Ella Jakubowska won the Female Undergraduate of the Year Award in 2013! Read her final blog one year on...

After a whirlwind study abroad year at McGill University, followed by my incredible three month Rolls-Royce internship in Derby and Beijing, September 2013 finally rolled around, ushering me into my fourth and final year of undergraduate study at Leeds University. It was the most academically intense year of my life, and I developed a genuine passion for the dissertation I was writing. It focussed on representations of non-conventional masculinity in twentieth-century war literature, a somewhat niche but (genuinely!) fascinating area of study.

The academic year flew by; in October, I was surprised but very pleased to be awarded an Athena Swan ‘Woman of Achievement’ commendation from Leeds uni, which entailed a lovely ceremony and photo-shoot, so that was very exciting! Then at Christmas, I continued with my yearly family tradition of helping to run a Christmas homeless shelter as a key volunteer for Crisis, a charity that is still really close to my heart.

With the new year came new challenges at university, and so my next few months were mostly spent in a blur of visits to the library. After immersing myself in the challenging world of contemporary and millennial fiction for my Finals, I decided that I’d like to make the most of my last university summer by jumping onto a plane to Malaysia to visit my brother. I then spent six weeks backpacking through Malaysia, Thailand, and Vietnam, with a similar outlook to the one I’d had in Beijing: one that meant doing, trying and eating everything, even if it was out of my comfort zone. Thanks to some local guides, I got to experience local cultures and livelihoods in a really privileged, intimate way, although of course my trip also featured the obligatory backpacker hostels and parties!

On the final day of my travels, I received the news that I would, as hoped, be graduating from Leeds with First Class Honours after attaining a strong First for my dissertation, and an even stronger First for another extended essay. It was really rewarding to know that my hard work was paying off, awarding me among the strongest marks of my entire university career. Graduation was a surprisingly relaxing and enjoyable day; the ceremony itself was lovely, and it felt like such an achievement to have made my family so proud. It was not until I was saying goodbye to friends and getting ready to head back to London, however, that it really hit me that my time as an undergraduate, with all the amazing experiences it has given me, has really finished.

As for the future, I’m very glad I have the Customer Management graduate programme at Rolls-Royce to look forward to. My first placement, starting this September, will be in the Defence sector in Bristol, and my current house-hunting gives me something to keep me occupied! After how well my internship went, I think that I have quite a lot to live up to as I return to Rolls, but I couldn’t be more excited for the challenges to come, and for the opportunities to improve as a (business) person. Wish me luck!

Ella Jakubowska, English Language and Literature, University of Leeds

2013 Winner of the Female Undergraduate of the Year Award 2013 sponsored by Rolls-Royce

Week Three interning with Rolls-Royce

Winner of the Female Undergraduate of the Year, Ella continues her weekly summary of what she has been up to whilst interning at Rolls-Royce

This week I have been hard at work trying to re-configure and streamline some internal processes. This includes creating contract maps of aftermarket services that my team are managing, as well as looking at the objectives I will need to cover over my next few weeks at Rolls-Royce. To be honest, I’m a bit stunned that my third week is already over – it won’t be long until I go to China in August for a 2 – 3 week business trip as part of my prize!

On Tuesday I was lucky enough to be afforded a privileged insight into the Trent XWB Pre-Production shop in Aero Repair and Overhaul (AR&O). Andy Knox, Head of Pre-Production  - Operations, working on the XWB engine, gave me a great tour and there were a couple of things that, as a non-mechanical engineer, really struck me. First is the sheer enormity of a modern plane engine. The Trent XWB is particularly large, but even in my experiences of flying, I have never stopped to really look at how massive the engines are on a plane. In my family, we have a tendency to measure the size of things by whether my exceedingly tall twin brother, Joe, can fit inside them. I can safely tell you that there is plenty of space inside a Trent XWB for many Joes! 

I was also struck by the complexity of an engine and the steps that go into the production and assembly of parts in order to create a working engine. Of course I already knew that an engine is very, very complicated but I think it takes being able to have a close look at all the pipes and parts in order to really appreciate the intricacy of every piece.  It’s also interesting, and reassuring, to hear how much is done when things don’t quite function as they are supposed to. The pre-production process struck me as highly reactive, constantly evolving to fit needs, and it’s really interesting to compare how things are being done on this new-build engine compared to engines in the past.

I’ve also been spending some time sitting in on meetings with my manager, Larissa, to see how she is planning and managing a visit for the end of the week from one of our Greater China customers. It’s a task that is a lot more Customer-Management focussed, whereas up until now I have been getting a much broader overview of the whole Civil Large Engines division, the products we deal with and the technical management side. I’m starting to feel a lot more settled in the team too – luckily there’s been a lot less of the initial embarrassing hiccups of inadvertently stealing someone’s chair and sending emails to the wrong people! 

(original on http://femaleundergraduateoftheyear.wordpress.com/)

Week Two: Interning with Rolls-Royce

Ella Rose is back with her blog discussing what she has been up to her in second week of interning at Rolls Royce, part of her prize for winning the Female Undergraduate of the Year award.

Once again, I'm pleased to say that I survived this week! The early mornings are starting to feel normal, the many acronyms at Rolls-Royce have become second nature and I'm getting through around one thousand cups of tea a day. If you'd told me at this point last year that I'd find engines so interesting I would have not believed you!

It's been a little less hectic than last week (famous last words) and I think that comes down to how much I'm learning. That certainly wouldn't be the case without the help of my whole team, especially my brilliant manager Larissa who consistently goes above and beyond to help me when I feel out of my depth. In the last few days I've been drafting invoices and analysing engine data, which relies on me having some in-depth knowledge of the customers, policies and pricing methods of Customer Business, so I've needed a fair bit of help from lots of different people. I'm also managing my own time and projects, so it's both exciting and daunting to have so much responsibility over my work.

Want to keep reading - find Ella's blog here:http://femaleundergraduateoftheyear.wordpress.com/

Ella Rose- Week One interning with Rolls-Royce

Ella Rose, winner of the Female Undergraduate of the Year award sponsored by Rolls-Royce, blogs about what she has been up to in her first week of her internship (part of the prize for winning the blog).

So, not only did I survive my first week as an intern in Customer Management at Rolls-Royce, but it flew by so quickly that I’m already feeling like the whole ten weeks will be over before they’ve started!

On Sunday afternoon, I moved into the University of Derby Halls, and it’s a bit like being back in my first year of university except that people are a little more grown up and less messy! Starting the week at Rolls-Royce was a bit nerve-wracking, but I already feel like I am settling in and starting to understand  how the business and customer-facing roles work in Civil Large Engines.

I did, however, feel somewhat thrown in the deep end when, after only having been in my office for three days, I was invited to a Chinese culture dinner. The team that I am involved with works within Customer Business for the Greater China airline customers of Rolls-Royce, so the idea was that I would get to experience a bit of genuine Chinese culture, have some proper Chinese food and do a bit of networking. ...want to read more? Find her blog here: http://femaleundergraduateoftheyear.wordpress.com/

10 reasons why you should apply for The Undergraduate of the Year competition:

Ella Jakubowska winner of the Female Undergraduate of the Year Award sponsored by Rolls Royce tells you ten reasons why you should applying to 2014's awards. 

1) You might discover something you never knew about yourself:

I almost didn't apply to the Undergraduate of the Year awards because I was worried that I was not good enough. I also almost bailed at the first hurdle upon seeing that the online psychometric tests involved a considerable amount of maths. Not only am I incredibly glad that I persevered, but I realised as a result that I absolutely can not be as bad at maths as I thought, and I must have done fairly well at the logical reasoning and business analysis sections too. I am a lot more confident in my business-related skills now.

2) You might discover something you never knew about a company:

Until a few months ago, I thought that Rolls-Royce made cars. I also thought they would have absolutely no need and no opportunities for an English Literature student. I was wrong!

3) You might benefit from the challenge:

To say that the application process was rigorous would be something of an understatement. It was difficult but it was a similar process, I am told, to Rolls-Royce's graduate scheme application. Even if you don't win, the process helps you gain experience and build confidence that will be invaluable in your last year of university when you're competing for the best jobs, internships or graduate schemes.

4) You might meet some really wonderful, like-minded people:

The other women in the Female Undergraduate of the Year competition that I met were an intimidatingly successful but also interesting, impressive and kind bunch of people. At the assessment centre some of us went for dinner and it was really reassuring and made me feel like no matter who won, I would be really genuinely happy for them. I also got the chance to meet many Rolls-Royce employees, particularly high performing females, giving me an insight into what it is like for strong women in stereotypically male-dominated businesses.

5) You might make some connections that could influence your entire career:

I have met people from Rolls-Royce, TARGETjobs, other Undergraduate of the Year categories, and my LinkedIn inbox has been overflowing with congratulations from professionals from big companies ever since I won. With networking being so important to a career, these effortless connections are sure to help me once I leave university.

6) You might benefit from the overall experience:

As I mentioned, it is challenging. But you come to realise that although it is such a privilege to be in the last round of selection, you got there because of your hard work. Being able to stand up and stand out in an environment filled with strong candidates is something that you can genuinely feel very proud of, even if you don't win. I actually had a lot of fun during the process, which was something I was not expecting.

7) You have nothing to lose but potentially a lot to gain:

One of the things that the overall process has reinforced in my mind is that you should always go for everything, take chances and a lot the other clichés about how if you never try you'll never know. As Thomas Edison supposedly said: "I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work".  As if you can’t tell from the title of this post, I can’t emphasise enough how strongly I advocate going for it and just applying for one of the categories next year because it can not do any harm but could do a world of good.

8) You might get to go to the (swanky) Awards Ceremony:

The venue...The drinks reception...The food...The speeches. Before the winners are announced, the top 10 from each category are invited to a very prestigious awards ceremony and not only is it a gorgeous venue and really exciting event, but the main course was one of the most delicious things I have ever tasted.

9) You might meet Sir Trevor MacDonald:

I think this one speaks for itself. 

10) You might just win:

I hadn't even hoped that I might win. The other candidates were so strong but I must have been stronger than I thought I was to win it! Not only did I win an iPad and a fantastic internship that I am greatly looking forward to starting in a few weeks, but I feel like I am making positive things happen that are shaping my entire future. The more I learn about what my internship will entail, the more excited I become - it will not be your standard making tea and doing photocopying internship! As I sit here writing this on my shiny new iPad, it is ridiculous to think that the night before the initial application was due in, I almost went out instead of staying in to submit my application. I'm glad that there was a little voice in my head telling me that despite all my doubts, I might just win.

By Ella Jakubowska, winner of the 2013 TARGETjobs Female Undergraduate of the Year.

Are you tempted to apply - pre-register here to be the first to know when the awards open