Our UGOY Low Carbon runner up, Luthfilaudri, tells us about his experience of the awards!

The first time I heard about TARGETjobs' Undergraduate of the Year Award was when I was in my second year. I received an email from my university about the Low Carbon Undergraduate of the Year Award. At the time, I did not bother applying for the award and filling out a lengthy application form. I was thinking that the chance for me to win the award is really small since there is only one winner for each category. I thought that it would be better to apply for other summer internships which have bigger chance of getting accepted. 

In my final year, I received  the same email from university inviting me to apply for Low Carbon Undergraduate of the Year Award. But that time was a bit different as the uni told us that we had won the Low Carbon Award in 2014. That encouraged me to apply for the award, despite the stress I was bearing from doing my final year project. I filled out the application form and wrote the essays required for submission. After that, I clicked the submission button and I immediately received an email that led me to a series of online tests. And hey, who would have known that a couple weeks later I was emailed by EDF energy that a phone interview will be conducted to shortlist several candidates to be invited to an assessment centre. 

The day of telephone interview with an EDF employee eventually came. I was quite nervous at that time although it was not my first time conducting a phone interview. As soon as the conversation started, I felt a sense of relief because the interviewer was really friendly. This phone interview was the toughest interview I had ever done as the interviewer expected concise answers from a set of tricky questions. After the interview ended, all I could do was to pray and hope that I would get to the next round, the assessment centre. But surprisingly, I received an email from TARGETjobs saying that I managed to be in the top 10 finalists for Low Carbon Award. EDF decided not to do an assessment centre. They used the application form and the interview as the basis of their assessment. 

So briefly speaking, I was invited to Canary Wharf in London for the grand finale event. The event was a really great opportunity to network with many talented students from across the UK as well as many employees from highly reputable companies. Not to mention, the food they served was heavenly tasty (that was my first time eating a fancy three course meal). Time did fly and the moment of the winners announcement came. I already had a feeling that my best friend at uni, Rahul, would have won the award. I knew him as a well rounded person, who does not only excel academically but also in social aspect since he was once the president of Chemical Engineering society at uni. And my guess was right, Rahul managed to get the Low Carbon Undergraduate of the Year Award! I was really happy for him.

Although I did not win, I did not go home empty handed. I brought with me a spirit to be a much better individual. I also boosted my confidence level that everything could actually be achieved even if it seems far away from our reach. This has been proven by myself being able to get a postgraduate course and secure a prestigious government scholarship! So my message to all of you who wish to apply for this award is just apply because you will never know what you will get in the end. Do not see a failure as a failure, instead see it as an opportunity to learn and rebuild yourself to come back stronger than ever.

Me with the Uni of Manchester Finalists (top left).

Pre-register for the 2016 Undergraduate of the Year Awards now.