Winning the Arts and Humanities Award, Marie Notermans is back with her second blog

Sometime in early February, I was sat in bitterly cold Geneva cafe when I received a call from a withheld number – it turned out to be Barclays Graduate Recruitment team, looking to arrange a phone interview. I was flattered, assumed my application had missed the pile entitled “bin” by a few centimetres, but was excited nonetheless. I rang up the Careers Service at the University of Exeter when I was back in Spain, and asked for some tips on phone interviews.

When the day of the phone call came, I ummed and ahhed over the questions, hung up, and never expected to hear from them again.  A couple of weeks later on a Monday evening, I was at work, when I got an email – inviting me to an assessment centre later that week.

I was really flattered – clearly the phone interview had gone better than I thought – now for my next challenge…what was I going to wear at the interview! A mad dash around a few Spanish department stores, a train, plane, tube and taxi ride later, and I was in Canary Wharf ironing my suit for my interview the next morning. I had never been through an assessment centre before, I didn’t really know what to expect, but oddly enough I did enjoy it. There were a group of around 5 of us, and a variety of tasks to complete, followed by an interview.

It was a much longer wait than your average job interview to find out the result – around 2 months.  This is because each company taking part in the awards invites their 10 finalists to an award ceremony in London where the winner of each award is announced. So in April, I made the trip back to the UK to meet up with the team from Barclays and the other finalists.  The awards ceremony was great as I got to meet all the other finalists who were very interesting and some people from Barclays over a relaxed lunch.  Sir Trevor McDonald hosted the awards ceremony, so hearing from him was also fascinating. When it came to the Arts and Humanities award I was looking around the table, wondering which one of the finalists would be announced as the winner, when suddenly my face appeared on the screen at the front.

It took a good few seconds to work out I had actually won, and that I was supposed to go up on stage to collect my award. I can only think that I must have looked terrified, because Sir Trevor said to me “you can look happy about it, you know”!

Find out how Marie got on in her interview next week on Monday 16 September 

You could be winning the 2014 awards - take the first step. Pre-register here. 

National Schools' Challenge Finalist Top Tips!!

Elliot came third in last year's National Schools' Challenge - read here to find out how he got there and how you could too!


Full name: Elliot Briery

Age: 17

School attended: Sevenoaks School

Tell us about why you entered the competition

My name is Elliot Briery and I had been studying at Sevenoaks School for just a few months when I was confronted with the opportunity of participating in the challenge. My Economics teacher was rather keen about it and motivated me to take part, but I guess the real reason why I took part was because my roommate did. Indeed we tend to get quite competitive, and I just had to put a score up there to see how well I could (for those interested, he beat me on the online part, but karma got my back by making me come on top at the end of the final).  The final was an… interesting experience. I enjoyed the challenges very much but sometimes competitiveness was so strong that participants forgot the cooperative/social aspect of the whole experience.

Top tips for preparing for the challenge

For the online part, be alert and think fast. You don’t have much time, you shouldn't waste it. Make sure you are rested and alone in the room with minimal disturbance. Otherwise it’s all up to you.

For the final itself, I didn't do anything to prepare except making sure I had a good night’s sleep. The challenges are designed so that you need very little prior knowledge. Make sure you have your best smile and attitude on; friends will be your allies in succeeding.

What are your goals for your future?

I am pretty much set on going to university, studying the fields of Politics/Economics/Philosophy either in the US or in the UK. My goal is going to sound quite generic, but it is one I have found to be most rewarding: put a smile on the faces around me. Thankfully, there are many ways to do that. Otherwise, my free spirited nature means it is very hard to predict where I am going to end up.

Think what you've got what it takes and be the best? Pre-register for 2014 HERE! Also keep up to date with us Twitter and Facebook 

Marie Notermans, winner of the Arts & Humanities Undergraduate of the Year Award talks about her experience applying last year

 Do you have what it takes?
 Pre-register today. 

Sometime back in the latter end of 2012, I was sat in a room in the middle of the Spanish plain, hugely regretting my choice to pack shampoo rather than Marmite in my year abroad suitcase(s). I was despairing at my lack of ability to remember the gender of the word for ‘class’ in Spanish, but more than anything, I was wondering what on earth I was going to do with my final summer as an undergraduate.

Last year’s plan to get some experience was launched rather half-heartedly some time in March, so I knew I had to get my act together earlier this year – this really was the last chance saloon. I spent hours scrolling through internships and looking for “the job” that would be the perfect fit for my skills and interests. I looked through the usual big graduate recruiters with internship programmes, but the more I saw that asked for “a mathematical degree”, the more despondent I got.

Surely the skills I had gained through my study of English and Spanish counted for something?

One thing I did manage to do in Spain (if not perfect my grammar) was read my emails, which was where I heard about the Undergraduate of the Year Award. I remember reading about it in first year, but seeing that the requirements were asking for a penultimate year student, hadn’t entered.

I cut myself a large slice of manchego cheese, and sat down at my computer. I looked through a few of the different awards, but decided on the Arts and Humanities Award since I am studying a language degree.    What really interested me about this award was the prize of a 10 week summer internship at Barclays.  In the past I had thought I may not be suitable for a role in financial services since I don’t have an economics, finance or maths background.  The fact that Barclays were sponsoring this award clearly meant they wanted to hear from students with an Arts and Humanities background so I decided to find out a bit more about them. Despite my lack of economic knowledge, the financial crisis (and accompanying bad press) hadn’t passed me by, and I have to say that I was sceptical – especially given that I was living in a country where even the word “bank” would raise the hackles of every person within half a mile.

I’d heard of Barclays before, but what was the wealth and investment management bit about? I googled, wikipediaed and read the website from top to bottom, and had a slightly better idea. It was a bank, yes, but it was a private bank. It dealt with wealthy individuals, charities, entrepreneurs and many more. But what interested me most was how much change was afoot – I began to realise that the financial crisis had really changed the industry, and this wasn’t the same bank that I had seen before.

I put in an application, dreamt a bit, and forgot about it.

Marie will be back blogging on Wednesday 11 September 

TARGETjobs News Roundup

Hello, and as always welcome to our weekly graduate career advice and news round-up. Our editorial interns are slowly trickling away pursuing their careers or returning to their studies so it’s back to me (Jackie) to bring you the latest ongoings at TARGETjobs.

There has been a lot of buzz around the construction industry in the past few weeks. We’ve done a little digging and we are here to tell you why graduates still love construction careers. 

If you love the construction industry too and are interested in becoming a quantity surveyor, here are five application tips for you by a graduate quantity surveyor. 

Talking of quantity surveying applications, make sure you know you know your consultancies from your contractors 

And if you’ve been following us on Twitter @TjobsBuilding, you’ll see that we’ve been talking a lot about Open Doors, taking place on 27–28 September. If you are really interested in construction here are some reasons why you should tryto get involved.

Moving away from construction news:

-         If you are interested in retail banking or insurance but don’t have a numerical degree, don’t let this put you off. A non-numerical degree background appeals to employers. 

-         If you are thinking of going down the financial planning and wealth management career path, make sure you know exactly what it entails 

-         And, finally, ever thought of doing postgraduate study in retail? Find out what is available and if you need it. 

And, as always, here are next week’s graduate jobs deadlines 

One last thing: if you are following Alan Radbourne’s One Pound Challenge, you will be pleased to know that on week 13 he has achieved a total of £4027.46. If you want real-time updates from the man himself follow him on Twitter, or read his blog. 

5 top tips from the winner of the National Schools' Challenge 2013

If you are thinking of entering the 2014 National School’s Challenge, sponsored by Siemens make sure you read this interview with Alicja Borsberry Woods, (2013’s winner).  Here she discusses her motivation behind taking part in the challenge and tips to succeed.

Full name: Alicja Borsberry-Woods

Age: 19

School attended: Kennet School, Thatcham

What motivated you to enter the challenge and how was your experience on the day?

My mum is constantly telling me that life is a competition where the challenges constantly get harder and that you should take all the experience you can get along the way to ensure you become successful. When I spotted the online challenge I had to take part – it was a potential experience to be gained and there were more boundaries to be pushed. The final was, without doubt, the most exhilarating experience in a learning and competition environment that I have participated to date; I had the chance to meet with an amazing group of blue chip employers, discuss with them ‘exactly what they do’ and discover various entry opportunities into their businesses. Having the chance to participate in observed group activities judged by potential employers was also a pretty unique experience. I wanted to test myself, I wanted to win and I’m pleased I managed both of those things.

If you could give 5 tips to this year’s participants what would they be?

1.       Firstly, make sure that you get the basics right - dress correctly, but comfortably, wearing something you feel confident in. The tasks are judged by business professionals and a smart appearance is a good start! Also allow plenty of time to find your way to the challenge – I know this is obvious but you don’t want to arrive hot and stressed from rushing.

2.       Secondly, believe that you will win and act as if you can. Of course you will want to win the overall competition, but there are many other ways of coming out on top: making some great contacts, gaining experience, learning a few things and even making new friends. It’s one day of the year and it’s unlikely that you will know anyone at the challenge, so get stuck in and don’t hold back – you will regret it afterwards if you do!

3.       Research what happened in previous years’ competitions. Read about participants and winners, try to find out about the type of tasks that you will face and prepare. Also research the companies that are supporting the event - not necessarily to help you win but to find out who you really want to talk to about potential jobs/internships/work experience in the future. Also think about what potential employers are looking for in their winners. It’s not always about winning the actual task. Think about what behaviours leaders and great employees might demonstrate and plan how you will show case your talents.

4.       Get some practice: practice simple things at home like speaking your name out loud as at the beginning of every task you will have to introduce yourself, so make a good first impression. You could ask a teacher at school to plan some group tasks, or even better, you should plan your own! You want to appear cool, calm and confident in a group setting. If you’re feeling brave, you could ask for feedback from you teachers and parents about your natural strengths and weaker tendencies so you can be aware of these and use your strengths!

5.       Approach the final focussed but open minded. Listen to instructions, take notes in fact. You’ll only have a short amount of time in front of the judges for each task, so don’t be afraid to get stuck in straight away. So, have a great time – you’ll enjoy some challenges more than others but I guarantee that you’ll have fun. Good luck!

And finally what are you goals for the future and has winning the challenge made a difference? 

Prior to the challenge I felt under great pressure to identify a ‘vocation’ and this meant I really struggled to choose a course for Uni.  Winning the challenge greatly influenced me:  I withdrew my UCAS application for Veterinary Medicine in favour of Maths and Physics at Bristol to keep my options open for a future career in a more general business role. My focus right now is on knuckling down to get the best degree I can, and over the next few years I’ll be hoping to use the contacts made at the challenge to secure internships and work experience.