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. 

Thinking of applying to the 2016 Undergraduate of the Year Awards? Read our Future Business Leader winner's experience!

Secret from a Scottie…

Here’s my thinking… “Of the 350,000+ graduates throughout the UK that successfully graduate the class of 2015, how am I going to differentiate myself? How am I going to make myself more attractive to future employers and achieve my ambitious career goals?” I bet I'm not the first or last person to think this rather daunting thought.

With the highest level of competition ever in the workplace, it’s tough to carve out your career these days and if I could pass on one secret it would be this.

Enter ‘The Undergraduate of the Year Awards’...

Back in November 2014 I received an email from TARGETjobs outlining the competition. The titles were daunting but they intrigued me. How could they really decide out of all these 350,000+ people who was the winner? Well firstly, not all 350,000+ would apply ,only 3,000 would make the effort. This already greatly improves my chances of winning but that’s still not great odds. Next I questioned, ‘what is the difference between myself, Lynne Howie, right now and the winner in April 2015? What do they have that I don’t?’

I didn’t know the answer but I was going to give myself the opportunity to be that person, so I took a chance and applied. Keeping the application very quiet, I put it in a box to the back of my mind to avoid jinxing myself and tentatively awaited a reply. The day came when I received the phone call from Mars. Taken a little by surprise and without much preparation I threw myself into the call and with delighted success an invitation shortly followed to visit their London HQ. The whole process was a whirlwind of excitement and when I realised I was in the running, my attitude completely changed. I realised just how valuable the title and experience of ‘Undergraduate of the Year - Future Business Leader’ could be to my career moving forward.

With a trip to Dubai and the opportunity to intern at Mars up for grabs there was really no stopping me, I had the desire to see the process to the end. When the congratulatory email pinged into my inbox I was absolutely elated to be a finalist. Making a phone call home to my parents that evening was one of the best feelings I’ve ever had! Considering they didn’t even know I’d entered, let alone been flown London and interviewed.

The ceremony was held in April at the stunning Winter Gardens in Canary Wharf, London. There was a buzz in the room, I was so excited to be part of it and relieved to have taken the time to enter in the first place. We were so lucky to have Fiona Bruce present the award ceremony and when she called out the winner of ‘Future Business Leader’ as ‘Lynne Howie’ I honestly took a moment to realise that was me! It was such a privilege to be chosen by Mars and I am forever thankful for the journey. It was a memory I will keep with me, pushing me onwards and upwards in my business career.

So when you wonder how you could make yourself stand out when it comes your turn to enter the labour market, perhaps use the secret of a Scottie…& make a small effort which might just make a massive difference.

"Hard work beats talent, when talent doesn’t work hard.”

Apply for the 2016 Undergraduate of the Year awards today! 

Our UGOY Engineering winner, Jessica, tells us her experience of the awards!

Applying

Starting my 2nd year at Cardiff University studying Integrated Engineering I had to decide whether I should do a year in industry and what the benefits would be. I was looking at what was to offer when I came across the TARGETjobs competition for ‘Engineering Undergrad of the Year Award’. Looking at the previous year’s winner, the prize looked amazing. Not only would the winner get a year placement with Eon, they would also win a trip for two to one of Eon's European projects, an invitation to the awards ceremony and a trophy. I’m interested in the energy sector so knowing Eon sponsored part of this interested me. This title seemed pretty immense but I thought I’d give it try.

Process 

The process was quite straight forward. This process ranged from answering questions related to the energy sector to psychometric and logic test and submitting your CV. Don’t get put off by this it was all in small chunks which made it easier. I suggest doing them as soon as you can but there is still time to do them last minute if you forget! If you’ve made the effort to apply you’d be silly not to go the last leg. 

Assessment Centre

I got a call from both TARGETjobs and an Eon representative; I was invited to come to the assessment centre along with 20 others for the day. Assessment days are always a bit daunting but this one was actually quite fun (as fun as they can be!), all the assessors there really just wanted to get the best out of you to see your full potential. I thought the assessment day went relatively well but now it was just a waiting game to hear back from them.

Awards Ceremony 

The phone call I had been waiting for! I had been shortlisted to come to the awards ceremony. I was ecstatic. It was such an honour to get to the top 10, getting to this point was an achievement in itself. The competition was tough, I knew this the second I met all these energetic intellectuals at the assessment centre.

The awards ceremony was held in East Wintergardens in London, it was such a vibrant day, I got the chance to meet the other candidates from across the different awards and the Eon representatives. It was a really good place to network. TARGETjobs pulled all the stops out with this, from the delicious food to Fiona Bruce!  Of course one of the most interesting things was meeting her; she gave a great talk to kick off the ceremony. As she read through the winners I started to get a little nervous, the ‘Engineering Undergraduate of the Year’ was one of the last to be called out. Then it was the time all of us at the table had been waiting for. When she called my name out I froze, I couldn’t believe it. Certainly a moment I will never forget.

Working for Eon

I have now started my placement. It wasn’t what I expected as I didn’t know what to expect! With regards to developing and gaining new skills this is a fantastic place to do so. I feel part of a team here. I’ve been here four weeks and loved every minute of it. On top of this I still have a trip planned, to go to Germany to see one of Eon's projects.

Moving on/Advice

A female winning the ‘Engineering Undergraduate of the Year Award’ is a milestone in relation to us as a society moving forward in promoting STEM subjects to females and equal opportunities, I want to say a big thank you to TARGETjobs and Eon for supporting this, hopefully this will encourage girls to follow their dreams in subjects that are prevalently taken by boys. It is so important to have a mixed gender workforce!

Only advice I would give is to just go for it, do it for the placement, do it for the holiday, do it for the experience, the awards ceremony and for you. Through any part of the process you will only gain valuable skills to help you further in life. Apply now what have you got to lose!

Apply for the 2016 Undergraduate of the Year awards now. http://undergraduateoftheyear.com/  

We’re off! Our time as TARGETjobs editorial interns…

Hi, we’re Charlotte and Ruth, two of the editorial interns here at TARGETjobs. Today marks the end of our four month internship, so we thought we’d reflect on our time at GTI Media.

Highs

We’ve sincerely appreciated the friendly vibes at GTI. The expectation as incoming interns, as most students imagine, was that we’d be ostracized by the more mature and experienced full-timers due to our lack of life experience and the bad rep we suffer from as ‘students’. However, we couldn’t have been made to feel more at-ease. As a reasonably small company, we’ve gotten to know a lot of our co-workers – even the CEO stops for a quick chat when we’re grabbing a cuppa.

One of the best parts of being an editorial intern was the interviewing, from partners in law firms to accountancy graduates, we all got to talk to industry professionals. The variety of interviewees means every interview has been different; you could be talking about the impact of the legal aid cuts one day, and about advice for aspiring engineers the next. It’s great to see the article printed and seeing your name credited in the publication too.

As we’re both going into final year (scary!) it’s officially time to sort ourselves out and start applying for grad jobs. Our time working at TARGETjobs has definitely been instrumental in figuring out what we actually could (and want to) do with our lives.

Lows

We are based in an office and sitting down all day on a computer can take its toll (hard to believe, we know). There is also constant cake in the office and biscuit time at 3 pm means a fat bulge has appeared. No summer bod for us.

It’s great to have a CV with no gaps, but a four month internship does push the boundaries of endurance. Maybe that has something to do with being accustomed to the luxury of the student-summer, but the summer holiday bants have been sorely missed.

Relocating

Being from NI, commuting to work in Oxfordshire every morning wasn’t really on the cards. Luckily (especially given rent prices in the area) one of my best friends lives 20 minutes from the office. It might sound like a long time to be on top your friend and her family, but in reality when you’re working 9 – 5 and have a social life, you really aren’t in the house for much other than dinner and bed. – Ruth

I’m not from the Oxford area either, so had to rent a room that I found online and it really wasn’t as bad as it sounds. The family were very welcoming, and a full-time job and making friends in the area meant I was hardly in the house. I’d moved away from home for uni, so knew I’d be able to do it again. – Charlotte

Signing off…

We’ve both learned a lot this summer, and honestly feel like much more employable adults! So we can’t recommend getting a summer internship enough – and if you’re lucky, the person you get stuck sitting beside for over 40 hours each week could be really sound.

Article written by Charlotte Wharf and Ruth Thompson, TARGETjobs Editorial Interns. Connect with Charlotte and Ruth on LinkedIn. 

See what Kate Nichols has been up to since being a runner up in the 2015 Undergraduate Awards!

My name is Kate Nichols and I am in my fourth and final year at the University of Nottingham studying Management with German. I received an email from TARGETjobs while I was on my Year Abroad in Germany, inviting me to apply for the Undergraduate of the Year Awards 2015. Applying for the Management Undergraduate of the Year Award, sponsored by Enterprise-Rent-A-Car, was an extremely exciting and memorable process.  

Initially, I had to fill out an application form which consisted of a few questions from the sponsor regarding leadership and general managerial practice and my personal experiences. Following this, I was invited to undertake three online tests. 

A few days later, I received an email from a Talent Acquisition Manager at Enterprise-Rent-A-Car to inform me that my application and online tests had been successful and I was invited for a telephone interview. I had butterflies in my stomach and I wanted to start preparing for the interview straight away! I am a huge lover of new stationery so I went into the German town where I was living and bought myself some new sticky notes, highlighters, pens and paper. I printed off information regarding the award and Enterprise-Rent-A-Car and started preparing for the interview and eventually every inch of my living room wall was covered in sticky notes! Although I felt nervous about my telephone interview, the interviewer was extremely friendly and was skilled at putting me at my ease so I was able to relax and really enjoy the interview. I could not tell if I had done well enough to get to the next stage of the process. 

Following my interview, I received an email notifying me that I had been selected to attend an assessment centre at Enterprise Holdings in Egham. This was an inspirational and highly enjoyable day. Being surrounded by what I can only describe as the friendliest and most welcoming people, it was a delight to speak to current Enterprise employees about their experience of working for Enterprise and participate in management orientated activities. I received a phone call a week later regarding the outcome of the assessment centre. I was shaking as I knew I would be in competition with other very strong candidates, however I was over the moon to be chosen as one of the 10 finalists for the award.

Attending the awards ceremony in London was extraordinary. The Winter Gardens at Canary Wharf was the perfect venue to host a ceremony for such prestigious awards. It was a pleasure to share this day with the hostess, Fiona Bruce, who enlightened us all with stories of her past and present career. It was an excellent opportunity to share experiences with fellow candidates and network with employees of high profile companies.

As a result of reaching the finals, I was offered a summer internship with Enterprise-Rent-A-Car which I have now completed. By the end of my internship, I was proud of what I had achieved in a short period of time and have met some fantastic people working for Enterprise -Rent-A -Car. I am extremely excited to have also been offered further employment. Applying for the award was one of the best decisions I have ever made. It not only allowed me to experience a graduate application process, but also it exposed me to such wonderful and invaluable experiences which has provided me with a fantastic pool of networks. 

Apply for the 2016 Undergraduate of the Year awards now.