All posts by Joanna Louise McCreedie

Klaudia, Creative Arts, Design and Crafts

Art History and Visual Culture, Creative Arts Design and Crafts, , ,

In her second year Liberal Arts student Klaudia applied to the Career Mentor Scheme and was matched with a Director of Photography.

Working in the Creative Arts, Design and Crafts sector, this mentor graduated with a Film Studies degree at Exeter in 2010 and has since developed an impressive career in Photography. After working at Greenfield Television and Group FMG as a Camera Assistant and Shooting Assistant, respectively, he moved on to working as a Lighting Cameraman at Sneak Global. Since 2013 he has been self-employed and is now the founder and owner of Hold Your Fire, where he is Director of Photography. As such he is responsible for the overall visual identity of a production.

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Klaudia told us more about her experience of the mentoring partnership.

What did you find most useful?

Insight into the profession and personal advice on creating a CV, increasing the confidence in the skills I have acquired over the years.

What were the highlights of the scheme for you?

Receiving advice on and succeeding in building a concise CV and applying for internships.

What message would you give students thinking of applying for the career mentor scheme?

If you ever felt unsure about your own personal skills and their application to the workplace, the scheme definitely has the potential to boost your confidence and help you use these skills to an advantage when looking for a placement or work experience.

The mentor shared the highlights of the scheme for himself:

I enjoyed having e-mail contact with Klaudia as I felt it was a great platform to discuss things in an informal environment. [We discussed] uncertainties about life after graduation via e-mail and it gave me the time to respond appropriately, so I could assist her with her confidence and work out what she wanted to pursue.

I feel like I had a positive impact and she seemed to figure out her next steps by the end of the scheme. I also went through her CV and looked at her work as well as sharing some of my own work and examples of past CV’s to give her some insight into the job hunting process

Getting to meet her […] was useful as it put a face to a name and solidified the professional relationship we had built up already which I hope will continue in the future.

Dimitar, Engineering and Product Design

Engineering, Engineering and Product Design, ,

Towards the end of his third year Dimitar, completing a Civil Engineering degree began his mentoring partnership with a worker of Mott MacDonald.

Having completed BEng Civil Engineering at Cardiff University, followed by MSc Civil Engineering Management at Plymouth University this mentor’s main responsibilities include design of engineering solutions, monitoring of budgets and communication with clients.

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Dimitar gave some great feedback about the scheme.

What were the highlights of the scheme for you?

After a couple meetings, my mentor invited me to help him and his team at the South West Big Bang Science festival in June. There he introduced me to his collegues and we had a productive networking session.

What did you find most useful from the mentoring experience?

The relationship you build with your mentor. It stays for longer than the Career Mentor Scheme duration. Me and my mentor still exchange emails and make plans for future meetings.

What message would you give to a student thinking of applying for the Career Mentor Scheme?

GO FOR IT, APPLY! With capital letters.

The highlight for the mentor was:

“Interesting insight into on-going research and helping develop how this might be applied commercially.”

Peter, Science

Mathematics, Science, , ,

Interested in the Science sector, Peter was at the end of his second year of doing Mathematics when he was matched with a Research Scientist at NASA.

After completing his BSc in Mathematics at Exeter, this mentor red an MSc in Computation Modelling and then a PhD Mathematics at Exeter. His previous employment includes being a Postdoctoral researcher at the Engineering department at the University, investigating the use of Open FOAM to research the optimal positioning of a wind turbine.

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Peter achieved many objectives, such as received help with his CV, getting academic support and increasing his confidence to seek graduate level employment. Here is what he shared with us at the end of the scheme;

What were the highlights of the scheme for you?

Really enthusiastic and helpful emails from my mentor. He came across as a person who genuinely wanted to help.

What message would you give to a student thinking of applying for the Career Mentor Scheme?

It’s a really helpful scheme for anyone seeking career/academic guidance and support.

Sam, Banking and Financial Services

Banking and Financial Services, Mathematics, , , ,

Second year Mathematics student, Sam was successfully matched with a mentor working at Lloyds Bank as a National Director of Business Development, SME Banking. After graduating from a French degree at Exeter, this mentor pursued a career in the Banking and Finance sector. His previous employment includes various different roles at Lloyds Bank.

The partnership started at the end of Sam’s second year and continued until October of his final year. Sam shared some insight from the scheme with us:

Apart from obtaining help to prepare for his next steps for graduate level employment and receiving help with application forms and cover letters, Sam also learned more about the good and bad aspects of working in the Banking and Finance sector.

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What were the highlights of the scheme for you?

Meeting with my mentor and getting to know him was a highlight, as was the opportunity to use him as a source of help in the future.

What did you find most useful from the mentoring experience?

I found the networking opportunities most useful together with getting to know an important figure within Lloyds Bank.

What message would you give to a student thinking of applying for the Career Mentor Scheme?

Getting to know someone on a professional level who wants to help you succeed gave me encouragement and confidence when applying for jobs.

Sophie, Agriculture, Farming and Animal Care

Agriculture Farming and Animal Care, Biosciences,

During her second year Zoology student Sophie undertook a mentoring partnership with a Principal Research Scientist.

After working as a researcher in Venezuela between 1986 and 1998, this mentor returned to the UK where she continued her research on gaseous emissions from agricultural soils. At the time of the mentoring partnership she was working at Rothamsted Research.

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Here are Sophie’s insights from the partnership:

 What did you find most useful?

 The Career Mentor Scheme was a great experience and allowed me to gain insight into the field of work I am interested in and also build up an invaluable list of contacts for future employment. The most useful part of the scheme was learning about the different pathways there are into the sector and how my mentor specifically achieved this.

 What were the highlights?

 As my mentor was in the field of work I hope to pursue in the future, it was invaluable to get an insight into the various pathways there are into the sector. When meeting up in her work place, she introduced me to all the researchers which was a great networking experience and gave me relevant contacts for summer internships etc. I also received extensive help on updating my CV and checking applications I had written for several roles and also interview preparation tips.

 What objectives did you achieve?

 You don’t just gain advice on your CV and interview technique but also on how best to pursue a career in your chosen area, what qualifications and experiences are required and who is best to contact. For me, the most valuable part of the experience was the networking opportunity as your mentor works in the profession you are interested in, so they themselves are a potential key to future employment but they also open doors to getting in contact and meeting others in the field.

 What message would you give students thinking of applying for the career mentor scheme?

 I highly recommend the programme and believe that all students would benefit enormously.

 

Chun, Charity and Development Work

Accounting and Finance, Charity and Development Work, ,

Chun, studying a postgraduate degree in Accounting and Finance shared with us what he gained from being matched with a mentor in the Charity & Development Work sector who found his own company, offering training, private tuition and proofreading of assignments to students from a Business degree.

Chun shared with us what he got out of the 6-month long partnership with his mentor.

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 What did you find most useful?

Insight into my profession and figured out what specific moves to show a full package of me as an employee to potential employers.

What objectives did you achieve?

Increased knowledge of the general recruitment process in career aspect, and brought out a clear understanding on what characteristics a particular firm may be required.

What message would you give students thinking of applying for the Career Mentor Scheme?

 Being able to get constant advice from an alumnus is such a privileged experience. The mentor not only focused on my personal development, but also actively offered genuine guidance to enhance my skill sets for future employability.

Lucy, Law and Legal Services

Career Sector, Degree Subject, economics, Law and Legal Services, Politics and International Relations, , ,

Lucy, a second year Economics and Politics student who was looking to go into Law was matched and mentored for a period of six months by an experienced lawyer who graduated from a Politics degree at Exeter 10 years ago and has since then worked at three different law firms: TWM LLP, Irwin Mitchell LLP and currently Stephenson Harwood LLP in London. law-order-1240301

Lucy shared some insights from her experience with us:

What did you find most useful?

Insight into my chosen profession as I am currently not studying law.

What was the highlight of the scheme for you?

My highlight was visiting the office in London. It was great to be shown round and loved seeing inside a real law office whilst they were working. The offices were extremely impressive and showed what can be achieved in the law profession.

What objectives did you achieve?

I received a greater insight into the profession and had really interesting conversations with trainees in the graduate scheme. This gave a further insight I wasn’t expecting but was very helpful.

What message would you give students thinking of applying for the career mentor scheme?

Make sure to meet up with your mentor early on so that it is easier to communicate and develop a personal connection.