̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge - Careers Service

Green jobs for graduates

plc32 — Wed, 21 Feb 2024 14:47:24 +0000

Green industry experts gave Cambridge students a tour of careers in the environment during a two-week Green Careers Festival, including how to land a green job.

Green jobs not just for STEM Grads

plc32 — Tue, 06 Feb 2024 17:01:47 +0000

Students at this year's Green Careers Fair nibbled edible crickets, cuddled plush pink octopi, and met industry experts for advice on landing a job in the green sector.

Is a green career for you?

plc32 — Mon, 22 Jan 2024 17:20:28 +0000

Cambridge Zero kicks off Lent Term 2024 with a packed calendar of competitions, training, industry networking, career panels, and application openings for professional summer placement opportunities.

Advice and support under one roof at new Student Services Centre

sb726 — Thu, 25 Apr 2019 14:41:00 +0000

Part new build and part renovation of existing listed buildings, the centre houses the Cambridge Admissions Office, the Cambridge Centre for Teaching and Learning, the Cambridge Trust (relocating later in the summer), the Careers Service, the Disability Resource Centre, Education Quality and Policy Office, Student Operations (comprising the International Students Office, the Office of Student Complaints, Conduct and Appeals, and the Student Registry), and the ̽��ֱ�� Counselling Service.

Alice Benton, Head of Education Services, said: “Our students can now access support and advice on a range of issues at a single location in the centre of Cambridge, where staff can offer a much more integrated service.

“Good student support underpins academic success and a great student experience - and the ̽��ֱ�� is committed to providing an equally positive experience to all.”

Around 250 members of staff have relocated to the centre – part of the North Range of Buildings development – which features a dedicated visitor reception and information point, purpose-built counselling room and space for workshops and group activities. There is also an improved careers resource area, and flexible space for examinations, training and events, as well as meeting rooms and office space.

̽��ֱ��centre, which officially opened on 25 April, includes part of the old Cavendish Laboratory and Arts School and a new building on the site of the old Exam Halls.

̽��ֱ��reception will open 8.30am-5.30pm Monday to Friday, although individual services may also operate outside of these hours. Access will temporarily be through the arch on Downing Street/Pembroke Street.

̽��ֱ�� ̽��ֱ��’s new Student Services Centre is now open. ̽��ֱ��facility – which brings together a number of support services and teams under one roof – is located at the New Museums Site in the heart of Cambridge.

Our students can now access support and advice on a range of issues at a single location in the centre of Cambridge, where staff can offer a much more integrated service

Alice Benton, Head of Education Services

̽��ֱ��new Student Services Centre

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Yes

Graduate, get a job … make a difference #6

ta385 — Thu, 16 Feb 2017 09:00:00 +0000

Kathryn Savage (Trinity College), BA Modern & Medieval Languages (2016)

I graduated last year and now work in Uganda with Pepal Foundation, a small UK-based NGO partnered with a large Ugandan NGO, Baylor College of Medicine. Our project aims to improve health service delivery and increase utilisation by strengthening the leadership skills of health workers and district health teams.

Our three year pilot runs until December 2017 in 270 facilities in two regions. ̽��ֱ��hope is to expand the project across Uganda by including it in the Ministry of Health's overall budget and training plans for newly-qualified clinical staff. We also hope that our model can be implemented in other countries.

My role is in monitoring the success of the project in its current form and coming up with improvements for when it is (hopefully) made fully functional across multiple areas of the country.

What Cambridge did for me

I probably spent more time doing extra-curricular activities than studying, from playing Blues football to being on my college May Ball committee. Cambridge definitely taught me that you really need to enjoy whatever you spend the majority of your time doing, which for most people is working.

I’d spent a lot of time in Latin America on my gap year and then my year abroad so I knew I wanted to work in a different part of the world with unfamiliar challenges. I first came to Uganda as a volunteer using money from a fund from my college, Trinity, and was then offered a year-long contract.

Unfortunately, I don’t currently use my languages at all in my job but having a very packed schedule has certainly equipped me with the skills to balance lots of competing interests. When studying a humanities subject you realise you could never exhaust the endless amount of reading that you could do, and it’s the same in terms of workload in the NGO world, where you feel like however much you do there’s always more.

My Motivation

I tried out the corporate sector during a couple of internships, thinking that I would get as much as I could from the training there to take into the NGO sector, but then I realised I couldn’t even handle that. I wanted to do something I’d be proud of from the beginning and something that I could explain to my friends without having translate lots of incomprehensible corporate jargon.

People who do amazing work in very under-resourced environments, like the many Ugandan healthcare workers that I’ve worked with, really inspire me. I think that we could learn a lot from them in the UK.

I would consider doing a Masters in Global Public Health or perhaps running projects for a larger NGO. But I think I’d like to work in the UK at some point as, whilst there’s so much to be done here, there are also a lot of social issues in the UK that I’d like to understand more and get involved with.

Applying to Cambridge

I applied to study law and went to the interview having had one practice session at school with someone who seemed to be learning from me about basic legal concepts rather than the other way around! However, my parents were very supportive and I was luckily able to go into the interview without too much pressure and thinking that fate would decide the outcome.

I initially began studying law but soon realised that I needed to be studying languages, having applied on deferral and spent time travelling in Latin America during my gap year. I just didn’t feel like I’d exhausted my love for languages during those six months and really wanted to build on my knowledge. Despite the initial false start, it was definitely the right decision and I’m very grateful that my college allowed me to change subject.

Cambridge graduates enter a wide range of careers but making a difference tops their career wish lists. In this series, inspiring graduates from the last three years describe Cambridge, their current work and their determination to give back.

People who do amazing work in very under-resourced environments really inspire me.

Kathryn Savage (Alumna)

Cambridge and Africa

Our Spotlight on Africa showcases links between our university and the African continent and has been launched to coincide with the Africa special of our Research Horizons magazine.

Under pressure: the battle to have a baby in Africa

A complication of pregnancy that causes the mother’s blood pressure to rise – often fatally – is more common in women of African descent than any other. Read about research in Uganda by African and Cambridge researchers that’s helping to uncover why.

̽��ֱ��text in this work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. For image use please see separate credits above.

Yes

Graduate, get a job … make a difference #4

ta385 — Tue, 31 Jan 2017 09:00:00 +0000

Isobel Firth (Newnham College) BA Natural Sciences (2016)

I graduated last summer and I’m currently working with the Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative (DNDi), a non-profit organisation based in Geneva that develops treatments for neglected diseases and patients with a public health focus.

I’m working in the paediatric HIV and Hepatitis C programmes with a very experienced and interdisciplinary team. ̽��ֱ��projects are a fantastic mixture of medicine, chemistry, law and public health rolled into one and I’m learning lots about the world of drug development.

In the HIV project we are working to provide a treatment for children with HIV which is practical to dose, easy to administer, in a taste-masked formulation, and which is available to infants as soon as they are diagnosed with HIV. This is vital because early treatment makes the difference between life and death for these children. ̽��ֱ��Hepatitis C project is focussed on developing an affordable treatment for Hepatitis C as the current treatment options are too expensive for the majority of people living with the disease which can eventually lead to liver cancer.

̽��ֱ��work I do on these projects is varied, including literature reviews, presenting and analysing scientific data on potential drug candidates and editing scientific papers for peer review. These all require skills I developed during my time at Cambridge. Working here has confirmed my interest in a career in public health, and the experience of working in this organisation will help in making that a reality.

What Cambridge did for me

On the Natural Sciences course, I had to write scientific essays for supervisions which left nowhere to hide – if you have misunderstood a topic it becomes very obvious. I had never written a scientific essay before coming to Cambridge and the first few took me days to write but I slowly improved through practice. In my final year I did a laboratory research project where, along with other practical lab skills, I learnt the ropes of academic science writing which I use all the time in my current job.

On top of my studies, I was part of the Cambridge ̽��ֱ�� Swimming and Water Polo Club (CUSWPC) throughout my three years and was president of the club in my final year. This involved organising events such as alumni meals and our historic varsity match against Oxford, and lobbying for greater provision for sports clubs within the university. Many of the skills I now have in the workplace were developed as a result of being involved with CUSWPC and it was definitely the best thing I did while at Cambridge.

When I was applying to do a Masters in public health I met with a Cambridge careers advisor who helped me to re-engineer my CV and, as a bonus, told me about the Cambridge Global Health Scheme. I applied with little hope but was accepted onto the scheme which led me to an internship at the World Health Organisation in Geneva. It was a fantastic experience for someone with aspirations in public health and I was lucky to have the experience so early in my career. Through that, I began an internship with DNDi in Geneva – this wouldn’t have been possible without the ̽��ֱ��’s Global Health Scheme.

My motivation

I was always impressed, if not intimidated, by the calibre of research going on at Cambridge. I understood that it was, in some abstract way, impactful down the line, however my real interest was how incredible scientific innovation translates into positive change. For that reason, I wanted to use my scientific background to work in public health, where science meets the harsh reality of economics and politics.

Bridging the gap between innovation and health intervention for the most needy is what motivates me now, which is why the work of DNDi appealed to me so much. Their motto is ‘the best science for the most neglected’ which means that the organisation is the vital link between a eureka moment at the laboratory bench and helping people with diseases for which they would not otherwise get treatment.

Applying to Cambridge

I went to a local comprehensive school in Chesterfield, Derbyshire. I had great teachers who inspired me to learn science and helped me with the things I found difficult (thanks Mrs Nicholl for all the help). My school would generally have a couple of Oxbridge applicants every year but I had almost no preparation for my Cambridge interview. Following one good interview and one terrible interview at the College I applied to, I was offered a place in the Winter Pool by a different College, Newnham, where I happily completed my three year Natural Sciences degree.

Starting at Cambridge was intense, the first year Natural Sciences course is extremely full on and I don’t think any of us, whatever schools we had been to, were prepared for it. We helped each other through it and when I received my good results at the end of first year, I realised that I wasn’t as out of my depth at Cambridge as I sometimes felt.

Bridging the gap between innovation and health intervention for the most needy is what motivates me

Isobel Firth (alumna)

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Yes

Graduate, get a job … make a difference #2

ta385 — Fri, 13 Jan 2017 09:00:01 +0000

Charlotte Dixon (Churchill), BA (2014) Modern and Medieval Languages

Since graduating I’ve been working with the Department for International Development (DFID). I started on the one year Graduate Scheme, working in London, but in 2015 I went to Sierra Leone as part of the Ebola crisis response. My current role is Policy and Programme Manager at DFID Ethiopia.

I've only been in Ethiopia for four months, but I’m really enjoying it so far. Day-to-day life can be challenging at times but it’s definitely worth it. No day is ever the same, so I never know quite what to expect when I head to work in the morning. When I arrived, the security situation here was quite unstable, so I haven't been able to see much of the country yet, but travel restrictions have just been lifted so I’m looking forward to being able to explore a bit more.

What Cambridge did for me

I first heard about the DFID Graduate Scheme through the Cambridge Careers Service. After going along to a talk they had organised with alumni already working for DFID, I knew it was the career for me.

Studying at Cambridge has helped me because it teaches you how to think on your feet and work under pressure. I studied French, Spanish and a bit of Portuguese. I don’t use them in my day-to-day job, but the fact that I have studied languages in the past has definitely helped me to pick up Amharic (the official language of Ethiopia). There are quite a lot of opportunities to use languages in international development - I hope to work in a French-speaking part of Africa in the future.

Outside of work, learning languages has definitely enriched my life, giving me a greater understanding of other cultures and, most importantly, giving me an excuse to travel to countries like Chile, Argentina, Colombia and Guatemala.

My motivation

I always knew that I didn’t want to pursue a conventional career in the corporate world - I wanted to do something that would make a difference. I also knew I wanted a career that would allow me to travel.

Applying to Cambridge

I was lucky that quite a few people I knew from my school were also applying to Cambridge, so it didn’t feel quite so daunting, but I still remember it being a long and stressful process. ̽��ֱ��college I went to, Churchill, had a really good mix of people which made it really easy to settle in.

Studying at Cambridge teaches you how to think on your feet and work under pressure

Charlotte Dixon

Charlotte Dixon working in Sierra Leone

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Yes

Graduate, get a job, make a difference #1

ta385 — Fri, 06 Jan 2017 09:30:00 +0000

Sophie Dundovic, St John's College, BA (2013) Mathematics, Social Anthropology

Since graduating, I have co-founded Parasym Health, a medical device company that uses bioelectric medicine to treat chronic conditions such as Tinnitus and Depression. We are operating in a relatively new and growing market which means we need to be able to adapt quickly. I’m often learning new skills or troubleshooting problems that I have never come across before. As a company we are motivated by positive feedback from users and our aim is to grow the company and to have a positive impact on the lives of many more people.

Applying to Cambridge

I remember walking around St John's on a cold December evening after being interviewed. I was in awe of the surroundings but the support provided was excellent throughout the application process and this continued throughout my time at the College. Back then I didn't know anyone who had studied at Cambridge, so I wasn’t sure what to expect, but I quickly made friends both on my course and in the ̽��ֱ�� Athletic Club.

What Cambridge did for me

My time at Cambridge was formative in many ways. ̽��ֱ��teaching environment encourages independent thinking and that has been very important for me in my professional life. Particularly in the early stages of a company, business decisions can have critical outcomes and sometimes you need to do things that go against the conventional wisdom. Being able to question things and not being afraid to make bold suggestions is important.

What I’m doing now is very different to the career I imagined when I was 17. At Cambridge I met a lot of talented, motivated and interesting people, many of whom have become great friends. Conversations with these people challenged my views about what was possible. Some of the courses I took as an undergraduate also dramatically developed my way of thinking, and I was very fortunate in having the opportunity to live in Germany for a year as part of a reciprocal exchange between Cambridge and Heidelberg ̽��ֱ��. I was able to pursue very specific areas of interest that year, as well as learning a language, which was very rewarding. It was then that I started to think seriously about my career path.

My motivation

While I think I've always been motivated by social aims, the academic freedom at Cambridge allowed me to explore exactly what that meant and how I might apply it in work. Exposure to the research environment has also allowed me to better understand the objectives of some of the different stakeholders that we deal with as a company. We often receive emails from patients telling us that our products have really improved their quality of life and that provides us with plenty of motivation to keep improving what we are doing.

At Cambridge I met a lot of talented, motivated and interesting people. Conversations challenged my views about what was possible.

Sophie Dundovic

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Yes