Event Review – UK Online STEM Women Graduate Careers Event – 28th June 2023

On Wednesday 28th June we ran our UK Online STEM Women Graduate Careers Event. The event attracted 8 exhibiting employers and just under 500 attendees!

The event began at 12.00pm with a welcome talk from STEM Women events host, Sophie Chadwick, followed by presentations from two employers. During the day, attendees could network with employers via webchat and video call, browse company stalls and apply for opportunities.

The Speaker Sessions

Our first employer insight session began at 12.05pm with Ioana Topler speaking about her career journey spanning 16 years at IBM. Ioana described her progression from university to the IBM graduate programme, gaining experience throughout the business before becoming a Principal Architect.

Ioana shared some fascinating insights, highlighting the importance of saying ‘yes’ to new opportunities, even when this might push you out of your comfort zone, and taking the chance to learn new skills. She recommended that students and recent graduates demonstrate their curiosity, such as a genuine interest in AI, and her key piece of advice was to tell yourself that ‘you are smarter than you think you are’ when faced with challenges in STEM.

Following this, the audience heard a further insight talk from Cassandra Kauer, Senior Mechanical Engineer / Operational Performance and Quality Manager at IPS. The title of Cassandra’s talk was “Planning will get you so far; Being open to changes, ideas and opportunities will get you further”.

In this session, Cassandra spoke about her career journey, experiencing a range of organisations and working cultures through ‘co-ops’ which were part of her university degree programme, before moving into graduate roles. She explained how consulting works, and highlighted the importance of planning whilst building in flexibility to ensure customer satisfaction.

Cassandra’s advice to viewers was to use LinkedIn to grow your professional network, and to reassure yourself that your career goals will work out in the end, despite the challenging nature of many STEM disciplines.

Fantastic Feedback

“The speaker sessions were definitely my favourite part of the virtual event as I got to learn so much about the employers, the company and personal experiences and recommendations they had for current students.” – Computer Science student, Queen Mary University of London

Join us at STEM Women Event!

We run a range of industry-specific, general STEM and location-specific events each year. Our Autumn events programme will cover Birmingham, Belfast, Dublin, Glasgow, Leeds, London and Manchester.

If you’re a student looking to register for your free ticket, take a look at our events line up – www.stemwomen.com/events , and follow us on LinkedIn, Instagram, Twitter and Facebook for event updates.

If you’re an employer interested in exhibiting at an upcoming event, please don’t hesitate to get in touch with Event Sales Manager, Lauren Jenkins by emailing laurenj@stemwomen.com or visit our website www.stemwomen.com.