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?
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.
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.
Hi, I’m Yueqi. In the final year of my postgraduate studying Marketing (Msc), I luckily found an SME Internship as a Marketing Intern for New Silk Route.
My internship included writing content on social media platforms, such as writing posts to attract customers to enquire about the company’s services and close deals.
Most of the time I worked remotely but I still needed to meet with customers to fulfill their desires and offer appropriate services.
Volunteering in your local community connects you with others and creates positive change.
Over the past academic year, the team at Bristol Hub have supported over 180 Bristol students to engage in social action.
Bristol Hub manager Sorcha Young shares the impact that volunteering can have:
“Social action takes many forms. It can range from donating money to good causes to creating campaigns or running community-based events. I love making a change by getting hands-on and volunteering in my community.”
85% of Bristol Hub’s student volunteers agreed that participation enhanced their well-being during university. Where there are many challenges to university, such as loneliness, academic pressures and an overwhelming amount to do, volunteering provides a space to escape and connect.
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:
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.
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.
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.
So why does EACH participate in the SME Internship Scheme each year? Here’s what Jonathan Charlesworth, Executive Director of EACH, says:
Bristol Pride is all about showcasing, celebrating and championing LGBTQIA+ equality.
In conjunction with Pride 2023, we caught up with two Bristol PLUS Award achievers to find out about the work they have done to champion LGBTQIA+ friendly spaces.