Over 160 Students Enjoy an Inspiring STEM Women Careers Event at We The Curious in Bristol

On Wednesday 13^th November over 160 female STEM students came along to the STEM Women Bristol Community Event in the unique ‘We The Curious’.

Students from Bristol, Cardiff and Bath were invited to the inspiring event to meet with 17 top employers all looking to recruit female STEM students and graduates.

The employers exhibiting included Rolls Royce, Accenture, Edwards, Welsh Water, PwC, Willmott Dixon, KPMG, Baker Hughes, Amazon, Heathcoat Fabrics, General Dynamics, Willis Towers Watson, Intellectual Property Office, GKN Aerospace, Ministry of Defence, Nucleargraduates and Jacobs.

Set on Bristol’s beautiful harbourside, We The Curious is a venue that is hugely passionate about science, the environment and the future, so it was the perfect venue to host our STEM Women event.

Sophie Chadwick

The event began with a short introduction from STEM Women Events Manager, Sophie Chadwick, who welcomed the attendees and gave everyone a run down of the day. This was followed by a presentation and video from Rolls Royce. Campus Recruiter Stella Mosely introduced the company and outlined exactly what Rolls Royce do and the type of candidates they are looking to recruit:

“Rolls Royce is the world’s leading industrial technology company, employing 54,500 people globally. We are pioneers of cutting-edge technologies that deliver clean, safe and competitive solutions to meet our planet’s vital power needs. And we’re looking for the next generation that will take Rolls Royce further.”

Stella Mosely, Rolls Royce

After this inspirational introduction, Stella welcomed two female graduates to the stage to talk about their experience of the graduate scheme at Rolls Royce. First up was Giulia Beverino, a Manufacturing Engineering Graduate who completed her degree in Production Engineering and Management at the University of Strathclyde and applied to the Female Undergraduate of the Year Award:

“I came across the award, I applied, and I actually managed to get through to the top ten which meant I got offered an internship at Rolls Royce! A couple of years ago I was sat where you guys are now and if you had told me I would be here speaking I would probably have laughed. You never really know where life will take you, so my advice is to just do things that you’re passionate about, take those small steps and your career will slowly grow.”

Giulia Beverino, Rolls Royce

We then heard from Cristina Calero, a Graduate Engineer at Rolls Royce who spoke to the students about growing up in Spain, completing her degree in Aerospace Engineering and following her dreams:

“The best piece of advice I could give you all now is if you want something, work for it and you will achieve it. I was in Spain three years ago and I saw a video from Rolls Royce and I thought, ‘I want to do that!’ I went onto their website, researched, filled out the application, went to the assessment centre and now I’m here now in front of you all! So please, if you want something, try it and even if the first time you don’t achieve it, keep on trying because you are good enough, you have studied, so why not you!”

After these hugely motivating speeches from women working in STEM, the space was opened up for networking, with students able to move around the room and talk to a variety of top employers. A buffet style lunch was also served to the attendees featuring a delicious selection of sandwiches, snacks, cakes and refreshments.

As networking continued in the main space, we invited students to attend a number of breakout sessions. These included two Interview Skills Clinics hosted by Skills People, a LinkedIn headshots session and a roundtable discussion that focused on some STEM Women white paper research.

Both Interview Skills Clinics gave students some great tools and advice on how to format their CVs, the importance of LinkedIn and the best ways to conduct themselves in telephone, video and face-to-face interviews.

Interview Skills Clinic

There was also a roundtable discussion session where students were invited to sit in groups and debate a range of topics surrounding gender pay gap reports, imposter syndrome, the importance of diversity initiatives and how they see the gender balance in STEM industries changing in the future.

Constanza, a Civil Environmental Engineering student at the University of Cardiff came to the event to hear more about placement opportunities:

“As a woman I think it’s important to build a community around you and really learn about what companies want and what you can give them. I was given some really great advice today about staying positive and thinking we can achieve things if we put our heart into it. So, I’m just going to keep working hard and follow my dreams.”

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The day ended with a LinkedIn headshot session, where students were able to have a number of professional profile pictures taken to use on their LinkedIn accounts.

At STEM Women, we couldn’t be happier with how the event went and we can’t wait to host our final events in Dublin and London!

Kate, a recruiter for PwC, shared some of the reasons why her company attend STEM Women events: ‘When I walked through the door, it was really inspiring how many women there was. At PwC we need more students who study STEM at university because we need the diversity of approach, we are not looking for one type of person.”

If you’re a student looking to come along and join the fun, check out our events page and register for a ticket to one of our upcoming events! You can also become a STEM Women member and hear news of our upcoming events first.

Are you an employer looking to exhibit and talk at one of our events? Get in touch with our team today and be part of the next STEM Women event.