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Career planning Careers programmes employability Employer events Employer Insight Employer Q&A Employers Graduate recruitment Graduate Recruitment and Placement Fair MyFuture MyFuture App

Student Quick Guide to MyFuture Virtual Careers Fair

Man Working at Computer

PREPARE FOR THE FAIR:

CLICK ON “MEET THE EMPLOYERS”, CHECK & EDIT YOUR PROFILE:

Browse the employer booths to check on who is coming, star your favourites and set up your profile (Tip: Upload your CV via your profile to share it with relevant employers).

AT THE LIVE FAIR:

CHAT WITH EMPLOYERS VIA LIVE VIDEO CHATS – YOU HAVE TWO OPTIONS:

  1. GROUP CHATS: Just click on Group Chat for the relevant employer in the list to view instructions/click on meeting links.
  2. ONE-ON-ONE CHATS: Some employers are offering both 1 on 1 and Group chats. You can join up to three 1 on 1 chats at a time. Make sure to check your progress/wait time through 1 on 1 queue(s).

TIPS FOR MANAGING YOUR PROGRESS IN ONE-ON-ONE QUEUE(S)

  1. JOIN QUEUES WITH DIFFERENT WAIT TIMES. MyFuture will keep your place in each of these for you. When you see your wait time is down to 5 minutes – you are next and could be called in at any moment! You can check on your progress up through 1 on 1 queues via the tab beside “Meet the Employer Exhibitors”.
  2. STAY ALERT TO A QUEUE WHERE THE WAIT TIME IS DOWN TO 5 MINUTES OR LESS. When the employer is ready, you will see a “come in and meet me” invite from them on your screen in their queue. Just click it and follow the join instructions to take you into the 1 on 1 virtual meeting room.
  3. WARNING: If you do not accept/click on the invite within two minutes, the employer will move on to the next student in the queue.
  4. YOU CAN ALSO MANAGE YOUR TIME BY ATTENDING A GROUP CHAT IF YOU ARE WAITING FOR A 1 ON 1 QUEUE WITH A WAIT TIME OF MORE THAN 20 MINUTES

OTHER TIPS:

YOU CAN ALSO BROWSE THE EMPLOYERS JOB ADVERTS AND PROFILE VIA THEIR VIRTUAL BOOTH (including during the days before the fair goes live)

NEED SOME TECHNICAL HELP DURING THE 3.30PM TO 6PM ONLINE ELEMENT OF THE SPRING FAIR?

  1. Technical help will be available to students for the duration of the online element of the Fair via the Careers Service booth Group Chat.
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Fairs Graduate recruitment Graduate success Spring Careers Fair Spring Recruitment Fair Virtual recruitment work experience

3 things to do before the Virtual Careers Fair

Queen's student on laptop on social staircase in One Elmwood
Student accessing the virtual careers fair on campus

STEP 1: REGISTER for the virtual fair in advance via MyFuture.

Registration will open for the online fair on 30 January.

Register for the fair:

https://qub-csm.symplicity.com/students/app/career-fairs/30dee50212c1a424efba348d6222340d/overview

STEP 2: EDIT your profile

You’ll see an option to edit your profile and upload a well-presented CV for sharing with all attending employers. To do this, simply click on “Edit” at Profile, then “Add New” and follow the instructions to upload/share CV.

STEP 3: VIEW the booths of attending employers in advance

Click on ‘Meet the Exhibitors. View information and star favourites to meet with on the day by clicking on the “favourites” star. This is just a personal reminder during the live event to keep track of who you want to talk to.

Some other points to note:

MyFuture is best accessed on the following browsers: Google Chrome, Safari, Edge or Firefox

Find out more about the Spring Careers Fair at go.qub.ac.uk/springfair.

Categories
Business Careers programmes Skills Stock Market Challenge Technical skills transferrable skills

Five things you need to know before the Stock Market Challenge

Man working on a computer

Any tips and tricks that previous winners have used?

The key to a profitable investing is good research. The thing to remember when working in Finance Lab is that every piece of information you receive will have an effect on the share price of the investments you hold. Don’t ignore the news feed!

Common mistakes people make?

The most common mistake investors make is thinking that price is the main indicator of how well a company is performing. But of course it’s not an indicator of how well a company is doing in its own market, with its customers, with regulators or within its sector. A share price can be high at the same time as a company is performing poorly. A price fall will come; knowing when is the key.

What makes the game exciting?

Like all good games, it is the pressure of competition that makes the process exciting. In Stock Market Challenge you’ll be competing against other investors who want to come out on top on the night. There are some exciting opportunities to win so the stakes are high!

How not to lose your nerve.

Commit to the game, invest in the process and act methodically and with certainty to ensure you are in control of your actions. You control the market; don’t let the market control you. You will only lose your nerve when you don’t know what you are doing.

What ways can you prepare (even if it’s just binge-watching Industry on BBC iplayer!)?

Binge watching Industry will do no harm. It might even give you an insight into what not to do! The main skills are understanding what kinds of factors affect share prices. The most important thing is to keep an eye on the business news.

It’s not always obvious how actions affect share prices. When Donald Trump was banned from Twitter, investors decided to sell Twitter shares and its share value took a hit. The expectation was that the hit would be temporary, and the price would recover. But was that what happened? You may think as an investor that you’ll hold on to your shares (or buy more now that the price is lower) or dispose of them. Both strategies can be correct, depending on the market context. Following the news carefully is the key to successful investing.

Register for the Stock Market Challenge via our events page here

Categories
employability Employer Engagement Employer events Employer Insight Employer Panels Employer Q&A Employers Graduate recruitment Graduate success

Autumn Fair: Employer Q&A

“What do employers look for in students and graduates for employment?”

“Its very much understanding what each individual has done with their life, not just their academic life. So, its understanding where they have worked in teams, being able to work with different people, how they have been able to manage projects” – Mark Shimmings, Deloitte

“It’s really important for students to try their best to speak to as many employers, putting themselves out there and see if they can do volunteer days, work placement opportunities different things like that because it really gives you a great idea of the industry that you want to go into and the different people you can meet and also helps to build your confidence with talking to different people and professionals” – Eilish Crickard, ESO

“A lot of our interviews as about your collaboration, your teamwork, your communication skills” – Claire Brennan, FinTrU

“We look for people who can put into practice what they’ve learned and can take a practical approach and a very personable approach to what we do” – Brian Moss, Worthingtons solicitors

“You see a lot of amazing CVs but its not really just about what you’ve studied and what you’ve done its about being able to apply those skills, being able to communicate with people… its really important to try different things  and put yourself out there and just try build your CV because lots of people have a degree nowadays so its trying to find that niche that will make you more attractable to employers” – Eilish Crickard, ESO

“Obviously, a degree is important in a lot of the roles but not all of them but yes additional to that, its how they utilise what they’ve done through their life as well as their degree and can align the skills that they’ve learnt in order to use those in their roles moving forward.” – Emma McCourt, NIE Networks

“We don’t expect people to have working experience but there are so many transferable skills from the clubs, societies.” – Niamh Heaney , FinTrU

“Extracurricular activities such as the, you can see everywhere here about the clubs and the societies that’s very important for us at Baker McKenzie as well, we have so many clubs and committees, so if they have any information like that on their CV, again just makes them stand out a little bit more.” – Sarah Fowler, Baker McKenzie

“Why do employers come to QUB campus for recruitment?”

“Queen’s produce some really excellent graduates and it’s the range of graduates that come out of Queens within Deloitte we are looking for a wide range of skills and Queen’s equips the students with those range of skills, not just academic but softer skills that we are looking for” – Mark Shimmings, Deloitte

“The reputation the university, the quality of the teaching is all huge positives for coming specifically to Belfast, and to Queen’s.” – John Paul Cooney, Bank of America

“There is a number of Queen’s students that are already working for us and that their dedication, enthusiasm and desire to work for our business is just amazing and we love having them on the team, they’re great fun and absolutely know their subject” – Helen Sayers, Cooneen Group

Categories
Career planning Careers programmes Language skills Student blogger Student experience student success Student success stories transferrable skills

Student Success: Órnaith Ní Fhearghail

Notepad on a collage of countries flags
Órnaith Ní Fhearghail

Blag

Órnaith Ní Fhearghail is ainm dom agus is mac léinn mé in Ollscoil na Banríona. Tá mé i mbliain na céime, ag déanamh buncéime i gCaidreamh Idirnáisiúnta agus sa Ghaeilge. An seimeastar seo, bhí deis agam modúl úrnua a ghlacadh mar chuid den chúrsa Gaeilge, Gairmeacha le Gaeilge (CEL 3010). Cuireadh an modúl ar fáil den chéad uair riamh i mbliana, agus is iontach an deis í do mhic léinn a bhfuil suim acu a bheith ag obair trí mheán na Gaeilge sa todhchaí.  

An modúl  

Gach Aoine, téann an rang uilig ar thaithí oibre sna háiteanna éagsúla atá roghnaithe againn, agus gach coicís, bíonn seimineár againn le comhordaitheoir an mhodúil, Dr. Síobhra Aiken. Sna seimineáir seo, bíonn plé á dhéanamh againn faoin taithí oibre go dtí seo, faoi dheiseanna fostaíochta atá ann agus an Ghaeilge agat (mar shampla, bhí ceardlann faoin aistriúchán againn leis an Dr. Órla Nic Ruairí, a oibríonn san Aontas Eorpach), agus faoi na scileanna éagsúla a bhaineann leis an domhan ghairmiúil.  

An próiseas cuardaigh  

I rith an tsamhraidh, bhí ar an rang uilig ár dtaithí oibre féin a eagrú go neamhspleách le gnó éigin a mbaintear úsáid as an Ghaeilge ann mar theanga oibre. D’aistrigh mé mo CV ón Bhéarla go dtí an Ghaeilge agus sheol mé ríomhphoist chuig áiteanna oibre éagsúla a raibh suim agam a bheith ag obair iontu, agus murar sheol siad freagra chugam, chuir mé scairt orthu. Ba thaithí ar leith í an próiseas cuardaigh féin, agus bhí sé tábhachtach a bheith daingean.  

Sa deireadh, shocraigh mé le Raidió Fáilte – an stáisiún lán-Ghaeilge atá lonnaithe i mBéal Feirste – go ndéanfainn mo thaithí oibre leo.  

Raidió Fáilte – cad chuige?  

Roghnaigh mé Raidió Fáilte toisc go bhfuil suim ar leith agam sna meáin, agus chun fáil amach an bhfuil oiriúnach do phost sna meáin Ghaeilge. Anuas air sin, ní raibh mórán muiníne agam as mo chuid Gaeilge labhartha, agus b’iarracht í an taithí oibre seo feabhas a chur uirthi.  

An sórt taithí a fhaighim  

Níl mo thréimhse i Raidió Fáilte críochnaithe go fóill, ach fuair mé neart deiseanna agus traenála ann cheana féin. Bhí mé beo ar an aer mar agallaí dhá uair sa chéad lá a bhí mé ann, baisteadh tine gan amhras! Ach taithí mhaith a bhí ann, agus ón tseachtain sin amach, bíonn seans agam (agus ag an chailín eile atá i mo rang agus a dhéanann a taithí oibre in éineacht liom) a bheith ar an aer i rith an chláir ‘Beo ar Maidin’. Ar dtús, bhí muidne mar agallaithe, ach le déanaí bhí deis againn a bheith inár n-agallóirí – bhí sé sin i bhfad níos deacra, ach ba thaithí thábhachtach í, más rud é go mbeidh mé ag leanúint ar aghaidh le cúrsaí na meán amach anseo. Is deis foghlama í gach aon mheancóg a dhéanaim!  

Chuir mé mo chlár ceoil féin le chéile fosta – d’fhoghlaim mé caidé mar a bhaintear úsáid as na cnaipí uilig agus as an chóras atá in úsáid ar ríomhairí an stáisiúin. Ní shílim go bhfuil mórán suime agam sna gnéithe teicniúla sin, ach tá sé riachtanach an buneolas sin a bheith agam, agus úsáideach, cinnte. Bíonn mórán saoirse agam mo smaointe féin a fhorbairt maidir le cláir; faoi láthair tá mé ag obair ar chlár a chuir mé le chéile liom féin faoi roinnt ceoltóirí Éireannacha éagsúla a bhfuil Gaeilge acu (mar sin bhí siad ábalta agallaimh a dhéanamh liom). Ba mhaith liom clár eile a dhéanamh faoi thionchairí na Gaeilge chomh maith, ach seans mór nach mbeidh an t-am agam roimh chríoch mo thréimhse i Raidió Fáilte.  

Tairbhe an mhodúil  

Tá mórán buntáistí a bhaineann leis an mhodúl seo. Mar a luaigh mé thuas, bíonn neart deiseanna foghlama ar fáil san áit féin a ndéanann tú do thaithí oibre ann, agus faigheann tú léargas ar an tslí bheatha a bhfuil suim agat inti. Sna ceardlanna, faigheann tú léargas ar shlite beatha eile nach mbaineann leis an taithí oibre atá roghnaithe agat, ach, b’fhéidir, a bhfuil suim éigin agat iontu. Is féidir leat tuairim níos feasaí a bheith agat, mar thoradh, faoi na poist a bheidh uait amach anseo.  

Bíonn deiseanna aga naisc a chruthú, fosta, le daoine ón phobal Ghaelach a mbuaileann tú leo i rith na taithí oibre. Ní hamháin go bhfuil na naisc sin úsáideach faoi láthair agus mise mar bhall de choiste an Chumainn Ghaelaigh, ach beidh sé tábhachtach amach anseo gan aon agó.  

Blog

My name is Órnaith Ní Fhearghail and I’m a student at Queen’s. I’m in the final year of my undergraduate degree in International Relations and Irish. This semester, I had the opportunity to take a brand new module as part of my Irish course, Gairmeacha le Gaeilge (Professions in Irish; CEL 3010). The module was made available for the first time ever this year, and it’s an excellent chance for students who are interested in working through the medium of Irish in the future.  

The module  

Every Friday, the whole class goes on work experience in the various places that they’ve chosen, and every fortnight, we have a seminar with the coordinator of the module, Dr Síobhra Aiken. In these seminars, we discuss our work experience until now, employment opportunities that are available when you can speak Irish (for example, we had a workshop with Dr. Órla Nic Ruairí, who works in the European Union, about translation), and the various skills relating to the professional world.  

The searching process  

During the summer, we (the class) had to organise our work experience independently, with businesses in which Irish is used as their working language, I translated my CV from English to Irish and sent emails to a variety of workplaces that interested me, and if they didn’t send an answer, I rang them. This searching process was a particular experience in itself, and it was important to be determined.  

In the end, I decided with Raidió Fáilte – the Irish-language radio station situated in Belfast – that I would carry out my work experience with them.  

Raidió Fáilte – why?  

I chose Raidió Fáilte because I have a particular interest in the media, and I was hoping to find out whether I’m suitable for a job in Irish-language media. On top of that, I didn’t have a lot of confidence in my spoken Irish, and my work experience was an effort to improve it.  

The sort of experience I get  

My time at Raidió Fáilte isn’t finished yet, but I’ve already gotten a wealth of opportunities and training. I was live on air as an interviewee twice on my first day there, a baptism of fire without a doubt! However, it was a great experience, and since that week, I get the opportunity to go on air during the programme ‘Beo ar Maidin’ (as does the other girl in my class who does her work experience there with me). At the start, we were the interviewees, but recently we’ve gotten to be interviewers – that was a lot harder, but it was an important experience, if I’m to continue on in the media in the future. Every mistake I make is a learning opportunity!  

I put my own music show together as well – I learned how to use the buttons and the sound system that’s used on the station’s computers. I don’t think I have much interest in the technical aspects, but it’s necessary to have that foundational knowledge, and useful, of course. I have a lot of freedom to develop my own ideas relating to shows; at the moment, I’m working on a programme I put together by myself about a few Irish musicians who speak Irish (which meant I was able to interview them). I would like to put a show together about Irish-language influencers, but chances are I won’t have time for that before the end of my time at Raidió Fáilte.  

Benefits of the module  

This module has a lot of advantages. As I’ve discussed above, a range of learning opportunities are available in the place where you do your work experience, and you can get an insight into the career of your interest. In the seminars and the workshops, you get an insight into the other careers that don’t relate to your work experience but, maybe, still interest you somewhat. You can have a more informed opinion, as a result, about the jobs you’d like down the line.  

You get opportunities to create links, too, with people of the Irish community that you meet during your work experience. Not only are these links useful to me right now while I’m a committee member of An Cumann Gaelach, but I have no doubt that they’ll be important to me in the professional world, too.  

Categories
Career planning Careers programmes Employer Engagement Employer events Employer Insight Employers Graduate success motivation Strengths-based interviews Student experience

6 things we learned about resilience from our Employer Hotseat

Successful student with fist in the air
Beth MacDougall, EY

Beth MacDougall from EY delivered a session on Resilience. Here are the top takeaways.

Its normal to be nervous

“The one thing that terrified me literally more than anything was what am I gonna do for work. How am I gonna go into the workplace with this really strange title, this really long list of symptoms? And a degree that I don’t know how to be of use anymore and no experience. I was completely shook. I was absolutely terrified because all I wanted to do was work.”

But Beth goes on to say…

“I wish that I could go back to myself six years ago and say it’s going to be okay. It’s gonna be fine.”

Challenge = Change

“I learned that it is absolutely OK to challenge things in a process or on an application form, or in a procedure that you feel like you’re going to make you feel disadvantaged or unfair. There were plenty of times in an application form that actually will ask you to disclose a disability way before the ‘do you have a disability question’…that was my first lesson that it’s okay to challenge things. And that it’s the only way that we’re going to change things, by challenging and by asking the questions.”

People’s opinions are not your reality

“I remember the first time that I spoke with someone about my disability in a workplace, they actually told me that I was a health and safety risk, and it was selfish of me to be wanting to work in a workplace environment, after speaking to me for all of 2/3 minutes. I just wanted to have a conversation and explain, you know, but I can do this! But then why do I have to explain something? Why am I defined by this label that I have attached to me?”

Beth then speaks about how working as a recruiter allows her to speak to a range of people from all works of life

“We can learn from so many different people by having those conversations and again as recruiters we are in that position where we can constantly speak to a diverse group of people and learn from every single one of them. Giving someone a voice, really means that person is going to be able to bring their true authentic best self to the workplace.”

Play to your strengths (and find out how to play to your strengths!)

“Strength-based recruitment was definitely my friend…We might not have as much experience as persons who don’t have disabilities because it’s been harder for us to get that 0r maybe we’ve needed to take a break at times”

“So strength-based recruitment for me was so powerful in terms of I knew I didn’t have the experience that probably everyone else applying for this job did. I actually had no recruitment experience. I had plenty of student experience, plenty of mental health, well-being, events, development – but it was all dotted around different areas. I could only get small different bits of experience in different ways. I didn’t really know how to combine that. Until, I spoke to someone who help me do that”

Be proud and honest of who you are

“My interview at EY was actually the first time I ever disclosed my disability in an interview, outright. First question, “what are your motivations for EY” – well I have a disability. Straight up there. I’ve heard about this and this is why I did it because EY’s brand was all about a culture of belonging – our world your way. And I really truly believe that. I could see the images I could see the stories and I could see the things EY were doing to support people like me.”

“70% of people with a disability actually have an invisible disability which brings its own challenges. You can hide that until you get into your workplace, but if without disclosing a disability it’s very hard to get the support that you might need to be able to thrive and employ yourself the way that you want to.”

Who you are will show in what you do

Beth speaks about how people with different disabilities are often overlooked for employment and workplace stigma towards those disabilities

“People with disabilities are the largest pool of untapped talent. And that is because we do have, again those natural barriers, and sometimes that natural stigma of – traditionally disabled has meant something that someone cannot do.Whereas I would challenge that… people with disabilities are nature’s greatest problem solvers. We have to learn to live in a world that isn’t actually built always for us. We have to find different ways to do things. Which kind of brings me to my final point in terms of people with disabilities are some of the most valuable workforce that you can bring into an organisation. Those qualities of resilience communication, because you’re constantly having to communicate things, and ask for things and explain. Problem solving, creativity innovation, you name it, a person with a disability has to show that every single day in their life.”

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Cibyl Feedback surveys

Win £500 to spend at a shop of your choice and help the careers service at the same time

This year we’re taking part in the Cibyl survey, one of the UK’s largest student careers aspiration surveys.  Cibyl provides employers and universities across the nation, with unparalleled insights into students’ career thinking. They will use your survey answers to provide us with a detailed feedback report. The reports will tell us how satisfied you are with your careers support and the wider university experience, as well as which employers you aspire to work for. Take the survey and you’ll be giving us valuable feedback.

In return for your help, Cibyl are giving away…

  • a £100 Amazon gift card (given away every week- 14 to give away!)
  • a pair of Apple AirPods (two given away)
  • £500 gift card of your choice! Choose from shops such as ASOS, Uber, Argos, Amazon, John Lewis, GAME, JD Sports and M&S (two given away)

Tell us what you think of your university course, which employers you like, and how you’re feeling about life after graduation. Cibyl will use the results to put together research reports to help universities and employers across the UK, so that they know what kind of job you want.

It only takes 15 minutes (and you can take it on your mobile!)

Take the survey now: https://survey.alchemer.eu/s3/90503600/careers

Would you like to know more about Cibyl? Here’s some extra information:

The Cibyl Graduate Research is the UK’s most comprehensive piece of research into students’ views on graduate careers and recruitment: over 65,000 UK students took part last year. Cibyl also powers The UK 300, so ranking your favourite employers is a great way to influence their status in the publication. 

Cibyl is an excellent tool for helping students to think about graduate careers: the questions require you to rank employers in a variety of ways, helping you to think laterally about your career options and why you like, or don’t like, certain companies.

Your answers are completely anonymous. You are welcome to read our privacy policy which can be found here. 

Cibyl abides by all MRS codes, ESOMAR codes and ISO 20252. We are conducting this survey in partnership with your Careers Service.

Categories
Canada Careers programmes Global Opportunities Go Global Go Global ambassadors international experience Student experience student success Student success stories

Student Experience: My Research Internship in Canada

Toronto Skyline from Casa Loma
Emily Bond

As F. Scott Fitzgerald once said, “It’s a funny thing about comin’ home. Looks the same, smells the same, feels the same. You’ll realize what’s changed is you.”

Departing London Heathrow, bound for Toronto Pearson.

Canada has always been on my travel list; known for its great outdoors, safe multicultural cosmopolitan cities, and friendly people. Engaging with people who had visited, Canada was always described to me as one of those places thats experience is nearly impossible to describe and after visiting once you’ll want to return.

So when the Mitacs Globalink Research Internship was released, it posed as an opportunity to spend up to 12 weeks researching in a country on my bucket list. And when people ask why I applied, I say why not, because I had so much to gain from this opportunity and little to lose.

I first applied for the Mitacs Globalink Research Internship in 2020 however was unsuccessful in my application. Fortunately, due to a change in my degree programme I became re-eligble to apply and reapplied in August 2021. Receiving, notification in September that my application had been nominated for the programme I began the process of filling out the application form, detailing experience I had gained from work experience the year before and what skills I could bring to the programme. With my application submitted it, I was left to wait to see if any Canadian professors would contact me. I was fortunate to be contacted by two professors in November to further discuss their projects and my suitability.

Outside the engineering building where I spent 10 weeks

By December, I had been selected and confirmed my place on the 2022 Globalink Research Internship.

From January through to departure in May, I organised my flights, housing, visa, starting/ finishing dates for the internship, and a small amount of currency. Connecting with my supervisor during this process made it feel less intimidating as I was able to ask questions or express queries.

Before I knew it May had arrived, and I was stood at the airport waiting to depart on one of my biggest adventures yet. An 8 hour flight, and 2 hour immigration wait later, I was in Toronto.

The first week, I was provided with a tour around the faculty, opened up a bank account, and familiarised myself with the campus. I was able to meet my supervisor and research team in person as well as start on my project. Over the next 10 weeks I was able to develop a general research topic of Micro-structural analysis of advanced composite structures, into a working conference and journal paper focusing on Investigation of impact response of 2D braided hybrid composites using Micro-CT. Throughout the project I was able to develop my knowledge of braided composites, non-destructive analysis, and composite sample manufacturing.

Emily in the lab with a manufactured sample

Alongside researching, I took the time to explore the city of Toronto through events such as Toronto Pride, Canada Day at Woodbine Beach, and a Blue Jays game at the Rogers Centre. These formed some of the key highlights of my internship in addition to trying different foods and visiting the key tourist attractions such as the CN Tower, Casa Loma, and the Aquarium.

Niagara Falls
Music Garden in Downtown Toronto featuring the CN Tower
Rogers Centre
Home to the Blue Jays Baseball Team

As the end of July approached, I realised I had learnt more, made international friends, gained new experiences, and stepped out of my comfort zone to my growth zone. It’s an experience I will always look back on fondly and would encourage people to take as many opportunities to develop themselves personally and professionally.

Top Tips

  • Ask for help
  • Take time to explore where you are, it’s easy to get stuck in work
  • Keep in contact with your support network back home
  • Take lots of photos and videos
  • Plan in advance especially housing, visas, flights, packing.
  • Don’t give up

Search and find Global Opportunities via our online search tool.

Categories
Careers programmes Employer Engagement Employer events Employer Insight Employer Panels Employer Q&A student success Student success stories

Graduate success story: Eoin Deeney, Baker McKenzie

Eoin Deeney

My name is Eoin Deeney, I’m a Data Privacy Specialist at Baker McKenzie and I studied Law at undergraduate at Queen’s and a postgraduate degree in Law and Governance as well at Queen’s.

Describe your current role.

As part of my current role, I help with the firm’s compliance efforts in the space of data privacy, so that involves working with colleagues across the globe and understanding the data privacy laws and regulations across the world and how the firm can comply with those laws and regulations. I suppose my favourite part of my role is working within the firm itself and the people that I work with across the globe, that they’re globally-minded and like-minded as well and also that it allows me to work in the office with like-minded people but also the ability to work from home and work in a hybrid fashion as well.

How did you get your current role?

After graduating from Queen’s I spent a couple of years in Industry getting experience, which then gave me the opportunity to join Baker McKenzie as a legal professional. Shortly thereafter I became a Team Lead within the Legal Professional team and then I also went to another organisation after that to gain experience in the field of Data Privacy which then prompted the opportunity to return to the firm in my current capacity as a Data Privacy Specialist.

What interview tips do you have for students/ graduates?

The advice I would give to students and graduates when it comes to interviews would be to be themselves, to be authentic and don’t feel that you have to be a certain version or acertain caricature of someone that the employer wants to see because ultimately, if successful in that role, we’re going to be working with you and that’s what we want to see in the interview process: the person that we’re going to be working with, not a caricature of the person you think you ought to be.

What soft skills are most important in your role?

The soft skill that’s most important in my role would be an openness and willingness to learn and I suppose really without that I wouldn’t be in the role that I am currently in because this field wasn’t as prevalent as it is now when I was at university so I would encourage students and graduates to be open and take advantage of opportunities that present themselves by being open-minded and willing to learn.

What training did you get when you started the role?

When I first joined Baker McKenzie I was presented with a suite of classroom trainings which were invaluable in getting to know the organisation and the types of work that we were engaging in but I suppose the most important training that I’ve had has been on the job and learning from more experienced peers and colleagues that have experience of the business and of their subject matter.

How have the people in your organisation inspired you?

What I think about the people that I work with and the organisation and what inspires me about them; I suppose it’s their agility of mind and their ability to apply themselves to a variety of different problems and come up with a variety of innovative solutions. You know, those problems will vary on a day-by-day basis but they’re always agile and thinking of innovative solutions to those problems.

Why would you recommend students and graduates apply to your firm?

I would recommend Baker McKenzie to any student or graduate for two reasons, really. One, it’s a fantastic place to start and develop your career, especially if you’re not entirely sure where you would like your career to go. There’s a number of opportunities that will be available to you. Personally, my career has ended up going in the direction that I didn’t know it would go in but I’m in a job that I love and absolutely enjoy every day. I suppose the second reason I would recommend it is really the people and the people make the organisation. There’s a real culture of friendship; there’s any number of clubs and societies that you can get involved in and explore interests that you may have or may be wanting to develop. So, I suppose the people and the opportunities available would be the reasons I’d recommend the firm to any student or graduate.

Baker McKenzie are proud sponsors of our Autumn Fair

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Workplace Insight: Holly Emerson, Baker McKenzie

Holly Emerson

My name is Holly Emerson and I’m a Legal Professional at Baker McKenzie.

What are the values of your organisation?

Baker McKenzie asked people at the firm how they would describe the firm and they come up with brave, brilliant and kind and I think those values really some up what the firm stands for. People are brave. They are not afraid to challenge convention. They aren’t afraid to innovate. People are brilliant. They are always striving to progress at the firm and people at the firm are kind. They aren’t just kind in the work that they do for charities, but they’re also kind in that they treat their colleagues with respect.

How inclusive an environment is your organisation?

Inclusion and diversity is integral at Baker McKenzie. We have 77 offices which means that you could be working with people from New York or Singapore and it truly shows that inclusion and diversity is a major part of daily life at Baker McKenzie.

What social events bond you as a team?

Baker Mackenzie has plenty of social events every month. There are drinks on the terrace, we have summer BBQs, Christmas parties and as well as that there are clubs and committees like LGBTQ committee and the charity committee who also hold events as well.

How easy is it to progress and carve out a career in your organisation?

In the year that I have been at Baker McKenzie, I started by taking comprehensive training which has allowed me to be seconded to the Data Privacy team at Baker McKenzie which I really enjoy and this opportunity is available across multiple functions. The opportunities are here just as long as you are willing to take them.

What personal attributes are you looking for in recruits?

The sort of person who would fit in at Baker Mackenzie is somebody who has a positive attitude, who is willing to learn, is a team player. We work with many different teams at Baker McKenzie so somebody who works well at collaborating in teams would fit in really well at Baker McKenzie.

Baker McKenzie are proud sponsors of our Autumn Fair