Student story: My QConsult experience (applications open now!)

Thinking about autumn term already? Don’t forget that QConsult starts again in September and applications are open NOW. 

Carola (2nd from left) & her QConsult team

Carola Bigogno (2^nd Year Biomedical Sciences student) took part in the spring round of QConsult, working on a project for a local housing charity. Here’s what she had to say about her experience on the programme:

Why did you get involved with QConsult?

When I found out about QConsult I was thrilled. I thought it would be a great chance to improve my skills and gain new transferable ones, to learn more about a particular job profile – consultant, which I found extremely interesting, and also give back to the community in a different, but still valuable way.  And I was definitely not wrong, the overall experience was incredible!

Did you enjoy the programme?

The best part, for me, was working together in a team: putting together ideas and opinions and using our skills to present to our client and write up the best report possible. I think that I’ve always worked pretty well in a team, however, working with other people can be extremely challenging. Luckily enough, everyone in my group was very professional. We also became friends, sharing not only the experiences of the programme but socialising together too.

WATCH: Isabel’s QConsult Story (& apply for the autumn round)

Looking to get some work experience on your CV?

Want to do more than photocopy and make the tea?

Why not apply to the autumn round of QConsult?

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The QConsult programme involves students working in a team of 5 to conduct a research/consultancy project on behalf of a business or charity, helping to solve a real problem and working as a team to conduct research and analysis before presenting their recommendations to the client. Past projects have involved research, marketing, product development and evaluation.

To hear more about what it’s like to be on the programme, see previous QConsultant Isabel’s video below, where she tells us about her experience and gives her top tips for those thinking of applying. Read on for more details about the programme …

The programme will take place over 9 weeks in the autumn term, from 18 Sep – 17 Nov. Students work part-time and are paid London Living Wage (£9.75/hr) for 20 hours of project work, with additional training sessions on top. All undergraduate students are eligible to apply for the programme and we welcome applications from all schools.

We will also be releasing two video diaries from students who just finished the summer QConsult programme. Follow us on Twitter (@qmcareers) to catch diary updates throughout August.

To find out more about the programme and apply visit careers.qmul.ac.uk/qconsult.

Applications close at 9am on Tuesday 29^th August.

Student story: Working as a Widening Participation Student Ambassador on the Medicine and Dentistry Summer School

Amrish Rajdev has just completed a degree in Dental Materials and has been offered a place to study Dentistry at Bristol from September.

Over the last 2 years, I have been fortunate to be a Widening Participation (WP) Student Ambassador. This has given me a number of opportunities to work with students, ranging from primary to secondary school age and my own skills have developed as a result. I have just completed my final year of studying Dental Materials. Within my role as a WP ambassador I was given the chance this year to enhance my presentation skills by delivering a session in schools about my own experience of studying an Alternative to Dentistry degree course. It was really fulfilling helping students considering their options and encouraging them to thoroughly do their research.

Student story: Networking success

Hi, I’m Ani!

I have been a student at Queen Mary for five years and officially almost ready to leave with two degrees this August. I look forward to completing my MA in English studies: English Literature degree and looking especially forward to my first ever winter graduation!

I have always been interested in working in education ever since I knew that academia was for me. The pursuit of research and education as well as having conversations about the future of education is something I have always been passionate about. Hence my decision to experience first-hand tutoring professionally. The QMUL Careers & Enterprise Centre have helped me find the right job whilst studying my postgraduate degree to gain some experience in teaching part-time. I was working as a paid English Tutor and tutoring English Literature to post 16 year olds. I was really pleased to hear how much students enjoyed my sessions and personally found the experience to be so rewarding.

Student story: My QMentoring experience

Earlier this year, we featured a guest blog from Sandeep Saib, who is part of our QMentoring programme. This week we hear from Sandeep’s mentee Iqra and what she has learnt from the experience.

When I started my first year of University, I realised that the next few years were crucial in building my skill set, knowledge, and experience in order to succeed in the field of work upon graduating. Coming from an unskilled family background, and attending a struggling state school, meant that I had very little insight or training for my future profession as a solicitor. Although I knew what steps I needed to take to reach my goal, I lacked the confidence to get there, as I knew that succeeding in the world of work was more than just academia, and involved a great degree of being able to give more through my personality and experiences.

Upon leaving Sixth Form and becoming independent, I knew that I needed to gain some experience and guidance on specifically building my professional character through my CV, interviews, networking, persona, and work experience, which would set me apart in the job market. Hence why I got involved in the QMentoring Scheme and was paired with my mentor, Sandeep Saib, who works in a Law firm.

In our initial meetings, we discussed my career goals and Sandeep advised me how to gain work experience by guiding me through the process of writing to a company, or a professional, and doing well in application processes. One of the first things we focused on were video interviews in which Sandeep helped me prepare for an interview with a Law firm. This really helped me understand more about interviews and the recruitment process – one of the main lessons I learnt was how to sell myself to an employer by targeting what I could specifically bring to their organisation. This has certainly stayed with me and helped me succeed in interviews for other ventures and projects, not limited to just the legal industry.

Student story: I’ve sorted my summer

Hi, I’m Sharika and I am a second-year English student. Alongside my studies, I work as a Student Ambassador for the Widening Participation team at Queen Mary. The aim of Widening Participation is to encourage students from disadvantaged social backgrounds to consider pursing higher education. Not only is this an incredibly rewarding job which gives me the opportunity to make a positive impact on the local community, but being a Widening Participation Ambassador has also allowed me to gain a plethora of transferable skills through working in a diverse range of environments.

This summer, for instance, I am involved with a number of exciting projects. For example, a couple of weeks ago, I worked at the Experience University Week: Creating a Language. In this summer school, a group of Year 10 students learned all about linguistics, and then they constructed their own languages. Through this event, I gained experience working with young people, and at the same time, I was able to learn about linguistics myself! Next week I will be giving a speech to 60 Year 7-9 students at a celebration event (every one of the students has read more than 25 books in the past eight months!). I will be talking to them about reading, English degrees, and about my university experience. Later this month, another Student Ambassador and myself will be delivering a joint-lecture to Sixth Form students. Both of these opportunities will hone my public speaking skills. Moreover, I am currently in the middle of preparing for both of these events and already it has taught me a great deal about how to adapt my communication style to effectively interact with people from different age groups. Furthermore, in July, at the Verbatim Summer School, I will be working with young care experienced students thinking about coming to university.

Student blog: My experience working for a start-up

Kamrul Alom is a 2nd year Politics student, who shares his experience working for both a corporate and start-up below. Kamrul also featured in March’s Student Stories Week.

Most students specifically apply for internships at big names. We tend to apply for the likes of JP Morgan, P&G, Google and others. However, it is easy to forget or neglect the world of start-ups: a very different world to the big corporate employers that many of us will one day join. It is a very different but great alternative.

I currently work for a start-up called Plum Fintech, as an Operations and User Happiness Intern, which marks a great difference to my previous internship at Morgan Stanley. I have also gained work experience in several different organisations, both in the charity sector and private sector, developing vital experience and skills.

Plum is a personal savings butlers, and it all happens whilst speaking to Plum on Facebook Messenger. My role involves supporting and ensuring that new users are correctly set up onto Plum, and if not, I am tasked to solve and diagnose the error – i.e taking it up with stakeholders or messaging users. I also make sure that the company links correctly to users’ bank accounts (securely and safely of course) to analyse potential savings, using a very smart algorithm. It automatically makes these savings for you. The application allows you to get on with your life, as Plum makes very intelligent savings for you.