How sustainability is shaping the future of work

Posted on March 13, 2024March 7, 2024 by Careers Service

“It’s everyone’s job to get sustainability right within a business.”

As sustainability is becoming increasingly important across the world, businesses are constantly evolving for the benefit of organisations and customers alike.

In January, four Bristol alumni joined the panel for the Bristol Connects Live: Sustainability in Business webinar.

Hosted by Jack Middleton, Sustainability Champion for the Business School, the panel shared their insights into how their employers are addressing business sustainability as well how sustainability is shaping the future of work and gave tips on getting into the sector.

The panel:

Peter Ireson – (BSc 2015): Economist at Deloitte
Joanna Leigh – (MSci 2015): Sustainability Consultant at Think Beyond
Sean Polden – (MEng 2017): Sustainability Manager at Dyson
James Chow – (MSc 2013): Assistant Director at EY

**Left to right:** Peter, Joanna, Sean, James

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How to get into green jobs: the takeaways

Posted on December 11, 2023January 16, 2024 by Careers Service

In November, the Careers Service hosted speakers from a variety of environmental career paths who are each tackling the biggest sustainability issues we currently face using their own unique skills and experiences.

Meet the panellists:

Ann Cousins, Associate, Resilience and Climate Change Advisory, ARUP

Ann is the lead in the resilience, energy and climate change advisory team at Arup which is a sustainability consultancy firm. The team is multidisciplinary including engineers, psychologists, and lawyers. Ann started as a receptionist with Arup after graduating with a French and Italian degree at the University of Bristol and worked her way up to their leading consultancy role.

Recently, Ann also assisted in setting up the Bristol One City environmental plan.

Pierce Griffith, Principal Economist (Chemical), the Environment Agency

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SME Internship Scheme: Finding an SME Internship at a careers fair – Windō

Posted on October 10, 2023October 11, 2023 by Careers Service

Last academic year, final year Engineering Mathematics student Patrick approached Windō at the Get Hired careers fair, and as a result was able to secure an SME Internship with them.

We caught up with Oli, founder and CEO of Windō, and Patrick to hear about how a chat at a careers fair led to a connection…and an internship!

Windō

Windō is a free platform for students to easily access, digest and compare the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) progress and plans that companies are making to drive positive change across sustainability, diversity, equality and inclusion, and employee wellbeing.

A photo of Oli talking to a student at the Get Hired fair.

“Hi, I’m Oli, CEO at Windō.

We were invited as a Sustainability Partner to have a stall at Get Hired in the Spring. It’s always a great opportunity to demonstrate our platform to students and meet the very people we built Windō for.

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Founder’s keepers – advice from a working start-up

Posted on July 3, 2023July 3, 2023 by Careers Service

The New Enterprise Competition 2023 has come to an end. We caught up with finalist Ben Wainwright who comes loaded with lived experience from the world of start up.

Tell us about yourself and what sparked your interest in entrepreneurship.

My name is Ben Wainwright and I am a co-founder and CTO of Remap Mental Fitness.

At Remap, we teach working professionals and global brands how to train their mind to improve how they think, feel and perform.

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How a City Challenge helped Bristol Walk Fest make strides

Posted on June 12, 2023March 20, 2024 by Careers Service

In April, Bristol Walk Fest partnered with the Careers Service to run a City Challenge, with the goal of getting input from student volunteers on ways to engage younger walkers with their events.

Bristol Walk Fest is an annual walking festival, with events taking place all over the city.  We chatted to Jennifer Graham, their 2023 Event Manager, about their experience.

Jen, can you tell us what Bristol Walk Fest is all about?

Bristol Walk Fest began over a decade ago and is a celebration of all things walking. The free festival, which regularly attracts over 7,500 attendees year-on-year, showcases the best of Bristol for everyone to enjoy, either individually or with others.

The festival takes place during May to coincide with Living Streets’ National Walking Month and offers a wide variety of walking activities, personal challenges, self-guided walking routes and discussion events. The (mostly free) walks and activities are for all backgrounds and levels of fitness.

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My SME Internship: Emelia – Rubbish Ideas

Posted on June 5, 2023June 4, 2023 by Careers Service

It’s World Environment Day! We’re celebrating by recognising the great work that our SME Interns do with organisations that are making a difference.

“Hi, my name is Emelia. I am in my fourth year of my Maths MSci and last summer I completed an internship with Rubbish Ideas as part of the SME Internship Scheme.

Rubbish Ideas provides products and services to their clients relating to improving the lifecycle of rubbish. This takes a few different forms, such as education, design ideas, and web applications.

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My IKEEP project helping to protect children online

Posted on June 2, 2023June 27, 2023 by Careers Service

The IKEEP programme offers students free business training and industry experience through a paid team placement with a small enterprise.

Marketing undergraduate Nina tells us about her IKEEP project placement with non-profit Better Together and how it’s inspired her future career plans.

Nina, can you tell us about your IKEEP project with Better Together?

Better Together offers workshops and resources on online safety, specifically targeting parents, guardians, caregivers, teachers, and other professionals working with children and young people. They also provide workshops tailored to adult internet use.

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Five reasons why you should take part in a City Challenge

Posted on April 5, 2023March 20, 2024 by Careers Service

For our latest City Challenge, we teamed up with local Bristol charity BristolHub, an organisation that supports University of Bristol students to tackle social challenges, learn about issues and connect with each other.

So what is a City Challenge? and why should you take part?

Table of students at the careers service working on the most recent City Challenge with BristolHub

We caught up with Hannah (BA Politics and International Relations) and Apoorva (MA Economics and Finance) who attended the most recent City Challenge, along with Will Westgarth of Bristol Hub, to hear all about the programme and why they recommend you take part in a future one. Here are their five top reasons :

1. You can make a real difference to a local charity

During a City Challenge, you help a Bristol non-profit tackle an issue they are facing. You learn about a local cause, help improve them and have a positive impact on the local community. Our most recent challenge was with Bristol Hub. Hannah, who’s in her second year, said, “I aspire to work in the non-profit sector so insight into a small charity and the way it works was really helpful for me.”

The charity gets a lot too.

Will of Bristol Hub said, “The Challenge helped Bristol Hub further understand students’ desires when it comes to opportunities and how we can best reach out and connect with students. They came up with incredibly detailed and well thought-out presentations, with suggestions which we will take on board for the next academic year.”

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The Student Volunteering Fair: connecting students with the community

Posted on March 15, 2023March 15, 2023 by Careers Service

Last month, the Bristol Students’ Union hosted its much-anticipated annual Student Volunteering Fair, as part of Student Volunteering Week.

A busy crowd of students speaking to organisations at their stalls in the Anson Rooms at the Bristol SU Richmond Building.

The fair had a lot to offer, with over 40 organisations showcasing their work and encouraging students to get involved.

From supporting refugees to empowering older people, there was a diverse range of organisations present at the fair and it was an excellent opportunity for students to develop their skills and make meaningful connections with like-minded individuals.

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