How did you find out about EmployAbility?
My Mum actually found EmployAbility whilst I was applying directly to companies for Internships. The best part that sold it to me was the support in your applications and getting feedback on your application/CV.
How were EmployAbility able to help you?
Through EmployAbility I actually received two offers for internships for summer 2013. I had help throughout my application process and I chatted through my dyslexia with some of the staff at employability who helped me phrase what help I needed.
Where was your placement and what was it like?
After offers from both the National Audit Office and BNY Mellon I chose an internship in HR at BNY Mellon. It was brilliant I got a fantastic introduction to the financial services and was then invited back for the graduate programme too. As someone who studied archaeology I was quite nervous when I first started not knowing anything about financial services at all but everyone was more than willing to give up their time and explain things to me. When I interviewed for the graduate programme I actually used my dyslexia in a competency based interview and my interviewer had known me for 2 months and hadn’t guessed at all that I was dyslexic!
Where are you now and what advice would you give to any disabled students who are looking for jobs/placements?
I’m now a Compliance Officer for a Hedge Fund , Markham Re and about to start a part time (LLM) Masters in Financial Services Law, Regulation and Compliance. I would advise people to take help when it’s offered. Its very easy to try and do everything yourself whether disabled or not but when offered advice and help take it as it might save you time as a minimum or be the opening of a door that wasn’t there before. I’d also say don’t assume you know what you want to do. Who knows where you’ll end up I’ve gone from BA Archaeology to wanting to get into HR, to thinking I wanted a sales role to actually finding my niche in Compliance.
At EmployAbility we work with disabled university students and graduates to ease the transition from education into employment. To take advantage of these opportunities, the first step is to register with us. You can also contact us with any specific queries.