Category: CV

My experience of the Postgraduate Advantage Scheme

By Abigail Cook, MSc Management

A significant aspect of my University experience this year was my involvement in the Postgraduate Advantage Scheme. This is available to all taught postgraduate students within the Faculty of Social Sciences and aims to provide work experience with organisations that may otherwise be unable to take on an intern. Each of these internships are 100 hours long, and you can receive a bursary to cover expenses.

I undertook my internship from January to March 2019 with Breast Cancer Care, the only specialist UK-wide charity which provides care, support and information to anyone affected by breast cancer. As a member of the Community Fundraising Team, I was involved with several different projects and tasks during my internship, including bucket collections and leaflet distributions in addition to office-based administrative responsibilities. However, my main role was to support the planning and delivery of the Pedal the Pennines fundraising campaign, an annual office-based cycle challenge with companies from across the UK competing against each other to cycle a virtual 350km route.

The event took place in March and was a huge success, raising almost £30,000 for Breast Cancer Care. Before and during the event, I was able to visit several different companies within Sheffield and meet all of their participating teams. The two-day event was really fun and exciting for everyone involved, and it was great to see all the hard work that we’d put in over the previous few months paying off!

The internship was an incredibly valuable and unique experience that provided me with the opportunity to develop my personal and professional skills outside of my degree. I enjoyed being involved with the local community external to the University and knowing that I was doing something worthwhile in addition to studying for my degree. I also made many long-lasting friendships within the fundraising team and enjoyed learning about the important work that the charity does.

I would highly recommend applying for the Postgraduate Advantage Scheme as it provides unique opportunities to gain valuable work experience, establish links with external organisations and enhance your CV. It’s also a great way to meet new people and explore Sheffield beyond the University.

My experience of the Postgraduate Advantage Scheme

By Nicola Hodson, MSc Marketing Management Practice

One of the many amazing opportunities you get given as a postgraduate student at Sheffield University Management School is something called the Postgraduate Advantage Scheme (PAS), which offers opportunities for students within the Faculty of Social Sciences to carry out a 100 hour long internship for an organisation in Sheffield.

I recently completed my internship as a Production and Marketing Intern for Sort Of…Films, a film and video production company in Sheffield. During my internship, I tried my hand at many things I have never done before, such as assisting on film shoots, including a shoot about women in engineering and a shoot at Sheffield Town Hall about the care system. Previously, I knew next to nothing about cameras and filming, so to be given the opportunity to learn how to do this was really interesting and fun.

The majority of my internship was spent putting together a marketing strategy for the company. This was a brilliant experience to put what I have learnt during my degree into practice and produce something meaningful for the organisation. I was given a huge amount of responsibility during this process, and can genuinely say I was extremely proud of what I produced. This experience has definitely boosted my employability and has been incredibly valuable in terms of skills I can take forwards into a job.

Sort Of…Films were great throughout my whole internship, ensuring that I felt happy with my experience every step of the way and letting me guide the internship depending on my interests. I think the Postgraduate Advantage Scheme is such a fantastic opportunity and one which has helped prepare me for my future career once leaving university.

Making the most of university

By Nicola Hodson, MSc Marketing Management Practice

There are so many things you can get involved with at university alongside your degree; from sports, to societies, to volunteering, there really is something for everyone! In this blog post, I wanted to share some of the extracurricular things I have got involved with during my time at university.

Volunteering

Getting involved with volunteering is one of the best things I have done. There are so many amazing volunteering opportunities for students, whether you’re interested in helping with conservation, animals or children, there are hundreds of options! When I saw how many opportunities there were I felt a bit overwhelmed, but the staff in the Volunteering Office found me a role that would best suit my flexibility and interests, which really helped! Volunteering is a great way of giving back to the community, gaining invaluable experience and meeting new people- if it wasn’t for my voluntary marketing role for a homeless charity in Sheffield, I wouldn’t have considered a masters or career in that area! I have also been involved in running poetry workshops for elderly individuals in sheltered housing, helped donate wasted food to a food bank and been an ambassador for Cancer Research UK- all roles which I wouldn’t have found otherwise if it wasn’t for the Volunteering Office and the helpfulness of the staff there!

Societies

Societies are such a fantastic way of making friends and pursuing your hobbies. I am a member of the Photography Society- we go on trips, such as outings to the Peaks, have talks from guest speakers who are professional photographers and to celebrate Bonfire Night, we had a go at light photography, using sparklers and fire-wool! If photography isn’t really your thing, there are so many other societies to choose from- I think the most difficult thing is making a decision about which ones to try! Why not take up something completely new you have never tried before? You never know, you could find something you love!

Internships

The Management School provides lots of opportunities to ensure you are prepared for life after university. One of these opportunities is the Postgraduate Advantage Scheme, which allows postgraduate students to take part in a 100-hour internship with an organisation in Sheffield. I have just completed my first 50 hours of an internship for a film production company- and I have absolutely loved it! I have had the opportunity to assist on shoots, and I am also helping put together a marketing strategy for the business – experience which already has provided me with skills and confidence.

Making the most of university is so important- the time will fly by, so make sure you don’t have any regrets!

Volunteering at Sheffield

By Emily Addison, MSc Occupational Psychology

The University has over 25 volunteering/fundraising societies as well as a host of volunteering opportunities available if you visit the Activities Zone in the Students’ Union.

I wanted to get involved in volunteering so that I could enhance my CV, and I can honestly say I have done so much more than that. Volunteering helps give back to the community of Sheffield as well as helping you develop new skills, make new friends and most importantly have an impact on those around you.

There are so many students at this University, the potential impact we could have on the communities around us is endless. The great thing about volunteering at Sheffield is that it can be as formal or informal as you’d like. For example, if you go through the Activities Zone and sign up to volunteer in a primary school every week, you must be committed and cannot let them down. Equally, there are a number or opportunities where even a one-off helping hand is enough.

I joined The CoppaFeel Society’s University Boob Team (UBT) in my second year at Sheffield as a volunteer. This meant that I helped at fundraising events when I could and there was no pressure to attend meetings nor help at every event. The aim of the UBT is to spread the messages of CoppaFeel on campus. To do this, the committee members and volunteers put on a wealth of fundraising events to raise money and increase awareness of CoppaFeel, so that people understand what they do and their key messages.

Joining as a volunteer meant that I could see the positive impact we were having on campus and I wanted to help even more. So, the following year I ran to be on the committee, which meant I was involved in everything that the UBT did that year; from the organisation to the running of the events, with the rest of the committee. I made so many new friends and we had so much fun while doing something for a great cause, which is why I would recommend getting involved in volunteering to everyone!

To find out more about the volunteering opportunities at Sheffield visit: https://www.sheffieldvolunteering.com/

Sport at Sheffield

By Emily Addison, MSc Occupational Psychology

At The University of Sheffield there are 58 sports clubs, so there is definitely something for everyone. Whether you are a sports newbie or an experienced player, there is a team out there waiting for you to join!

When I started my undergraduate degree at Sheffield I really wanted to join a sports team, but I didn’t know what sport to choose. Being someone who isn’t naturally sporty nor played competitively (other than in PE!!), I was apprehensive about my lack of ability and knowledge to just start a new sport. But I had no reason to be!

After three years, I finally plucked up the courage to join The University of Sheffield Women’s Basketball Club and I am now the captain of their 3rd team! Like many of the sports clubs here, there are various teams who play and compete in different levels. The women’s basketball 1st and 2nd teams are members of the BUCS League, while the 3rd team is a development team who have fewer matches and play friendlies against local teams and universities.

Me with my team!

The fact that there are so many teams for each sport means that no matter what your ability, you can join in and learn new skills. It also means that you can choose a new hobby that is as time consuming or exhausting as you’d like!

I have never looked back, if anything I regret not joining a club sooner! Here are some reasons you should get involved with Sport at Sheffield…

  1. You make new friends

Since joining a sports team, I have made so many new friends. You get to meet people who are not on your course, or even your department; but they may just be your new best pals! I know so many people who now live with their team mates, and that just shows the quality of the friendships you can make by joining in.

  1. It keeps you fit and healthy

Obviously keeping active can help your body stay fit and healthy but this can also help your academic performance! If you are in a good state of mind, and feel good about yourself, those essays won’t be as stressful!

  1. The social side

Being part of a sports team doesn’t end at training, there are social events that you can attend pretty much every week. Social events can include team nights out, film nights, awards evenings… anything you all want to do!

  1. Varsity!!    

Being in a club means you get to be involved in the famous Varsity events against our city rivals Hallam University. Varsity is such an exciting part of the Uni year, where everyone supports our athletes and you see people wearing black and gold wherever you look. Sheffield have won Varsity for six consecutive years now, which just shows you how good we are!

  1. Links to other clubs across the city

If you are a keen sports person, the University has strong links with external teams if playing in Black and Gold is not enough!

So… with 58 sports clubs to choose from, what are you waiting for? Whether you play netball or football, or want to try something completely different like ultimate frisbee or windsurfing, there is a club for you! And I guarantee you wont regret it!

If you are interested in joining a sports club, you can get information on all the sports available at Sheffield at the Sports Fair which happens at the beginning of first semester. If you are eager to find out more, take a look at the ‘Club Sport’ website before you arrive! https://www.sport-sheffield.com/club-sport

Choosing the Master’s that’s right for you

By Samuel Volpe, MSc Marketing Management Practice

The idea of a Master’s degree didn’t really cross my mind until the start of my final undergraduate year. It doesn’t always have to be your plan from the beginning, things change throughout your time at university and the horizon of its end comes all too quickly into view. In my situation I was studying a BA in English Language and Linguistics and scratching my head in terms of what to do with it and how particularly to go about it. One thing I was certain about was what route I didn’t want to go be going up, and that was back home to the north with no plan.

With English being such a broad subject I started to do some research into what career options were on offer. The buzzword that I kept being drawn to was ‘communication’. From doing this, I learned that buzzwords are helpful across all stages of job hunting; from the initial search to the interviews. From this point, I did as much research into careers in ‘communication’ as I could, reading around the area and searching through LinkedIn to see what other people were doing. Then it clicked; sitting back and thinking about it I realised what I want to do is create messages. I had been studying messages all through my undergraduate, I had been watching messages on TV, the internet, on everything really. Fitting this idea to a profession led me to marketing and advertising, the people who think of what a brand would like to portray, and work on how best to portray it.

The next step was working out how to do get there. This is where my postgraduate journey began. I wanted to specialise my then current communication skills in the real world context that marketing provided. With little marketing experience under my belt I came to the decision that an extra year to specialise and sort out my CV, packing it with experience and other activities is what I needed. That’s where University of Sheffield Management School came to the rescue with the MSc Marketing Management Practice. With a great mix of practice and theory, the course suited perfectly.

Coming to the end of my masters now, I do not regret my decision. I have enjoyed my course, specialised my skills and boosted my CV. Remember it doesn’t matter when you make your plan, it just helps if you make one! Buzzwords aren’t bad either.