How have you used your spare time at university to strengthen your career prospects including things like volunteering, part-time work?
When I came to the UK, I realised I was behind my peers when it came to skills developed through high-pressure work environments (e.g working in a restaurant). I am from Zambia, and part-time jobs just aren’t something a lot of young people do. We have more of a culture of study, study, study, and then when you’re done studying you can then focus on looking for a job.
I specifically realised this in a module we had in the first year called “Professional skills in computer science”. We had an assignment to develop our CVs, this was set by Dr. Ullrich Hustadt, who in the CS department is known for not beating around the bush. This was helpful because it shed a light on some of us whose CVs were quite honestly terrible. After all, they barely had anything tangible on there. I was using high school volunteering projects to hold it together. After the bad grade on my CV, I was determined to “catch up” to the very few who got A’s.
So, I started applying for internships and work experience. I still remember my first interview, which led to an assessment centre. It was for Michael Page. I didn’t get the job, but the experience and positive words from the managers gave me confidence that I will get better. Through this experience, I also learned that employers were looking for more than just technical skills and knowledge of my degree discipline.
The university then advertised for Adecco, to work on a very short contract with Serco. This contract ended up lasting the whole summer. This was my first ever 9 to 5. A customer service representative. I learned a lot about myself and used this opportunity to demonstrate on my CV that I have communication skills, and I could be committed. From here on, I was able to get jobs that were either advertised by the university or run by the university. With each opportunity getting better as I got more skills each internship. I ended up doing my placement year with the Computer Science department, where they let me get involved in a variety of projects rather than just sticking to Tech support.
What skills have you developed, these can be personal or professional?
How to network, self-reflection, teamwork, problem-solving, working with people at all levels. Planning, organising, and time management. The ability to appear self-confident even when I’m not. The ability to understand and adapt to different working styles and work cultures.
Would you have done anything differently before/during uni to influence decisions?
The only thing I would have done differently is possibly invest the money I was earning. I spent it all travelling! But then again, now that we are in a pandemic, it wasn’t such a bad idea?
Have you gained confidence whilst at university?
Yes
Is there anything you would have done differently before applying for Uni/whilst at Uni for personal/professional development?
I would have coded more for sure. Sometimes it was difficult to justify why a computer science student was so bad at coding lol. I would have also done projects to use tech to solve problems.
Did you think about their future Career before applying for Uni (have you changed your mind since) and how University life and services could influence that?
I did think about my career, but I thought about it in very different directions and different facets. I didn’t think so much about what employers would be expecting from me, the career and employability service has specifically been the reason why my thinking shifted towards “career readiness” in a more practical way. Also, the University summer break was too long for me, well longer than I am used to. I was in a boarding school for most of my school life and we only had a maximum 6-week break. Most of the time they were 4 weeks. So, 3 to 4 months of summer break was just too much for me, so it forced me to think about being productive, which then forced me to improve my skills to improve my career prospects.
How has Careers and Employability helped you?
The Careers and Employability team has been helpful in so many ways. No exaggeration but I don’t know where to start elaborating that. From first year, when we had the employability sessions when they would come and talk to us on different topics regarding careers. Then second year when we had a placement module that helped us prepare and search for placements. They helped us get our CV right, helped with preparing for interviews (they would give us mock interviews).
Also, the best networking events I have been to were endorsed by the career service. I met people who have literally been instrumental in me being where I am today (in a role I love, in a great company, and being able to secure the start-up visa).
Also, being part of programmes such as the Emerge programme. Which was an incubator that really helped develop my entrepreneurship skills.
And finally, being employed by the career service. The opportunity to be a Career Coach taught me so much about the job market, taught me about myself again, being able to help people was very fulfilling and now I know it is something I want to do in the future. Also, being able to help students secure impressive roles in great companies confirmed all the important things I had learned from the University over the years.
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