The English Society and Mission Employable – with a forthcoming event!
Hello all,
I’m Francesca Rock, a second year English literature and French student here at the University of Southampton. At the end of my first year of University I decided I wanted to get more involved with university life and nominated myself as Welfare Officer for the English Society. I won the position in the elections and as a result have had the opportunity to participate in Mission Employable. Charlotte Medland and Verity Smith contacted EngSoc and asked if we would like to be a part of the Working Group and create our own employability events, a role which I gladly accepted.
At the start of semester one our society decided that we would like to hold an event with an alumni panel of previous Southampton University English students, working in the fields that English undergraduates aspire to. As a committee, we were all excited to create an event that would allow for networking and give both fellow students and ourselves an insight into the possible career paths that come out of an English degree.
However, my initial excitement was soon replaced by disappointment as the plans we had made to hold the event in December were dashed. Several of the contacts we had approached were unable to attend on the planned date, despite their interest in such an event. Following several meetings with Charlotte, Dr Eleanor Quince, and representatives from Career Destinations, we were able to come up with a new plan of action, which has resulted in a confirmed event for Thursday 26th February 2015.
Four months ago I felt quite daunted by the prospect of creating and hosting an event for my fellow students, and now with three weeks until the event I have five fantastic speakers confirmed and hope the evening will be a great success. Our speakers range from Helena Sheffield, a Sales Executive at Harper Collins to Tom Brown, a current PhD student at the University, who has already published a successful novel Lynnwood. We will also have speakers working in Journalism, Marketing, and Communications. The event is open to all Humanities students and will be held on Avenue Campus on Thursday 26th February 2015, 6-8pm. The alumni panel will include a Q&A session, followed by a wine reception in the café where there will be a chance to network and speak to alumni and University lecturers.
I’m looking forward to the evening as it will be a great opportunity to make contacts and gain invaluable advice as to how we can make our way in the world of work when we leave the Southampton University bubble!