Heather Dorrell
Why I applied
I applied for the Graduate Management Training Scheme after studying for my MA at the University and falling in love with environment. I was unsure what I wanted to do after completing my Masters but I knew that I wanted to pursue a career within Higher Education. The Scheme appealed to me because it seemed to be the perfect option for someone without that prior experience of working in the sector to gain a good understanding of how it all works, and the huge amount of different opportunities available within HE. It seemed like a great way to get a broad range of experiences to then enable me to decide which direction I wanted to go in in the longer term.
Highlights
For me, one of the best things about the scheme is the range of development opportunities that are built into it. I feel that it has enabled me to progress much more quickly, particularly due to the challenging nature of the placements, and opportunities to work with and present to senior colleagues. As part of this, I’ve felt trusted and encouraged to reach outside of my comfort zone, and it’s bolstered my confidence in my capabilities and potential.
The need to quickly get going with a sometimes daunting assignment has been a valuable learning curve.
Challenges
It’s not always easy to get to grips with a completely new area, function or task, which trainees typically have little (if any) prior experience of before being given particular objectives. There is a real need to hit the ground running and put typical fears aside in order to acclimatise quickly to unfamiliar tasks. This became easier with each placement and was a good lesson that sometimes people hold themselves back by feeling that they may not be able to do certain things. The need to quickly get going with a sometimes daunting assignment has been a valuable learning curve.
Placements
Student Communications
Student Communications
Development of a campaign promoting the range of mental health and wellbeing services available for students at the University. Supporting the delivery of the first annual Student Comms survey.
Business Engagement
Business Engagement
Working across the institution to understand Knowledge Exchange training, and to provide recommendations to improve provision as part of the Knowledge Exchange Framework action plan.
IT
IT
Establishing the current level of digital skills training available across the University. Developing a set of recommendations to enhance the training offer to support staff and students with their digital skills.
University Graduate School/Strategic Change
University Graduate School/Strategic Change
Working with stakeholders across the University to understand current provision of student experience initiatives and activities available to Postgraduate Taught students. Developing a set of recommendations to enhance PGT student experience, and implementing those recommendations.