Students recount their experiences of #InLeedsDay2017

“It is an amazing opportunity to meet and network with students and employers, and has convinced me that Leeds is a great place to stay after graduation."

Co-funded by local universities, PwC and Leeds City Council, the one-day event brings together students to visit businesses across the city to learn about the range of sectors and graduate roles that are available. This is to counter suggestions that post-graduates have to leave the North in order to develop an exciting and successful career.

The students also take part in a competition across the day centred on ‘Diversity in the Leeds City Region’, creating their own innovative ideas on how to attract and retain graduates in the region and then pitching them to industry professionals.

Hristina Tsolova, Human Resource Management student and team leader of this year's winning team on 28 November, describes her experience: “Joining InLeeds as a participant in its first run was an exciting opportunity to not only find out first-hand about employers in Leeds, but also to practice my presentation skills.

“I was lucky to be on the winning team last time, and when I found out that InLeeds was running for the second time, I jumped at the opportunity to be a team leader.

“It is an amazing opportunity to meet and network with students and employers, and has convinced me that Leeds is a great place to stay after graduation. I would encourage students to take advantage of this chance to create valuable contacts, develop their teamwork and presentation skills and discover different career opportunities across the city.”

InLeeds 2017 winning team NovemberWinning team and judges at #InLeedsDay2017 

Sally-Ann Hughes, History and Philosophy graduate, is currently working for Sagar Wright after meeting them at the March trek last year: “The day was a real insight into what is available in Leeds beyond the bigger, more well-known companies. Getting to physically see the offices of the companies helped me visualise myself in the working environment and inspired me to look further into what options were out there for Leeds graduates.

“After visiting the Sagar Wright offices as part of the trek, I got a good feel for the firm (albeit brief) and decided to find out more about recruitment as an industry. One of the ways that I did this was by networking with the firm’s employers during the evening event which motivated me to apply, resulting in securing a place.

“The chance to be involved on the day is an invaluable experience in preparing for life after University. The one way to really make the most of it is to network as much as possible because having those warm connections further down the line really is important when it comes to reaching out.”

Hristina and other participants found out about the project through the University's Careers Centre which aims to guide students in formulating and implementing well informed, realistic plans for the future.

Posted in: