Male Undergraduate of the Year – My application, the awards ceremony and the long journey home!

Name: Harrison Dent

University: University College London

Course: European Social and Political Studies

Harrison is the fist ever winner of the Male Undergraduate of the Year 2015 with L'Oreal!

It all started when I checked through my university emails with one particular email catching my eye – Male Undergraduate of the Year. The more I read, the more I became curious; curious at the prospect of me actually winning this outstanding award and gaining an internship with L’Oréal, including a week in Paris. Applying, for me, was a no-brainer; being in Brussels on my year abroad, I had just one summer left to gain some valuable work experience before graduating.

The hours I spent fine-tuning my application and completing assessments paid off and L’Oréal invited me to their assessment day. Throughout the day, I met some of L’Oréal’s staff from across the company and what struck me most was how wide a variety of people from such diverse backgrounds worked there. Not only that, but how from the very first day of this potential internship, I would be thrown in at the deep end, and given real and valuable work to be done; more than photocopying or making another cup of coffee – I would be an intrinsic part of the L’Oréal team. Not that I needed any motivation, but this factor certainly encouraged me to perform to the best of my ability throughout the day.

The very next morning, I received the all-important phone call. I had made it to the top 10! When the day of the awards ceremony finally arrived, excitement and anticipation filled the room. Listening to Fiona Bruce discuss her career and the various paths she had taken along the way was truly inspiring. I felt proud, fortunate and extremely grateful to be sat around a table filled with some amazing students as well as more staff from L’Oréal who couldn’t help but be excited for each and every one of us!

When the time came and the Managing Director of L’Oréal UK & Ireland, Michel Brousset, read out my name, I was astounded. Even when taking photos with Fiona Bruce or while she spoke about my achievements and skills that had lead me to win this award, I was still in disbelief. Only on the long, overnight bus back to Brussels did it truly sink in. I’m the Male Undergraduate of the Year and my journey starts here.

Congratulations again Harrison and to all the 2015 finalists!

Fancy giving it a go? Preregister your interest for 2016 here: http://undergraduateoftheyear.com/register

We meet the Management Undergraduate of the Year Award winner 2015!

Name: Nathan Craig
University: University of Nottingham
Course: Industrial Economics

Nathan is the 2015 Management Undergraduate of the Year with Enterprise-Rent-a-Car! Since getting over the shock of winning, we asked Nathan about his experience!

Hi all!

My name in Nathan Craig and I am fortunate to be the winner of the TARGETjobs Management Undergraduate of the Year Award 2015. 

I decided to apply to the process in late January as a result of receiving an email from my university careers service. Normally I would just skim over my emails, but the award caught my eye in this one and immediately stuck me as an excellent opportunity. I have a keen interest in the automobile industry and have always fancied myself as a sales person, therefore the fact that a placement with Enterprise Rent-A-Car was up for grabs, suited me to a tee. I was invited to take 3 tests, occupational personality, situational judgement and inductive reasoning, within the next few days once I’d submitted my application. 

After a week or so, I was contacted by a talent acquisition manager from Enterprise who invited me to participate in a telephone interview. I tend to get nervous over the phone, so I kept myself as busy as possible up until the last minutes before the interview. The interviewer really was a calming influence and I was able to find my stride quickly. This resulted in me being invited to an assessment centre a few days after the call.

The assessment centre was a great experience. I like to think of Enterprise Rent-A-Car as an iceberg company, there is a lot more that occurs out of sight than you can imagine! I was genuinely surprised by the friendliness of all the people I met at the assessment centre, other candidates as well as current Enterprise employees. I felt I was able to express my personality throughout the day, which was action packed and a great learning experience. Many of the assessors had once been in the same position when they first joined the company, a comforting fact also demonstrating the scope for career progression at Enterprise.

I received an email, within the next few days congratulating me on making the top 10 candidates and inviting me to the awards ceremony in Canary Wharf, definitely a high point as it was an impressive achievement to make it this far into the process. The final was an unforgettable experience and a welcome break from revision. At the ceremony, headlined by Fiona Bruce, I was able to network successful candidates from other assessment centres as well as more Enterprise employees. After a 3-course meal, the winners for each of the awards were called. I was nervous when Fiona Bruce was announcing the shortlist in my category, perhaps because I knew what a great achievement it would be to win this award. As the winner, I was presented my award by Jim Burrell, a remarkable man who has contributed vastly to the success of Enterprise in Europe.

 All in all, I have had a very positive experience, from applying in January to winning in April. I am looking forward to my placement with Enterprise Rent-A-Car, in particular, the week I will have in the USA. I would encourage everyone to apply to this award because it is a fantastic experience regardless of the outcome, and of course you have to be in it to win it! 

Congratulations again Nathan and to all the 2015 finalists!

Fancy giving it a go? Apply here: http://undergraduateoftheyear.com/register

We meet the Law Undergraduate of the Year Award winner 2015!

Name: Cara Goldthorpe
University: University College London
Course: LLB Law with French Law

Cara is the 2015 Law Undergraduate of the Year with Mayer Brown. Since the final we've caught up with her to find out why you should take part next!

When I saw the Undergraduate of the Year Awards advertised through my university careers newsletter, I signed up almost immediately; there was nothing to lose but so much to gain. However, before progressing very far, I encountered some difficulties in France where I am currently studying on exchange.  I put my application to one side for a couple of months, and only returned to it after I’d received several reminders from the team at TARGETJobs. Looking back, I’m so glad that they phoned me up and nudged me to push on with my application, as otherwise I doubt I’d be where I am today!

After all this, I was just so happy to make it to the top 35. Making the shortlist of 10 was an achievement I had never anticipated and I went to the assessment day with a positive frame of mind feeling proud of simply coming this far. I found the day very enjoyable; it was nice to meet the other shortlisted candidates and to put faces to the name of Mayer Brown, who were clearly investing a lot in the competition.  Numerous members of the firm gave up their time to be on the judging panel and networking drinks followed where we had the opportunity to mingle with the graduate recruitment team, trainees, associates and partners.

Being announced as winner on Friday last week was an even bigger surprise and I’m just glad that the work I put into my application paid off; as well as grateful for the opportunity TARGETJobs created by organising the awards and Mayer Brown for their sponsorship. I’m very excited to be joining the firm on their summer scheme later this year, as everyone who I’ve met from the firm so far has been lovely and I am keen to learn more about the work that they do.

I’d strongly encourage any penultimate year law student to apply for the competition. The application itself is not that time-consuming when you compare it to other applications for work and work experience, which have far more stressful assessment days! As for the competition, not only is there a great prize at stake, but if you’re shortlisted you’ll have the opportunity to meet other talented students from a range of disciplines at the award ceremony. It’s a great atmosphere and nice to see so many employers reaching out to students in this way.

Congratulations again Cara and to all the 2015 finalists!

Fancy giving it a go? Preregister your interest for 2016 here: http://undergraduateoftheyear.com/register

We meet the winner of the Mathematics, Economics and Finance Undergraduate of the Year Award 2015!

Name: Katy Barlow

University: University of St Andrews

Course: Mathematics and Economics

Since winning the Mathematics, Economics and Finance Undergraduate of the Year Award 2015 with Gazprom Marketing and Trading, we've caught up with Katy to find out why she applied for the award!

When I received an email from the University of St Andrews Maths department, with details on how to enter the TARGETJobs Undergraduate of the Year Awards, my immediate thought was how incredible it would be to win.

The application process for the Mathematics, Economics and Finance Award, sponsored by Gazprom Marketing and Trading, was a fairly straightforward online process. It included the completion of a numerical test, situational judgement and OPQ tests, as well as a submission of three essays. The online tests are not something you can really prepare for, and I simply tried to complete them as fast and as honestly as I could. The essays took a little longer, but I felt that I had experiences to draw on.

I sent in the application and was delighted to be contacted and told that I had been selected as one of 14 candidates who had been successful in this first selection process.

The second stage took part in London and involved an assessment day at GM&T’s headquarters in London. The assessment centre included group and individual tests, and an interview with HR managers. Walking into the Gazprom offices was slightly daunting, but once I had met some other candidates and members of the Gazprom team, I relaxed and settled into what proved to be quite a challenging day. Overall, I very much enjoyed the experience and it was a pleasure to meet so many talented people. 

It was not long after that I received an email congratulating me on being selected as one of the ten grand finalists inviting me to the awards ceremony at Canary Wharf. My feelings were a mixture of nerves and excitement as I arrived at the event and whilst we sat down and socialised at a very enjoyable three course lunch, I am sure that all the candidates were very aware that the winners were soon to be awarded. My category was the last of the twelve to be announced and I was thrilled when Chris Jones, Head of Global HR at GM&T announced my name as the winner. It was a moment I will never forget as I walked up to the stage to be presented with a beautiful glass trophy by Fiona Bruce.

I am now looking forward to a very exciting summer internship with Gazprom at their offices in London and in Singapore. It’s a fantastic opportunity to work with a finance team of one of the world’s largest energy companies.

Looking back, I am so pleased that I took the time to enter this competition and make the dream of winning come true. It has been a truly memorable experience and I am very proud to be the TARGETJobs Undergraduate of the Year for Maths, Economics and Finance 2015.

Congratulations again Katy and to all the 2015 finalists!

Fancy giving it a go? Apply here: http://undergraduateoftheyear.com/register

We meet the Female Undergraduate of the Year Award winner 2015!

Name: Aleksandra Pedraszewska

University: University of Cambridge

Course: Land Economy

Aleksandra won the 2015 Female Undergraduate of the Year Award 2015 with Rolls-Royce. She is studying the same course from the same university as last year's winner Courtney Gill! Fresh from winning her award, we caught up with Aleksandra to find out how she found the process and why she applied!

If my estimates are right, 12 months ago I was sitting in the library, trying to figure out the probability of failing my economics exam. More and less at the same time, the news about my one-year-older colleague, Courtney Gill, winning the Female Undergraduate of the Year Award, was updated on the department’s website. Just out of curiosity, to make my procrastination a little bit more useful, I signed up for the TARGETjobs mailing list to get a reminder when the application process opens. If anyone told me then that I will see myself in the picture in a year, I would probably start laughing. But here I am! Paradoxically, I have never met Courtney in person even though we study in the same department. But I would like to say a massive thank you for inspiring me to give it a go. And I want to encourage anyone with any doubts to do the same – just because you never know.

In the beginning of the second term I got a terrible cold, and did not cure it properly because of the amount of work and extracurricular activities I had taken up. I ended up in my bed with pneumonia, unable to do anything just because I wanted to do everything. It is probably another important lesson I learnt this year. However, having taken a step back, I slowly came back to life… and my mail box. When I got a final reminder about the Award’s applications, something told me that this is a thing worth putting some effort into. The online application went quite smoothly, as well as few tests that followed. I almost forgot about it, when after a couple of weeks I got a message that… I am going to Derby! I have to admit that I had no idea what to expect from the two-days assessment at Rolls-Royce. But meeting with senior representatives, fellow students from all around the UK, and having an unusual opportunity to visit the test beds seemed extremely exciting.

Even though I am not studying an engineering-related course, I am very much interested in new technologies and innovation. However, I would never expect myself finding engines so interesting! I learnt a lot over the weekend at Derby, but I also met wonderful people. I had an impression that after two days, for all 15 of us, who took part in the assessments, it seemed like we had known each other for ages. Such a friendly atmosphere was extremely helpful during the assessments we had to go through.

Of course, I did my best during each test, exercise or interview I had. However for some reason I assumed that small mistakes I thought I had made simply ruled me out from the group of possible winners. I was already over the moon when I received an invitation for the final ceremony in Canary Wharf, and I genuinely did not expect anything else. I was happy to see again the lucky 10 that I had met in Derby, as well as Rolls-Royce people and representatives of other 11 companies, sponsoring the awards. By the end of the dinner all finalists started to feel a little bit nervous and soon the first winners were announced. After the ceremony I got a couple of funny comments about my face expression when Eric Shulz read out my name from the stage. It probably pictures very well the state of shock that I was in. Today, after a couple of days from the final I still cannot believe it all, but most importantly I am extremely happy and honoured. It means a lot to me that there are so many kind responses to the news from everyone in Cambridge and my friends back in Poland. And of course I am very much looking forward to my summer internship at Rolls-Royce! I will try to post regularly about my preparations, travel, and, of course, my time at the company.

Congratulations again Aleksandra and to all the 2015 finalists!

Fancy giving it a go like Aleksandra? Preregister your interest for 2016 here: http://undergraduateoftheyear.com/register