Our very own Ella MacKenzie-Sly gives her personal story of joining Copello Global straight out of university….
Last week was my first full time week at Copello Global after working part time during my last few months of university. Although, I did consider having a power nap on the sofa by Thursday afternoon, I made it back this morning and I’m looking forward to getting my teeth stuck in this week, before my graduation on Thursday!
As I’m sure many of you know, it can be difficult to juggle university and part time work but everyone at Copello were extremely flexible which made my life much easier. I am particularly grateful to Becki Delll who would always check in with me and make sure I wasn’t overwhelmed with the work I had going on. I even managed to rope a few of them into proof-reading my 30-page dissertation (this was definitely Russ’s favourite job!).
It will definitely take some time to adjust to working full time, not being able to wake up at 11am, roll out of bed and stroll to a lecture, but it is really nice to have a routine and something to work towards outside of academia.
It is always scary starting a new job, but I was particularly apprehensive about being the youngest person in the office, which I’m sure is something a lot of graduates will experience. But I certainly haven’t been made to feel in anyway inferior to any other member of the team because of my age. If anything, it is nice to be surrounded by people other than your housemates, that you can learn from and ask for advice. However, I can’t promise that you won’t be quizzed about your pre-2000’s music knowledge or hear “were you born when…” at least once a day! (mentioning no names – Joel and Alastair!).
I loved my time at university and will definitely miss it, but I am really excited about getting started in a graduate role where I can progress within an amazing business (and not live off student finance!).
If any of my connections are looking for their first graduate role, feel free to drop me a message. I know it can be a stressful time but there are a lot of great roles out there at the moment that you should make the most of. Most importantly, don’t be put off applying for a position just because you don’t have 10+ years’ experience, graduates can be a great asset to any business! You never know, we might even have something at Copello you are interested in 😊
