A collaborative effort between the alumni team and the Careers and Employability Service, Future Connections reinforces the university’s unwavering commitment to widening access to higher education and ensuring that all students have the opportunity to thrive during their time with us and fulfil their potential.
It involves taking students through confidence building preparatory workshops, followed by an unmissable trip to alumni-led firms. At these firms, students meet with sector-leaders, network with recent graduates and talent acquisition teams, and take part in workplace simulation exercises.
This year, the day trip took students to the London offices of Microsoft UK & Ireland, BloombergNEF and culminated with an alumni networking event hosted at EY Canary Wharf.
Part 1 - Microsoft UK & Ireland
The first element of the day (following a 5.45am coach departure from University Park!) saw our students welcomed to the offices of Microsoft UK & Ireland, where they took part in a Q&A with the CEO Darren Hardman (Economics and Econometrics, 1998).
Then followed an 'early career pathways' Q&A to help inspire our students to think about their first steps after they graduate from Nottingham, before ending with a networking lunch.
Part 2 - BloombergNEF
The coach wound its way through the sights of central London before arriving at the super-swish offices of Bloomberg, which won an array of architectural awards following its construction in 2017.
If you aren't familiar, BloombergNEF is known as a strategic research provider covering global commodity markets and the disruptive technologies shaping the future of the energy transition.
Our students heard from several BloombergNEF employees about their career paths, as well as from Head of BloombergNEF Jon Moore (Electrical and Electronic Engineering, 1986) about his own rise to the top.
Part 3 - EY
The final location of the trip was the Canary Wharf HQ of EY UK, quite the spectacular end to the day as the sun set over London. After being on the go for over 10 hours, our students were then subjected to the rigours of a consultancy challenge - where they had 45 minutes to pitch a concept to a room full of both their peers and EY partners!
The day concluded with a directed networking session, hosted by Global Vice Chair Errol Gardner (Industrial Economics, 1990) and attended by a group of Nottingham alumni, which gave the students the opportunity to discuss five thought-provoking topics related to career development.