May 2024 saw the return of our interactive Real-World Consultancy Programme, with students gaining a different type of work experience by providing a consultancy service to real clients and working on a real challenge that those clients face.
The Queen’s University Belfast students from different disciplines were facilitated through a Design Thinking process to resolve the client’s problem with hosts Patricia Flanagan and Michaelle Dolan of Rejig.
The students applied the design thinking process, tools and mindset to live challenges provided by companies including, Aflac Northern Ireland, BDO Northern Ireland, Gig Grafter Limited, KPMG Ireland, The Phoenix Education Centre, and SureCert.
The busy and interactive programme ran over four days and provided a great opportunity for students to develop highly valued Design Thinking skills prior to them going on to take up a placement, internship or a graduate role.
A massive thank you to Patricia Flanagan and Michelle Dolan of Rejig for coming in to the host the programme, to our Careers Consultant Ludovica Piccinini for overseeing the programme, and to all the employer partners and our amazing students who took part, making this year’s programme a resounding success.
We are already looking forward to Real-World Consultancy 2025.
Below is some feedback from employers and students who participated on the programme.
Thanks to Ludovica Piccinini and Patricia Durkin for the invite to the Careers, Employability and Skills at Queen’s University Belfast Real World Consultancy Programme.
It was great to spend some time at Queen’s University Belfast this week with a team of highly talented students that attempted to resolve a KPMG Ireland business challenge focused on corporate citizenship.
Well done to all the participants and a special shout out to Michael, Majd, Lauren, Ruth and Muhammad for their efforts on our challenge this week (expertly stretched by Patricia Flanagan and Michelle Dolan as always!).
Paul Braden, KPMG, Ireland
Recently, I had the pleasure of taking part in the 2024 cohort of QUB’s Real World Consultancy Programme. This programme allowed me to work in teams with individuals from diverse disciplines with the end goal of providing consultancy services to real life clients.
My team was partnered up with Emma Shaw from Phoenix Education Centre. Emma alerted us to the challenges she was facing and gave us feedback and valuable guidance throughout the process. As a group we came up with innovative ideas to mitigate against these challenges and provided solutions and recommendations that could potentially be implemented by Emma.
Many thanks to Patricia Flanagan and Michelle Dolan for your valuable guidance throughout the program and enabling us to utilise our imagination to obtain useful solutions.
Amith Varghese, Queen’s University Belfast MSc International Business student
Recently, I took part in the Real-World Consultancy Program ran by Careers Queen’s University Belfast. My group got the chance to tackle a real-life problem presented to us by Aflac Northern Ireland; “How Might We Develop Future Tech Talent in NI.” Our group came up with innovative solutions after being introduced to a new way of thinking “Design Thinking” developed by Stanford University. I thoroughly enjoyed working with Deivydas Sakys, Shubham Soni & Akinyemi Folasewa and a huge thank you to Isabel Stacey & Jason Brennan from Aflac Northern Ireland who helped us throughout the week.
Paddy Latimer, Queen’s University Belfast, International Business with Spanish student
This immersive 4-day program equipped us with ”Design Thinking”, a problem-solving approach developed by Stanford University. Patricia Flanagan and Michelle Dolan guided us through the process.
The program was a series of incredibly interactive sessions with dozens of fun activities that fostered invaluable knowledge about design thinking. We learned the importance of stepping outside our comfort zones, fostering group creativity, and embracing empathy.
The program instilled valuable skills in storytelling, identifying key concepts like divergence and convergence, and the importance of inclusion. It also highlighted the power of reformation, building connections, and empathetic listening. Overall, this program provided an exceptional platform to apply our knowledge and prepare us for the professional world.
Riya Anandpara, Queen’s University Belfast MSc Marketing student
