Bristol PLUS Award achiever and Outstanding PLUS Award nominee Violet Allmark achieved her 70 hours of PLUS activity through working as a freelance drag performer and taking on a student leadership role as chair of Bristol Theatre Department Society InterACT.
Violet was a freelance performer with drag cabaret ‘The House of Savalon’ during their residency at award-winning Bristol LGBTQ+ venue Queenshilling, proud sponsors of Bristol University LGBTQ+ society.
Violet performing as Etta Boy, at The House of Savalon
‘My freelance work, as part of the House of Savalon’s three month residency at Queenshilling, gave me the opportunity to develop my artistic costume-making practice, and improve my time management and organisational skills. I spent hours preparing for my acts: sourcing, making and editing my own costumes, props and audio.
In addition, the regular feedback sessions enhanced my personal reflection skills on my own performances as well as my communication skills through constructive feedback
The House of Savalon at the Queen Shilling
Kickstarting my drag career this year has led to such amazing performance opportunities, such as performing last week before Divina de Campo at the Creative Youth Network Station and even internationally in Woody’s Bar Toronto, where I was tipped during my performance by a queen recently announced to be on Season 3 of Canada Drag Race and I was even in the presence of the show’s ‘version’ of Ru Paul: Brook Lynn Hytes.’
Violet also developed new skills and experience by chairing the committee of InterAct, the theatre department’s society.
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.
EACH work with us through our SME Internship Scheme to host interns to support their charity work, in roles such as Administration & Fundraising Officer, Helpline & Creative Development Assistant, and Research & Administration Officer.
Since 2013, EACH has hosted 14 SME interns through the SME Internship Scheme.
Hi, I’m Emily! I am a third-year law student and I recently completed a project placement with PyTerra, after following a two-week Intrapreneurial course with IKEEP. I heard about the IKEEP training programme in the Careers Service newsletter, and it seemed like a great way to get interesting work experience. I got offered a 4-week work placement at PyTerra, which is a local ‘FinTech’ (Financial Technology) start-up and app where investors, developers, grant givers and corporates can collaborate to make low carbon housing projects feasible. Essentially, PyTerra’s mission is to generate finance for aggregated low carbon projects. (more…)
Completing the Bristol PLUS Award is a great way to reflect on the experiences you have whilst you’re a student and get confident in your career planning.
James Mwendwa, 2nd Year Geology MSci
James Mwendwa, second year Geology student, achieved his PLUS Award this year in recognition of a range of experiences gained during his first and second years, in term time and during the holidays.
‘The steps to achieve my PLUS Award opened up new opportunities and skills in employability and interview techniques.’
Worried your CV is looking a bit bare? Or wondering how to explain a period when you weren’t working or studying? We’ve collected some of our top tips on tackling gaps on your CV, so you can feel confident whatever you’re applying for.
Cressida, year 2 Law (MA), has been working as a Career Peer Support Assistant at the Careers Service since September 2021. She has worked predominantly with the Employer Engagement Team, which build relationships with employers and create networking and job hunting opportunities for you through careers fairs, skills sessions, and much more.
“It’s been two long years of virtual events, but, kick off your slippers (let’s face it, they’ve seen better days), rummage through the depths of your wardrobe for something other than pyjama bottoms, and step into the light! Our flagship careers event is back; it’s in person, and with over 70 employers from a variety of sectors, it’s all designed for you to Get Hired!” (more…)
Hi, I’m Samira. My summer internship was focused on marketing, design and behaviour change consultancy. I worked at Design & Tonic (a marketing and design company) to help with the build-up to the launch of their new website.(more…)
As part of the SME internship scheme, I was lucky enough to be offered a one-month Series Researcher position at True to Nature (TTN), a Bristol-based natural history production company. During my time at TTN I was asked to undertake a variety of research and production tasks for three episodes of an exciting new natural history TV series. (more…)
Hi, I’m Fin, a final year History undergraduate who worked as a writer and media intern for TechForge Media part-time alongside my degree during my final term.
I applied for the SME Internship Scheme after writing for the Epigram student newspaper during my first term of final year. Having thoroughly enjoyed the experience, I decided to take my writing to the next step by self-sourcing a paid role with a Bristol-based company.(more…)
My name is Iona and I completed my internship with the SME Internship Scheme just after I finished my third year doing English Literature. I was employed by Second Campus, an organisation that seeks to help students find job in the tech industry. Over the course of the internship, I was involved in content creation, writing, and SEO research.
