Welcome (or welcome back!) to the University of Bristol. We are your Careers Service and we are here to support you in preparing for your next steps after you finish your studies – and it’s never too early to start!
Whether it’s help in getting a part-time job, finding internships and graduate roles, writing CVs and applications, or deciding what you want to do after your degree, we’re here for you.
First things first, you are going to hear us talking aboutmycareer a lot this year. mycareer is your portal to vacancies, events, resources, appointments and more. You can set up a profile in there that will tailor content just for you!
Here are 5 ways you can engage with us during your time at Bristol:
Explore your options
What can you do with your course, and how can you research the opportunities available to you? We are here to support you in researching your options and testing out ideas.
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.
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:
Each year we recruit a team of current students to come and work with us at the Careers Service. They are an integral part of our team and work on a wide range of exciting tasks.
From working face-to-face with fellow students to creating content for blogs and our social media channels, supporting the Bristol PLUS Award and getting involved in employer events, and even helping students develop their entrepreneurial skills – we don’t know where we would be without them!
We are excited to say that applications are now open for next year’s team.
All of these roles are part-time and designed to fit around your studies.
You’ll receive full training and will gain valuable, transferable skills through working in a professional environment, such as teamwork, time management, and communication skills. We have also been told, it’s a lot of fun to work with us!
We are currently recruiting for the following roles:
(NB: All roles will begin in September, so you must be a current student as of September to apply.)
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.
“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.
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?
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.
Francisco is a physics postgraduate studying for a PhD in Functional Nanomaterials. He told us about his recent IKEEP (Intrapreneurial Knowledge Exchange Enterprise Pathway) placement, helping Safer Industries to develop their human resources (HR). to develop their human resources (HR). This project ran with funding from Bristol Innovations.
Francisco, can you tell us more about your IKEEP project?
Safer Industries primarily focuses on services and products for clients to improve their safety and prevent criminal activity.
We were tasked with laying the groundwork for their HR operational guidelines and policies, such as the Employee Lifecycle and Personal Development Programme.
This meant getting to know the company’s culture and goals, along with existing industry standards and best practices, the legal space the company operates within, and a fair bit of reflecting on what our ideal workplace would be and how to bring it about for future employees.
The arts sector offers an incredible range of exciting and diverse career options. However, navigating it and figuring out how to get onto your chosen career path can be unclear.
The creative industries don’t tend to mass recruit so you might have to think a bit differently about how you find and approach opportunities.
Understanding what kinds of experience and qualifications you need in order to pursue your desired career is an important first step.
Many industries expect to see a portfolio or are looking for specialist skills. Our sector guides are a great place to start when looking to kick-start a career in the arts.
These helpful guides have tailored information and advice about industries such as the performing arts, digital media, and heritage.
Finding work opportunities
Finding opportunities in the arts can be more difficult than in STEM. Less opportunities are widely advertised in the arts industries, particularly in very competitive sectors such as film and television.
Making speculative applications is therefore a great way to target your energies towards the companies and the roles that you would like. Even if your application is not successful, speculative applications can be a great way to get on a company’s radar and make connections which may help you in the future.