Could you be an Undergraduate of the Year? The TargetJobs Undergraduate of the Year Awards are widely recognised by graduate recruiters.
The TargetJobs Undergraduate of the Year Awards is an annual competition aimed at finding the best undergraduates in the UK. Each award is partnered by a prominent graduate recruiter who provides a fantastic prize for the winner, which could include a paid internship, a trip abroad or other exclusive opportunities.
Yasmin Coffey is a current Management student at the University of St Andrews. Yasmin won The Management Undergraduate of the Year Award in 2022.
In this post, Yasmin talks about what motivated her to apply, the application process and her reflections on the experience.
“You’ve got to be in it to win it”
Why did you apply?
Yasmin Coffey
Looking online for internship inspiration in the summer led me to find the Management Undergraduate of the Year award. I remember thinking how incredibly talented you must be to even apply for the awards, let alone to win.
Over dinner I mentioned the awards to my family, who encouraged me to apply, as my Grandad says, “you’ve got to be in it to win it”. So, when the time came that applications opened, I decided to push myself and embrace my Grandad’s attitude to give it a go, what was the worst that could happen? I never even considered the best case being that I would win the awards!
What did the application process involve?
Initial application
The initial application involved writing a 500-word piece about myself as well as completing SHL psychometric testing. This online testing was what I was most nervous about as I had never done anything like them before, so I was unsure about what to expect. However, the practice tests helped to relieve my concerns, I answered everything honestly without overthinking too much about what the questions wanted. I think this worked to my advantage as every response revealed my actual feeling, rather than me over analysing what my responses should be. This seemed to work well as, to my surprise, I was emailed to say I had made it to the Top 60.
Telephone interview
Then came the telephone interview. This was my first interaction with someone from the Enterprise team, so I was quite nervous. However, I had watched the workshop video that we had been sent to give some tips about how to be successful, the main take away I had was ‘be yourself’, which was reassuring to hear as I could do that!
Before the interview I researched Enterprise and the culture that they have created, this was super helpful within the interviews. I really resonated with their impact within making positive changes for social mobility as well as female empowerment. Throughout my time at the University of St Andrews I have been interested in both of these pursuits, as well working towards attaining my management degree. This has led to me working within societies that tackle these issues, so finding out Enterprise was a top social mobility employer as well as one of the Times Top 50 female employers really sparked me passion for working with Enterprise. Hence, one tip I have for the competition would be to find out what Enterprise do that really resonates with you (there’s a lot to choose from), as you can ‘Be yourself’ and discuss the things that really matter to you! Using this knowledge, I was able to show my enthusiasm for both the award and Enterprise, which led to me being lucky enough to make the Top 40 and attend the assessment centre.
The assessment centre
Having never been to an assessment centre before, I was really unsure about what to expect but since I had a very early start to travel from St Andrews to London it meant I had lots of time to do some last-minute preparation.
Arriving at the building I started to feel nervous, questioning if I should be there – but I knew I had come this far so I decided to give it my best shot and gain as much as I can from the experience.
After meeting everyone at the assessment centre I felt so much better about the process, I loved chatting to the other students who applied, I learnt so much from them throughout the day too.
The assessments consisted of:
a group task
leading a morning meeting, and
a final interview.
My advice for these would be to just get involved as much as you can. I was really scared to say something wrong in the group task and felt the imposter syndrome slowly creeping in. However, I pushed myself to participate and really got involved with the discussions, which was the best thing I could have done as it showed what I can do whilst helping group conversations develop.
Everyone is a little apprehensive, but the best advice I have is to be the person who goes out of their comfort zone, really throw yourself into the experience – those are the people they remember!
Leaving the assessment centre, I really had no idea of how I had done because everyone there was talented, but I was happy to have had the experience regardless of what happened next.
The assessment centre is invaluable for future employment, as you experience how internships and graduate jobs recruit, so you will be much more prepared for these!
The final stage
A couple of weeks after the assessment centre I received a call from Sam informing me I had successfully made it to the final Top 10! I was so surprised to have made to the final stage, (I even asked if she was sure it was definitely me), but I was so excited to have the opportunity to attend the final celebrations of the awards in Canary Wharf.
The final was a huge celebration of all of the Targetjobs awards, but it was also a huge opportunity to network with inspirational peers and really insightful industry professionals.
I loved the final as it also was a time to really step back and celebrate everyone who had made it through to the Top 10 successfully, a huge achievement in itself!
The Enterprise team that attended were all so friendly. I really enjoyed being able to spend the day learning more about their journeys within Enterprise. After dinner the winners of the awards started to be announced, along with it came my nerves as we edged closer the Management award.
Being announced as the winner was unbelievable. I never imagined I would be the winner!
Enterprise choosing me as the winner gave me a huge sense of encouragement and belief in myself that I could do this and any other goal I set myself! The experience alone was incredibly beneficial gaining insights, skills, and knowledge about the recruitment process.
Final reflections
Reflecting on the experience, the best thing I took away was confidence, within myself to tackle the recruitment process, but also within my own abilities. I am beyond excited to be able to work with Enterprise for my summer placement and cannot wait to see what the future holds!
To anyone thinking of applying to the awards, I cannot recommend enough that you give it a go, you never know where it might lead! There is no set amount of experience or expertise you need to apply, just a little belief in yourself can take you a lot further than you ever thought.
As my Grandad says, “you’ve got to be in it to win it”.
