National award SPONSORS IBM Society of the Year [University of Manchester] www.ibm.com/jobs/uk/graduate
contents
RPC Event of the Year [Time with Industry - Staffordshire University] www.rpc.co.uk/manifesto
Editor’s letter p3 How Twitter #hashtags can land you a job p4-5 ‘A day on campus’ p6-7
Siemens Collaboration Award [Staffordshire University] www.siemens.co.uk/careers
STEM - UK Student Challenge p8 Bright Futures University of South Australia launch p10-11 My experience as a Bright Futures Committee Member p12-13
Advorto Fastest Growing Society [King’s College, London] www.advorto.com
Don’t lose face p14-15 Success stories p16-17 The review room p18
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Company profiles p19 p20: PwC p21: Tesco p22: TK Maxx p23: KPMG p24: Domestic & General p25: Accenture p26: Bank of England p27: Bechtel p28: RPC p29: Thales
Although no one can go back and make a brand new start, anyone can start from now and make a brand new ending. Carl Bard
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Rolls-Royce President of the Year [Chris Milborrow - University of Strathclyde] www.rolls-royce.com/careers
editor's letter This month is the final edition of our ezine for this academic year, so we have filled it with success stories from across the country and the world! With the big announcement of our presence in Australia and the great stuff our university societies have been doing to grow our presence in schools too. With all the talk about hashtag’s it would be silly of us not to bring it up just one last time, so we have written a quick article outlining the benefits of the hashtag (#) and using it to your advantage to scoring your dream career via Twitter. But social media isn’t the be all and end all, and it’s important that we all remember that, so there’s also a mini article to get you thinking about just how much time you spend online and is it talking over your ability to communicate face to face? Most importantly, as expressed above, this ezine is all about our committee members. They have put in a HUGE amount of hard work and effort and it is great to profile some absolutely amazing success stories and hopefully inspire our readers to get out there and grab their own bright future! We’ll be back in the new academic year, so try not to miss us too much! Don’t forget, if you want to feature in our ezine, either as a success story or a writer, please get in touch. Have a great summer folks!
Jackie HirEd Editor www.brightfutures.co.uk
e-zine
*If you don’t have a society at your university then set up your own! Contact us at society@brightfutures.co.uk and we can get you started right away!
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#
How Twitter #hashtags can land you a job
Hashtags (#) have been the centre of attention recently with Facebook jumping on the bandwagon to offer their social and business users the chance to search for relevant information across the platform, rather than being spammed with things that aren’t of interest.
But as the “founder” of the hashtag, Twitter has got it’s usage down to a T. It has evolved massively and is now a big resource for companies seeking customers and yes, you’ve guessed it, candidates to fill their open vacancies (#lookingforwork or #gradjob). 4
Hashtag Networking It is a great way for job seekers to reach out and tap into an unknown network of people and businesses looking for talent or connected to those who are, or even just find people who are in the field you are interested in to build your knowledge and learn more about the industry. For example, if you search #advertising or #finance, chances are that you will get lots of tweets and people that are relevant to that sector or subject. We searched #gradjobs and these are the top “people” that came up in our search (the list was huge!):
Hashtag Job Hunting There is no harm in putting yourself out there and telling the world you are looking for an opportunity. There are successful hashtags that exist like #hirefriday which helps both recruiters and hiring managers find job candidates who are actively seeking employment. Other hashtags include the likes of: #hireme #gradjob #dreamjob #jobsearch #recruiting #CV #needajob Of course, these hashtags need to have a little bit of content around them and that’s where the true thought comes in to make yourself stand out to employers – you only have a 140 characters after all! Just make sure your profile looks good; no swear words and not too much casual, slang chit-chat with your mates. Clean it up before you start looking.
Then follow us at @brightfuturesNT and hunt down your dream job!
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‘A Day On Campus’
Strathclyde Bright Futures event with Bishopbriggs Academy
On Friday 7th June, over 150 pupils from Bishopbriggs Academy descended on the University of Strathclyde campus in Glasgow. Armed with only 5 students, a PowerPoint presentation and a whole load of enthusiasm, the Bright Futures Society at Strathclyde led these students through a whole day event; preparing the group for their final year at school and beyond. The whole aim of the day was to give the new 6th Year cohort an introduction to Bright Futures and how they, at their school can get involved. It was also aimed at giving those students who were interested in, or set on going to university a chance to see what being on campus and in lecture theatres is like and give them some hints on the transition to university and beyond. The day began with a short, interactive, introductory presentation where the group were asked to write 3 things that described them, plus 3 things that described the person next to them. They were then set the task of turning a scribble on the page into a picture of their choice. This got the creativity in the room going and set the tone for the rest of the day. Next, we split into team, the pupils were all assigned a team number and a Bright Futures member was given the task of supporting 4 groups each through a business game which took about an hour. The game was designed to give the groups a taste of what being part of a Bright Futures Society is like and to get them thinking about employability, skills, workshops and fundraising ideas. The teams motored through the task, which tested their abilities to work effectively together, to budget, to make difficult decisions, to think outside of the box and to manage their time well.
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Three members from each team then presented to their whole year group – they blew us away! The confidence, articulation of ideas and the organisation behind all of the presentations was really impressive and it was a great note to end on before lunch. Typically a focal point of any student day, lunch didn’t disappoint. Despite the sun splitting the Glasgow sky, we had over half of the pupils volunteer their sunbathing time to take the opportunity for campus tours. The group touring with Declan Bryans, one of our Bright Futures Volunteers and 2012 ‘Undergraduate of the Year’ winner, even got a chance to pick themselves up a list of all the great Clubs & Societies available at Strathclyde and more generally the opportunities all universities have to offer! After lunch, the group returned to the biggest lecture theatre on campus where they heard three really informative, engaging and most of all really relatable presentations from some members of our Bright Futures Committee for 2013/14. Laura Carr, final year Accounting & Finance Student and Vice President of Business & Social Sciences at Bright Futures Strathclyde, kicked us off by providing a motivating firsthand account which demonstrated how getting involved in extra-curricular activity at school can help shape what you go on to do further on in life. Laura was voted ‘MD of the Year’ by Young Enterprise in her final year at school and puts a lot of emphasis on this being one of her drivers to go on and study business. Hearing about Laura’s experience really helped emphasise how great an opportunity getting involved with Bright Futures School Society is and was really warmly received by the group.
Next up we had Tom, an Engineering student who is taking on the role of President of University Activity at Bright Futures Strathclyde this year to help increase the profile of the society to both employers and to students. Tom spent some time speaking about how to go about choosing the right degree and then about making sure your UCAS form is as good as possible when applying to University. This presentation gives the group an insight very early on in their final year and provides them with information while they have plenty of time to think before choosing and applying. We’ll be providing a copy of Tom’s UCAS application for the school to use in their workshop classes throughout the year. To finish in a natural progression, we had Cheryl Carrigan who spoke about University life and opportunities while studying. Cheryl was the School Captain at Bishopbriggs in the 2008/09 and studies Chemistry at Strathclyde, taking this last year of her degree to work in industry with the National Nuclear Laboratory. The presentation was very succinct, it covered everything from practical work through to research and Cheryl really sold the extracurricular
benefits that come with university life. By seeing alumni of their own school having achieved so much, the group from Bishopbriggs could really relate to and engage in the presentation. The final session of the day was a short prize giving where we gave out six awards; 3 for the teams and 3 individual. We gave certificates to those who shone out from the crowd throughout the day and ended on a high with Mr Pearce, the Head of 5th Year exclaiming that it had been ‘the easiest day of his professional life.’ We delivered this on no budget, with limited resources and the school are extremely keen to make sure that they, as the first Bright Futures School Society in Scotland, really make the most of the opportunity. We’ll be aiming to run events like this throughout the year with Bishgopbriggs as our pioneering flagship!
Written by Chris Milborrow Strathclyde Bright Futures Founding President
Looking to do this with your society? 5 Top Tips for running events with schools. 1. Be ORGANISED – Organising things in advance and keeping everything smooth is key. If a school is giving you their time, spending resources and ensuring pupil safety is really important and you need to be organised well in advance. Small changes on the day are okay but make sure you have all the big things covered, and a contingency plan just in case! 2. ENGAGE, ENGAGE, ENGAGE – We’ve all been kids and we’ve all been on school trips where we have been, unbelievably, wishing we were still in class. By talking to groups of pupils in their language, by making the event interactive and not preachy, you can engage them and make learning fun.
3. ENSURE VALUE – It’s really important to make sure everyone involved gains something from it. If you want to get society members to assist you with the event, it helps to give everyone opportunities to lead and to present, this will encourage them to really interact with and be hugely enthusiastic about the day. It not only adds value for your members, but also adds value to the whole day. I couldn’t have delivered presentations in the same way Laura, Cheryl & Tom did, and the group really benefited from that!
4. FOLLOW UP – Events like this get everyone extremely interested, make something of that! Finishing the event and failing to follow-up could be an easily a missed opportunity.
5. MAKE YOUR UNIVERSITY AWARE – Universities are always looking for examples of their students doing something great. They are also looking for ways to showcase the University and make the institution appear attractive to young people. By doing an event like this, and on this scale, you kill two very important birds with the one stone. If you have any questions or ideas you’d like to run by me or you’re thinking of running your own event, feel free to drop me a note at chrismilborrow24@gmail.com, tweet us @StrathBrightFut. I’d be really keen to grow this and together I hope we can make ‘Skills for the Real World.’ HUGE!
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Employers: GET INVOLVED! ...
STEM n o s i s u e Foc
Th
This is a new & innovative one-day STEM focused event brought to you by Bright Futures, in partnership with award winning challenge design company Northstar Events. A one-day event where students studying STEM related subjects in their 1st, 2nd or 3rd year of study, are placed into teams of four to tackle four unique challenges designed to develop and demonstrate their key personal and business skills. The challenges are innovative, observable, fun, scored using bespoke electronic software and enable students to showcase their competitive edge with prizes awarded to the best performers. You’ll be in the heart of the action with multiple opportunities to spot talent, network and gain direct access to high performing students with a view to future hires for your graduate scheme or internship programs. Align yourself closely with the pre-event marketing on campus and through the UK’s largest student network, Bright Futures, and enjoy post-event placements on the event website and promotional video.
To find out how to get involved please contact Claire Libby on 01242 236415.
National Conferences
Insight Days We can run specially tailored insight events just for you and your target audience, either onsite or out in the wilderness!
Live Webinars
On-Campus Promotions
Bright Futures empowers students to develop their own employability to stand out in the competitive job market; this is done via the largest network of career-focused student-led societies in over 50 universities across England, Scotland and Wales. Sponsored by over 40 of UKs top FTSE companies, Bright Futures also enables employers to target & recruit the best intern & graduate talent. To find out more, please visit our website.
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www.brightfutures.co.uk
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Bright Futures University of South Australia Launch May 2013 Written by Harley Fricker President Bright Futures UniSA
It is a very exciting time here at the University of South Australia with the introduction and launch of Australia’s first Bright Futures Society. We are fortunate enough to have to Catherine Klimeš, Manager of Careers Services at UniSA, who brought the concept with her after being involved in establishing the University of Northampton Bright Futures Society before moving to Australia late last year. My interest in the Society sparked when an email was sent university wide asking for expressions of interest for a foundation committee in an Australian first Bright Futures Society. I knew as soon as I saw this that it was going to be successful in the Australian market and I picked up the phone immediately to express a keen interest in the development of this brand at UniSA. The turnout at the first committee meeting was more than expected with 21 people from a range of age groups, nationalities, campuses, degree levels and disciplines including architecture, psychology, medical radiation science through to MBA students Business Double Masters and PhD Researchers. It’s really exciting to be working with such a large and diversive committee as it will allow us to tap deeper into the ‘student voice’ and provide a range of activities for all disciplines rather than favouring just business students. The leadership team decided it was best to structure a functional committee, especially with such a large amount of members. As such, we have established a marketing team, events team, employer liaison team and have tasked finance students with additional finance responsibilities. The committee arranged a team building event for the following week and we decided an indoor rock climbing night would be a great opportunity for the members to get to know one another. This activity certainly opened up the communication lines between members and developed a great deal of trust when relying on a first-time belayer to safely lower you to the ground from a 10 metre height. This was definitely a fun night for all and a great type of event to break the ice. The next week the committee set a rapid four week deadline for the launch event. This included deciding on
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the appropriate venue, arranging catering for 50 students, developing a presentation, launching a marketing campaign, establishing our Groupspaces and Facebook pages and building relationships with employers. We chose West Bar, the university bar, as the venue for our event as it was easy for students to access, open on campus during university hours and easy to organise. We set the event running time for three hours with a presentation on what Bright Futures is about and two guest speakers. We contacted Deloitte’s and arranged for the Director of Technology to present as well as the Director of Crisp Advertising. The theme for the presentations was the career journey of the presenter. Ernst & Young and CPA also sent delegates, including recent graduate hires, to network with students and assist them with any career advice. The marketing team developed four general BFS posters and one poster specifically for the event with 100 of these put up around our four campuses. The posters were fresh, bright and youthful which we feel set our marketing apart from other student societies and corporate groups. The event was very successful with an attendance of up to 60-70 people who were all very excited about the launch of the society at UniSA. The Bright Futures Society at UniSA already has 120+ members and a great deal of interest from a wide variety of employers. The marketing team, already producing great print media, has attracted talent from film and television to aid us in the development of digital video promotional media and the events team has developed a calendar to run up to 60 events a year and are doing everything in their power to do so. After a challenging but exciting two months we are now planning our next five events including an employer panel for our UniSA Health Division students, a ‘How to use LinkedIn’ workshop for all student, a face-to-face/phone/skype interview training session and a ‘Social Media For Business’ class. We can feel the student excitement bursting at the seams!
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My Experience as a Bright Futures Committee Member My name is Morenike Olufon a student of LLB Law and Business at Coventry University. I became involved in the Bright Futures society as a member in January 2012. Later that year I became the president for the 2012/2013 academic year. As the president I was privileged to work with prominent people and organisations and in March 2013, my team and I were fortunate to work with UNESCO (United Nations Educational Scientific Cultural Organisation) to organise a Youth Awareness programme in Coventry. The event was a success and the delegates became more informed about opportunities available in UNESCO and other prominent NGOs. A closed group was also formed following the event to keep us informed. Once we were presented with the opportunity to be an International Youth Peace Ambassador (YPA6), I went for the training which was held in May/June in Thailand. My experience in Thailand was wonderful; I met wonderful people from 17 different countries around the world. The training was a once in a lifetime experience for me and we
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took part in different activities such as visiting a primary school, engaging in photography contest organised by Ryan Libre from Documentary Arts Asia (which my photograph won), drawing artworks of peace, planting trees in the international peace park, composing poetry on peace and giving presentations on our action plans. I remain the President for the 2013/2014 academic session and cannot emphasis enough the benefit of being a member of Bright Futures Society and particularly being a committee member. It’s been an invaluable experience for me and I shall forward to greater things to come. As a Youth Peace Ambassador, I plan to take free peace and love education to citizens around the world under the NGO, Peace and Love Educational Association (PLEA) which I founded in June, 2013. My work will commence in August, 2013 in New York, USA.
CLICK HERE to find out more
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Success
Employers: GET INVOLVED
Antonios My involvement in Bright Futures the last two years has definitely been a very interesting experience. From the lows of struggling to attract students to some events and failures in committee coordination, to the highs of pulling off twice a 120-student networking event at the Marriott, being the second largest society in Imperial and being nominated for Bright Futures Best Society of the Year for two years in a row, I can say, without a doubt, that it was worth all the time I put in it. Why?
stories to tell at interviews. All in all, my involvement in Bright Futures helped me secure two graduate jobs and withdraw my application from others, which is why at the end of the day I can say it was all worth it.
Through Bright Futures I became a more active person and learned to organize my time between interviews, studying and the society. Bright Futures also provided me with some great
I wish everyone in Bright Futures all the best!
I have seen the idea of Bright Futures grow the past two years and I really hope it will continue growing, so that even more people benefit from it as I did.
Stuart Being an active Bright Futures committee member has proved an excellent experience; I genuinely do not think I would have had so many opportunities offered to me or met so many interesting people during my time at university if I had not been part of the national network. These opportunities have ranged from the excellent ‘National Awards’ this year, hosted behind the scenes at Villa Park, to giving a speech about student enterprise at Buckingham Palace! Essentially, being a committee member put me out there as a nationally recognised, pro-active member of my student community and gave me the opportunity to demonstrate and develop my skills.
Notably, my work with Bright Futures has significantly increased my confidence in public speaking (which I used to be terrified of!), networking (which also was not great!) and decision making. These were all developed through the planning and running of events, management of other committee members and the general responsibility of representing the Bright Futures Society at my university. The work I have done with Bright Futures will benefit me continuously and I very much look forward to remaining an active part of the Alumni Network in the future.
Samantha Bright Futures has taught me the importance of organisation, teamwork and building relationships within the workplace. Being a part of Bright Futures has directly influenced my success in finding an internship and thus a Graduate role, by both from building these critical skills, and introductions to key members of Graduate Recruitment. At the National BF Networking Conference 2011/12, I had the opportunity to network with Graduate recruiters from a number of consulting firms. When attending interviews and assessment centres, it was often the case that those I had networked with at the conference were the key assessors and decision makers! This enabled me to leverage the prior introduction and stand out amongst applicants. I could also discuss in detail the work I had done as part of Bright
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Futures Society, as interviewers were personally familiar with our responsibilities as Committee members. I feel it was with thanks to Bright Futures that I was able to secure a Summer Internship with Accenture Management Consulting (my first choice), which led to an offer to join as a Graduate. This demonstrates how highly graduate firms regard Bright Futures and those who are involved with the society, and what the payoffs can be for enthusiastic and dedicated Committee members.
s Stories D! Sanjay I graduated in 2011, having studied Business Management at Swansea University. I completed a fast track graduate programme and I am now a graduate Store Manager for Alliance Boots. I’m currently responsible for a £6 million annual turnover retail park store and have a team of 50 that I proudly lead. Swansea University was where I met Bright Futures. Starting off as a member interested in getting a head start in my career prospects I soon held roles in the society as the Corporate Liaison Officer and Vice President. Bright Futures gave me a platform to “stand out”. I had the chance to be part of networking events with people who were on a similar career path to me and people who were not, but they were nevertheless inspirational in their own right to me. The opportunity to be at workshops with the giant companies Bright Futures have connections with was probably the first
interchange for me to give my confidence a boost and I can’t express how much I changed! I was ready to face companies to showcase my skills and abilities to enter the graduate market for a career. Today, my challenge is to keep up with the pace we deliver at, I have to create a climate where you take risks, acknowledge your mistakes and learn fast. The networking events on and off campus set me up for this and I fundamentally learnt from Bright Futures that it was OK to not be generic, but to be different and stand out. My advice to you is get involved, get more than a degree from your university and choose to do something you have a passion for.
GO and create YOUR network.
Simran With graduate recruitment at its most competitive, many employers have urged students to ditch gap years or say farewell to their summer holidays in replacement for work experiences and internships. It is evident a degree is just not enough these days. Two years into my undergraduate degree I decided to partake as a committee member of a society. At this point I did not care what committee position it was, or what society it was – I was just desperate for an extra-curricular activity to be listed on my CV. A friend told me about the Bright Futures Society and a month later I was on the committee. As the weeks went by majority of the committee members slowly departed due to conflicting work schedules and lack of commitment and the role of Society President unwillingly fell into my hands. Returning back to my final year at Loughborough I was now faced with the challenge of balancing my degree with the responsibilities of the society. My duties ranged from organising employer events, promoting to students, booking locations, budgeting, and over-seeing the rest of the committee.
As a society we faced many problems throughout the year, in fact overall I would honestly say we had more fails than successes, but I believe nothing but good has come from my involvement. The responsibilities have helped me develop my own personal skills, leaving me feeling more confident in my job applications and interviews. To my surprise, in late January I received an e- mail from James Caan (entrepreneur, famed from Dragon’s Den) stating he was impressed with my extra- curricular work on campus and invited me to his office in Mayfair for a meeting. Two weeks later I became a Student Ambassador for his start-up loans company, celebrating the launch at a private event at Buckingham Palace! I never thought my involvement in the Bright Futures society would open so many doors, or even see me get headhunted by an employer, but it exemplifies how putting yourself out there really can help get you places.
To find out more about Bright Futures societies visit:
www.brightfutures.co.uk
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Full time graduate opportunities in Management Consulting with PwC – March 2014
PwC
Your career is just that, yours. You choose it. You live it. You make it happen. To get the best from it, you need the best opportunities. That’s why opportunities are at the heart of a career with us.
company profile
Our offer to you… Be part of the world’s leading professional services network and enjoy the benefits that come with that. You’ll work directly with big name clients where you’ll get to grips with the value they’re looking for by getting into the detail. We’ll provide an environment where you’ll be able to explore new opportunities, to help you grow and find your niche. And we’ll give you access to be best learning and development around. Consulting You’ll get to work closely with the best in industry, finance and government, bringing fresh insights and motivation to the problems they face. Our clients might want us to help them enter new markets; address the challenges created by organisational change; or draw up a sustainability strategy that aligns their commercial objectives with broader environmental and social concerns. Whatever each particular project involves, you’ll get a real sense of achievement from boosting clients’ performance in a number of different ways, delivering benefits they can measure and a standard of service that’s second to none. If you’re talented, determined and serious about a
career in business, we believe Consulting can offer you a great start.
and projects; try out new roles and even sample other business areas.
What you’d do As a graduate, you can choose to start your career in Management Consulting, building numerous core skills on a twoyear structured programme where you’ll experience the full range of what we do, across all industries. This will give you a taste of what it’s like to help clients drive innovation and growth, manage cost and operate effectively. The experience will help you decide where you want to specialise within Consulting. Or, if you’d rather specialise straight away, you can join one of three consulting practices:
What you need to bring us • A 2:1 or above in any degree discipline • A UCAS tariff of at least 340 (or equivalent)
Your training and development: Our people make us stand out as a firm. So we choose the best and invest heavily in them. You’ll benefit from the encouragement, opportunity and support which includes: • Our graduate training programme helps you gain breadth as well as depth of knowledge and build a portfolio of valuable, transferable skills. • Movement throughout the firm – you’ll work in different teams and offices, experience different clients
Equally important will be your intellect, willingness to learn, ability to build relationships, put yourself in others’ shoes, while always making a positive impact with our clients and each other. How to apply Vacancies for positions starting in March 2014 are now open. As these are very popular, we’d encourage you to apply now to avoid disappointment. We’re proud, based on the opportunity we offer, that students have voted us the number one Graduate Employer in The Times Top 100 Graduate Employers survey for the last nine years. And we know that the skills and experiences you develop with us, will stay with you throughout your career. So join us, and we’ll help you reach your full potential.
Take the opportunity of a lifetime. www.pwc.com/uk/careers Connect with us: www.facebook.com/PwCCareersUK Follow us: www.twitter.com/PwC_UK_Careers 20
Tesco
Summer loving, and a fresh start to your career search
For some of you, you will have finished your final exams and will be gearing up to start your new career. And for everyone else, you will no doubt have an exciting summer planned before returning to university in the autumn, where you will be re-focusing your efforts on achieving great results and looking for your perfect employer. Within the Graduate Recruitment Team, we’re heavily preparing for the autumn term and coming to meet you all at various careers fairs, presentations and Bright
Futures events – and we’re really excited about it! We have some great stories to tell you about the successes of our graduates this year, and some of the exciting things happening in the UK and around the world. But why wait until then to find out more about who we are and what we do? The feedback we get is that a lot of students find great value in researching an employer before meeting them at careers fairs – and there’s so much to find out about Tesco!
company profile
Here at Tesco, we’re getting ready for a summer of fun. BBQ’s, paddling pools and an ice cream van that parks up at our head office on sunny days… you can tell that summer is on its way!
For example, did you know that our colleagues in China have been raising money to help the communities affected by the devastating earthquake in Sichuan Province? And did you know that Tesco has been voted one of the top employers in the UK? There’s so much to find out about the opportunities that we offer Graduates, and the great work that we do.
To find out more, please visit: www.tesco-graduates.com or www.tescoplc.com
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T.K.Maxx
Merchandising & Buying Graduate Programme with TK Maxx! Start our Programme in Dßsseldorf in September 2013 and by 2015 you could be spending our money on designer brands‌
company profile
The Merchandising & Buying Graduate Programme, like our Off-Price business model, is unconventional and unlike most other retailers. Our programme takes place in the two areas which are at the heart of making our concept work: Merchandising and Buying. Why so different? We source, plan and buy every day of the year and according to the market. So we must use every ounce of flexibility and fresh thinking we have. Our people are empowered to make their own decisions, even when it comes to spending the Company’s money to get the best deals.
develop talented Associates to become successful buyers of the future, especially considering the growth potential of our business. Spending time in our Merchandising function initially affords an understanding of the fundamentals of our business enabling Associates to be well equipped for future roles in both Merchandising and Buying. It is a structured career path with continuous training and progression opportunities into Merchandising or Buying. At TJX Europe we invest in our graduates, their development and careers. This will lead for some to careers in Merchandising, some in Buying and, ultimately, a potential future in Executive Management.
The opportunities in our German business are growing all the time, just like our store base. With 59 stores today, and plans for up to 300 in Germany, this is a great place for ambitious graduates with both German and English language skills to develop their careers.
With over 700 people in the broader TJX Buying organisation and over 15,000 vendors globally it is essential that we identify and
Applications are on-going with intakes in September 2013. Find out more and apply at : www.tjxeurope.com/careers 22
Facilities Graduate Programme
the team you join. This could include training on specific IT software used, including computer aided drawings (CAD), room-booking, archive management or property databases. Just as importantly, we’ll also provide personal skills training if needed, to help you get the most out of every project and develop your service, account and project management skills.
company profile
The team plays a broad and varied role – reflected in the scope of the career opportunities we offer and the exposure you’ll gain on the programme. After developing broad skills, you’ll have the chance to specialise and potentially go on to gain professional qualifications. As you’d expect of such a diverse business area, we’ll provide a broad range of technical and skills training that reflects the focus and work of
KPMG
In Facilities, the entire business looks to us to ensure that KPMG offices across the UK have the high quality premises and services they need to create a safe, efficient, innovative and cost-effective business environment.
click here
to read Andrea’s story
If you would like to apply click here 23
Domestic & General
It’s that time once again, for a new department, new faces and some new challenges.
Next week is ‘Back to School’ as I am enrolled onto an external book keeping course in London. This will give me a chance to recap some of the basics, get back up to speed, and really apply myself to get the most out of my time in Finance. The Management rotational scheme has really given me a chance to weigh up my options and future career, to really find out what roles
interest me, and also develop skills within each area. It’s been a real hands-on experience in each department, which has been great for me as I was unsure what career to pursue after graduating. What’s also been really beneficial is the opportunity to network and develop relationships across the business. As a great part of my roles are collaborating and working across the various departments - making these connections has been hugely advantageous. What’s great is your placements are never all planned out from the beginning and set in stone, giving you the flexibility to shape and tailor the programme to you, as you
develop an understanding of the business, and gain a clearer idea of which career direction you plan on heading in. There is a real chance to develop not only in my role, but also gain key skills by attending training and Lunch & Learn sessions – a great opportunity to spend the day with the fellow grads, and have a catch up on how their placements are progressing. If you would like to read more on my time in Domestic & General, check out Bright Futures April & June editions, to read about the enrolment process at D&G and my time in International Marketing and IT.
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company profile
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I’ve just started my third rotation within Domestic & General in Finance. I studied Business Management at Surrey University which included a Finance module each term. I really enjoyed this aspect of my course and wanted to see it applied in business.
How to get in touch with us If you want to be where I am now this time next year, then go onto D&G’s careers website at careers website and apply. You can also follow us on Facebook and Twitter 24
When I first applied for the scheme, I didn’t really have a good idea of what I wanted to do or even what was involved in consultancy. But by the end of the weekend I was sure that I’d fit right into the fast-paced world of consulting - and luckily, my interviewers agreed.
Great clients, friendly people The clients that Accenture works with are one of the big attractions for me. No two are quite the same - but no matter what area you work in, you can guarantee that people outside will have heard of the project. Then there are the people. During my application process, those I spoke to here were by far the friendliest of all the companies that I applied to. I genuinely felt like they wanted me to like the company and were keen to share their experiences.
Highlight so far
company profile
I got my first taste of life at Accenture at Boot Camp. Over 48 hours, we were set challenges that gave a flavour of the kind of work a consultancy carries out. From improving a supply chain to designing a growth strategy for a well-known drinks company, we covered a range of the different offerings that Accenture provides.
Accenture
Anna got her first taste of life at Accenture on our 48-hour Boot Camp; she then joined us as an Analyst on our Consulting Graduate Programme. Here she shares her day-to-day experiences and what to expect from a career at Accenture.
South Africa and California was definitely a challenge and the late nights and early mornings involved were not ideal. But finding out that we had landed the work on such a prestigious project definitely made it worthwhile. One of the great things about Accenture is the social events that you can take part in. I’ve helped to direct some of the activities and have been the Life@ rep on many of my projects. That’s the social rep who organises evening activities and team dinners for people working out of town.
I was involved in helping out with a bid for the World Economic Forum. Organising meetings between busy Managing Directors in Singapore,
To find out more about careers at Accenture visit accenture.com/ukgraduates
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Bank of England
Engaging with The Bank in 2013 You probably already know that, as the UK’s central bank, the Bank plays a fundamental role in the UK economy. But what might surprise you is that you don’t need to be an economist to join us. If you’re bright, ambitious and ready to learn, there could be an opportunity here for you. What we do is challenging – but it makes for interesting work, because everything we do impacts on the nation.
company profile
The Bank of England is an incredibly exciting hub of new, dynamic thinking – and a uniquely rewarding place to develop your future. If you were to join us on one level, you will work to tackle some of the most important and most challenging economic and financial issues facing the UK today. And on another, you will also touch many different aspects of people’s everyday lives, encompassing everything from interest rates to economic stability and financial markets. If you think you or members of your Bright futures society might want to learn a bit more about the opportunities at the Bank please
do get in touch as we are currently planning our activities for Autumn 2013 looking to recruit for our 2014 programmes.
We look forward to working with Bright Futures in 2013! The Bank of England Graduate Team
We have a range of things we would be able to do with societies including Skills sessions, Case studies, presentations and possibly even a visit to our offices. For more information on all our programmes visit: www.bankofengland.co.uk and if you might like to run an event with us or would just like some further information you contact us at recruitment@bankofengland.co.uk
Or to contact the recruitment team email: recruitment@bankofengland.co.uk www.bankofenglandgraduates.co.uk 2262
Build on: communities Our stewardship efforts—sustainability, philanthropy, and volunteerism—are central to bringing this value to life. In Australia, we introduced one of the largest adult construction apprenticeship programs in the country’s history. In Angola, we trained more than 8,300 local workers on Bechtel’s project processes and safety culture to prepare them for future work on oil and gas projects in the region. In Gabon, we are
promoting social infrastructure and economic development as we support this emerging nation’s long-term investment strategy. Our design and construction sustainability efforts on the Crossrail project in the UK are helping our customer obtain certification for their railway stations, tunnels, portals, and shafts from independent and internationally recognized industry bodies.
Build On: The future Last year, we formed partnerships with five nonprofit organizations that deepen our impact in the communities where we live and work.
company profile
Every day at Bechtel our people help build a better world. They build safer roads, cleaner power plants and refineries that use resources more efficiently. At Bechtel, we build on these achievements through the communities we work in and planning for the long term future of all involved.
Bechtel
Build a career on improving the quality of life and the future of the communities where Bechtel live and work. Build a career on planning the long-term good of our people, our company, our customers and our world. Build a career in Bechtel.
Foundation, which promotes the rewards of the engineering profession to students. To spark students’ interest in science and technology, we collaborate with FIRST® Robotics, a team-building program in which young people use science and math to build robots for competition. In our work with Junior Achievement® (INJAZ in the Middle East and Young Enterprise in the UK), we lead students toward workforce readiness and financial literacy. Through Engineers Without Borders, volunteers apply their passion and skills in engineering and construction to further muchneeded infrastructure improvement projects.
We celebrate the engineering profession through our partnership with National Engineers Week
If you’d like to Build a career with Bechtel visit: www.bechtel.com 27
RPC Training Contract deadline is fast approaching - Apply now!
RPC
Leading lawyers. Great clients. And an unrivalled commercial approach to business. At RPC we offer a depth of knowledge and creativity that few firms can rival and combine this with high quality training programmes that are consistently lauded in the leading directories.
company profile
Headquartered in a state of the art site in the City of London, we also have stunning offices in Bristol, Hong Kong and Singapore. Our open plan, collaborative working environment – where knowledge is easily shared and access to partners an everyday reality – is designed to bring out the best in our people and to ensure that the service we offer our clients is second to none. And it is. We provide top quality legal services to global businesses across a wide range of industry sectors and practices, including insurance, commercial litigation, construction,
engineering and projects, corporate/M&A, IP and technology, media, real estate, employment and pensions, outsourcing, regulatory, tax and competition. Twice nominated as Law Firm of the Year in 2013, in 2012 we won Insurance Team of the Year at the Legal Business Awards, Corporate Team of the Year (midcap) at The Lawyer Awards, and Service Provider of the Year at the British Insurance Awards, as well as being voted by the Financial Times as one of the most innovative firms in Europe.
www.rpc.co.uk/manifesto or follow us on twitter @LifeinaLawFirm
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The closing date to apply for a Training Contract with RPC in either our London or Bristol office is 31 July 2013.
We still have a few roles in the following areas starting in 2013, but hurry they are filling up fast:
company profile
As a major engineering and technology company, our work touches all of our lives – every single day. From BACS, the secure network communications system behind 3.7 billion secure electronic transactions every year, to in-flight entertainment systems for passenger planes and state-of-the-art equipment for military aircraft, the scope and scale of our problem-solving abilities knows no bounds. To watch a short video about who we are and what we do, click here: http://ukgrads.thalesgroup.com
Thales
Roles for 2013 start – it’s not too late
• Cyber Security • Systems Engineering • Software Engineering • Manufacturing Engineering • Electronics Engineering • Test and Integration • Electro Optics & Algorithms
To search and apply for any of these roles, and find out more about the sorts of projects you could be working on, click here: ukgrads.thalesgroup.com/jobsearch 29