly get a feel for whether I would be a good fit for the firm and whether the firm would be a good fit for me. (more…)

Ellen Brennan: from a Bristol graduate to Pupil Barrister with the Crown Prosecution Service

Hi, I’m Ellen. I studied LLB Law from 2015 to 2018 at Bristol, where I developed a real interest in criminal justice.

A picture of Ellen, the author, smiling,

Modules such as Rich Law, Poor Law and Jurisprudence encouraged me to think about the practical implications of law and the (in)justice these perpetuate for everyday people

As a student leader in the Human Rights Law Clinic, I gained experience working alongside lawyers on a project to encourage compliance with the UN OPCAT (Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture) on behalf of the African Commission. This developed my interest in using law to achieve positive societal change.

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Laura Izquierdo: from Bristol graduate to Watson Farley & Williams Trainee Solicitor.

A picture of Laura Izquierdo

Laura Izquierdo is a 2014 Bristol graduate who studied Law at Bristol, she is now a trainee solicitor at Watson Farley & Williams.

We caught up with her to hear about her career journey so far and top tips she has for students considering a career in law.

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Sam Thomas: From Bristol graduate to OC&C Strategy Consultant

Are you ready to meet some employers? Our 2-day careers fair, the  Employer Showcase, is taking place on Wednesday 19 and Thursday 20 October, from 12:30 pm to 4 pm, at Bristol Beacon.

A photograph of a busy Bristol Beacon
A busy Bristol Beacon at our last careers fair, Get Hired

 

This is a great opportunity to network with employers from a variety of sectors, and see what opportunities are available from graduate roles and internships to work experience.

Our employers range from international organisations to small and medium enterprises and there will be different employers attending each day. Check out mycareer to book your place and start planning who you want to meet.

Our sponsors this year are OC&C Strategy Consultants, Frazer Nash, AlphaSights, Datamine, Delaware and Baker Hughes. (more…)

Teach First case study

Tim, graduated in 2020

I applied to Teach First in my second year at Bristol. I applied because I am passionate about creating an education system which works for everyone. This encouraged me to teach science, because science teachers are in such short supply.

Graduating during a lockdown was a strange experience. Training to teach during that lockdown was even more surreal.

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Transform Case Studies: Unlocked

Written by Ellen, Youth Prison Officer with Unlocked Graduates, Law LLB (2018)

Since leaving Bristol…

I applied for Unlocked Graduates in my third year of University. At this point, though I had loved studying law, I knew I did not want to practice. I wanted to work directly with those affected by the criminal justice system and to change society for the better, still using my knowledge but via alternate means. I discovered the Unlocked Graduate Scheme in a careers email sent by the Law Department and was immediately interested given the scheme’s focus upon fostering social change within prisons in order to limit reoffending. I applied, thinking that I probably wouldn’t even get an interview and was surprised when I was contacted a few weeks after submitting my application to attend an assessment day.

From then onwards, I completed the recruitment process and was lucky enough to be placed within a Young Offenders Institution, working with incarcerated 15-18 year olds. (more…)

University of Bristol students reach Keyloop’s 2022 Dealer Tech Competition Semi-Final!

 

University of Bristol students, Kareem Doomun and Isfaaq Jadhakhan, beat out over 1000 competitors from leading universities across the UK, Ireland and Canada to reach the semi-finals of the Keyloop Dealer Tech Competition. The Engineering Design with Study in Industry (MEng) students formed the team EDes and won £1000. Their innovative idea to use incorporate devices such as cameras and wearable VR to measure and recall an immersive test drive experience thereby supporting the car buying decision.

The Dealer Tech competition is in its second year of running and is designed to encourage new talent in technology to network with industry professionals, team up with friends and develop their product ideas. We spoke to Kareem and Isfaaq about their experience.


Explain your competition entry in a sentence.

A system to integrate more emotions in the car buying process and gathering accurate customer data for dealerships.

How did you come up with your idea?

We were inspired by our AI unit this year and followed a systematic design process to develop our solution.

What advice would you give to other students pitching ideas in competitions?

Just do it. you need to believe in your ideas and make sure to explore it and do some proper market research to back your points. The university offers a lot of support in terms of online courses and prototyping to support your development and allows you to gain new skills. Pitching Ideas can be intimidating but the more you do it, the more you develop many beneficial soft and transferable skills that are extremely valuable in industry.

What’s next for you?

We plan to complete our Masters and apply all the experience gained from this competition in our studies. We plan to try to participate as many other competitions as possible.

Have you ever used the University’s Careers Service?

We have attended talks by a Careers Service representative.


We are so inspired EDes’ success. Not only did they use their knowledge to develop fresh tech-focused product ideas, but they also gave professional presentations to a panel of expert judges at Keyloop. Both the achievement and the experience will give our competitors an edge as they kick off their careers in the industry and look to impress employers.

As Keyloop CEO Tom Kilroy relates:

‘In 2022 the competition equipped all our entries with new skills and experiences to help them succeed in the competitive graduate employment space.’

Congratulations, Isfaaq and Kareem!