AWB 2016-17 Committee

The driving force of Aston Women in Business is 7 highly motivated ladies – read on to find out more about this year’s committee members.

President: Aneesah Ayaz

Why I joined Aston Women in Business?

Help students achieve their potential by offering something quite unique that is career focused.

3 Facts About Me

• Placement Year at Goldman Sachs
• Professional Henna Artist with over 200+ clients.
• Huge Manchester United Fan!

Vice President: Ellie Cooper

Why I joined Aston Women in Business?

To be part of something special and to give others access to some incredible opportunities.

3 Facts About Me

• Placement Year in the Market Research Office
• Coordinated an event for Maybank, the largest bank in Malaysia
• Terrified of Birds!

Relationship Manager: Kavita Mardania

Why I joined Aston Women in Business?

I feel very passionately about creating a strong professional network which enables women at Aston to succeed in their careers.

3 Facts About Me

• Industrial placement year at Microsoft
• Spent £1000 on laser hair removal for my lower legs which are now as smooth as ever.
• I love food with a passion!

Digital Marketing Manager: Camilla Drema

Why I joined Aston Women in Business?

Joined so I could be part of a community that thrived on empowering women in and out of the workforce.

.3 Facts About Me

• For Placement Year studied for 6 months in New York and did a Marketing internship in London for the other 6 months
• First person in my family to be born in England as my family comes from a mixture of mainly Polish, Lithuania and Belarus
• President of Aston Waves Surf Club in Second Year.

Promotional Marketing Manager: Kyra Allen

Why I joined Aston Women in Business?

To meet like minded girls and better my career prospects by improving networking skills

.3 Facts About Me

• Completed a Placement Year in Germany with HPE
• Won best Overall student on the Joint Honours Business Course in First Year
• Events Manager for UNICEF in Second Year

Events Manager: Emily Bradbury

Why I joined Aston Women in Business?

I wanted to be part of a society that actively cared for what they were doing by helping others achieve more throughout the year, professionally and personally.

.3 Facts About Me

• Completed my placement at IBM working as a RFS manager for Boots
• Love swimming, swam the channel in a team event for charity
• Love skiing!

Events Manager: Rameen Waqar

Why I joined Aston Women in Business?

I wanted to join a welcoming society that promotes gender equality and ticked all the boxes of what a professional society should be like.

.3 Facts About Me

• Would love to do a Placement abroad (which I’m going to start applying for soon)
• Got the opportunity to do work experience at Sky this summer
• I Love Cooking and Baking!

 

Facebook: @Astonwomeninbusiness

Twitter: @AWB_Aston

Instagram: @Astonwomeninbusiness

Email: union.womeninbusiness@aston.ac.uk

Event: Consult the Woman in You, 25th March

In partnership with FactSet, we present to you our most unique and exciting event of Term 2.

“Consult the Woman in You” offers insight into the unique journeys taken by women in industry – unveiling how each individual story has shaped and moulded the paths they have taken in today to lead successful careers.

You will hear from several inspirational guest speakers, including Helen Higson OBE (Vice Chancellor of Aston University) and various other high profile organisations.

Date: 25th March 2015
Time: 4pm-6pm
Room: TBC
Food and drinks provided

Limited spaces, please sign up quickly! https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/consult-the-woman-in-you-unveiling-the-journey-factset-awb-tickets-16082592467

Q&A with your AWB Committee

Sharena Sivlal
Age: 23
Course: BSc Business and Management
Placement / Work: Microsoft UK, Sales Solution Professional for FTSE 250 customers
Female Role Model: Malala Yousifazi (17 year old activist)/Beyonce Knowles
Highlight of the AWB Year: #ItWasAllADream Great committee, Great members, Great events, Great speakers
Most embarrassing moment: It took me around 30-40 takes to get my lines correct for the Promo video, which meant I featured a lot in the Out Take video too.

Klejda Cupi

Age: 19

Course: Business and Management
Placement / Work: Jack Wills
Female Role Model: Gabrielle Bonheur Chanel (Coco Chanel)
Highlight of the AWB Year: Tickets being Sold out, Being asked about our committee and hearing amazing compliments!
Most embarrassing moment: Mistaking my Tesco’s Club Card for my Bank Card and try to pay with it!

Nishanta Balasubramaniam

Age: 26
Course: International business management
Placement: BMCE Bank International
Female role model: Indira Ghandhi
Highlight of the AWB Year: Joining AWB
Most embarrassing moment: Spraining my ankle in the middle of a club dancing to Beyonce 711

Amy Sahota
Age: 22
Course: Business and Psychology
Placement/Work: Aston University
Female Role Model: Angelina Jolie
Highlight of the AWB Year : Having an overwhelming number of sign ups at Freshers fair as well as the continued support for our society
Most embarrassing moment: When my hairdresser made my highlights bleach blonde and having to wait a week before it could be put right

Ellie cooper
Age: 19
Course: Business and Management
Placement: Currently Applying
Female role model: Audrey Hepburn
Highlight of the AWB year: the unwavering support for our society and the amazing events we have managed to pull off
Most Embarrassing moment: Too awesome for embarrassing moments 🙂

Victoria Gittings
Age: 22
Course: BSc Business and Management
Placement/Work: Enterprise Rent-A-Car, Management Trainee
Female Role Model: My mum
Highlight of the AWB Year: AWB’s first committee meeting when I got to know the girls!
Most embarrassing moment: A customer tripped me up when on placement and it was caught on CCTV so everyone in the office kept replaying it!

Sheena Kotadia
Age: 21
Course: Business and Management
Placement / Work: IBM
Female Role Model: Previous mentor
Highlight of the AWB Year: Freshers Fair and the Welcome Talk – amazing support from members and fellow students!
Most embarrassing moment: Getting egged and floured on my birthday in front the whole school

Golden Rules from Recruiters at Enterprise Rent-A-Car

Julia Speed and Gabriella Ragno from the Enterprise Rent-A-Car Talent Acquisition team in the West Midlands visited the Women in Business Society from Aston University last week, to share best practices and recruitment process, right from before you apply for a job and preparing for your application, right through to the final stages of the recruitment process.

Research is key:

Doing your research on a company before applying is extremely important. How do you know that you are going to fit in to the company’s values and principles if you have not previously researched them? There are many ways in which to research a company, this research and understanding is known as ‘commercial awareness’. Commercial awareness is a term that refers to a candidate’s knowledge of the business and it’s industry. It shows commitment to the company too. There are many things you can do to develop commercial awareness such as read up on the company’s website, reading recent press releases relevant to the company, as a bare minimum google the company. Social media is an up to date way to engage with employees who work for the company and a way of keeping up to date with a company by following them (on LinkedIn, Twitter etc.)

The graduate recruitment and selection process:

Application and selection will differ slightly from company to company, but generally all graduate recruiters will start with an online application or CV upload. It’s important to get these checked over before you hit the send button, as bad spelling and grammar can be off-putting for a recruiter when reading through an application or CV.

Telephone interview or Psychometric testing

So the recruiter liked your application? Brilliant – on to the next stage. For Enterprise Rent-A-Car, this is a telephone screen. Phone screens are an efficient use of time and resources and are used as a screening process. This will be the first time you speak to anyone from the company, so ensure that you come across professional, knowledgeable and enthusiastic. Have some questions to ask – it shows your interest in the company and that you have done some research. Getting yourself into the mind-set you are sitting an interview (which you are, even though you are not in front of a recruiter) will ultimately ensure you perform better.

Psychometric testing is another form of a screening process, and is usually done online. Don’t let these tests let you down. You can practice with online practice papers, or ask your careers service as they will be able to provide you with practice papers themselves. Make sure you read each question carefully and move on to the next one if you are unsure – especially if it is timed.

Face to face/recruiter interview.

The next stage may be an interview with a recruiter, face to face. Some companies will go straight from to application to this stage. For a face to face interview there are some things you should consider: Make sure you have a professional, clean and tidy appearance. If you don’t know what the dress code is – ASK. Not only is it important to know the company you are applying for, knowing yourself is vital, and by looking at your experiences (work, university, hobbies, interests) you can determine what skills you have, what are your strengths and what you need to improve on. Use these examples when giving answers in an interview, and make sure your answers are coherent and structured. We recommend using the STAR (situation, task, action and response) method when giving answers. Make sure you are aware of the competencies the company you are applying for, so you can tailor your answers to the competencies. It will show the recruiter you have done your research.

Assessment centres

Most graduate recruiters will use assessment centres in one form or another in their selection process. Candidates attending an assessment centre will partake in a variety of specially designed exercises which allow them to demonstrate how their skills and aptitudes correlate with those required to perform the role. Obviously, different companies will carry out different assessment centre activities. A lot of the time the tasks will be based on the company and the job you are applying for, so doing research on the company is again, a useful tool in being prepared for the assessments. These activities could consist of group exercises, in-tray exercises, role plays, interviews, presentations and psychometric testing, amongst other things. Don’t forget the social side too – you will be assessed right from the moment you walk through the door to the moment you leave, so ensure that you remain professional throughout the process. So with that in mind, remember that the assessment centre tasks are there to judge how well you exhibit the required behaviours of the job you are applying for.

Golden rules for the recruitment process:

1. Dress to impress throughout
2. Do your research!
3. Ensure you have questions to ask
4. Seek feedback
5. Be you, but you at your best
6. Stay enthusiastic and positive throughout

BLOOPERS

Summary of Term 1 AWB Events

So we have been pretty busy so far this term! Big thanks to all of the guest speakers, companies and members who attended – lots more to come!

Freshers Fair 2014

Welcome Talk – 7th October

Careers Roundtable with speakers from Aldi and RateMyPlacement – 27th Oct

    

Self Defence Workshop – 29th Oct

Enterprise Rent-A-Car: Application Process Workshop – 30th Oct

 

 

AWB goes to the NEC National Graduate Recruitment Exhibition – 8th Nov

 

Our next event: IBM: How to get ahead in the workplace 26th Nov

5 tips for starting your job search

Getting started is always the hardest – but once you take the first steps you are well on your way. Beginning the job search, whether it be for a placement, summer internship or a graduate role, it always feels like a huge mountain to climb and your face looks a little bit like this:

But not if you have a handy guide to point you in the right direction:

Tip 1: What do you want to do?

This is always tricky, because rarely any of us in university know exactly what we want to do.

But we usually have a pretty good idea of what we don’t want to do. Start with that – begin ruling out the types of roles / industries / companies that you wouldn’t want to work for. Does it interest you? Do you understand what they do?

Now with whats left – start looking deeper. Its important to look at what you enjoy doing and where your strengths are, this will also help to narrow down the list. I found this diagram pretty handy:

Some companys offer schemes in general management with a rotation around several departments – perfect for those of you who are still unsure.

 

Tip 2: Make use of job boards – Milkround, TargetJobs etc

These websites are designed to make our lives easier – they have tips on CV writing, through to information on what it’s like to work in certain industries to specific company profiles. Spend some time taking a look through these, and use the information to decide which companys / industries interest you the most.

Once you see something you like the sound of, you are more motivated to get that dream job.

 

Tip 3: Make a spreadsheet

The most effective form of getting yourself organised – make a spreadsheet (*yawn* yes I know they are very boring but in this case extremely useful!)

Now that you have an idea of where to begin looking for roles, you need to record this information. Set it up as follows:

Column 1: The company name

Column 2: The role title

Column 3: The deadline for the application

Column 4: The website link

Column 5: Have you completed the application or not

 

Tip 4: Set targets

Don’t apply to every company – remember it only takes one awesome application to get that awesome job. So read through their schemes properly, consider your top 5 and spend time researching and tailoring your application to what the company is looking for. Dont be the candidate that rushes to send out 15 applications and gets 15 rejection emails in return.

Next, set a target for when you plan to get these applications written and sent. It’s a good idea to select one day each week specifically for applications.

 

Tip 5: Save your answers!

Some of these companys have an online application form – be sure to write out your answer on a Word doc first. This ensures you are spellchecked and you have a copy for future reference should you need to refer to it in an interview.

Good luck!

By Sheena Kotadia

Careers Roundtable with Aldi and RateMyPlacement – 27th October

Careers Roundtable with speakers from Aldi and RateMyPlacement. Hear about their opportunities, have a chat with us around your future career, don’t forget to bring your CV!

Sign up here, limited spaces: http://bit.ly/1t8gJBZ

Events List for the rest of Term 1:

How to stand out at a Careers Fair

A couple of tips to get a head at a Careers Fair:

Tip 1 – Plan your visit and give yourself enough time to research the companies that are attending.

Tip 2 – Pick your top 8-12 companies and do some research. For example: what do they do? What areas of the companies suit you? What degrees do they recruit from?

Tip 3 – Dress code: Smart causal. Dress to impress as first impressions is everything. You never know the recruiter might remember you.

Tip 4 – Ask Questions!

1. What qualities do you look for?
2. What is a typical day for a placement/graduate student?
3. What is the company culture like?
4. what is the recruitment process like?
5. What types of projects could I get involved in?
6. What training and development opportunities are available for me?
7. What do you see as the biggest challenge facing the company/sector?

Tip 5 – KNOW YOURSELF

What degree modules are you studying linking to the job your applying for?

What skills do I have?

What experiences have I done?

The recruiter might as you some questions on the spot.

RECAP:

• Allow time and prep
• Research companies
• Dress to impress
• Ask Questions
• Know yourself

 

Make sure you take:

• Notepad
• CV
• Pen
• Business Cards (if you have any)

Be ready to also add the recruiter or graduate on Linked In – so sort your LinkedIn out.

And the year begins – over 300 sign ups and a cringe worthy promo video

Following a successful Freshers Fair and Welcome Talk, so far we have received a whopping 300 sign ups and 75 society members. Not bad for the newbies 🙂 Overwhelmed with the support and positive feedback from Aston students  in such a short space of time, it was amazing to hear that most had already heard about AWB! The power of social networking enabled our message to find the right ears.

Its been a busy week – every committee member focused and determined. To go that extra mile, we also planned, filmed and edited a promotional video in just 3 days (with much appreciated assistance from a fellow student ). Although we cringe every time we watch it, we wanted to share with you what the society is about and why you should join.

Enjoy 🙂