A Day in the Life of Warwick Women’s Careers Society
Welcome to Sanctuary Graduates’ ‘Day in the Life’ series. In this series, we sit down with our extensive on campus networks and connections to discuss their work, what projects they may be working on amidst COVID-19, as well as how they individually are doing during lockdown. We hope that through this series, you will gain a better insight into how our networks work, who they are, and what we do with them as a graduate recruitment agency.
In this instalment, we sit down with Aiynah Hazni from the University of Warwick’s Women’s Careers Society to discuss what they’re working on as a society, how COVID-19 has affected this work, and what they want employers and other students to know.
What do you do for Warwick Women’s Careers Society on a typical day? Have these daily activities changed with COVID-19?
“As a society, we… want to ensure that we stay engaged with our members, especially in these trying times. That is why we make sure we post any opportunities found or any interesting posts on a daily basis on our social media. We also email a weekly newsletter called Women’s Weekly to our members”.
What does your society do typically for its members?
Here, Aiynah tells us about an impressive array of workshops, mentorship schemes, and opportunity advertising:
“We are very active on social media to engage with our members more. Every time we receive an opportunity by our partners/sponsors which would be beneficial to our members, we post them on our Instagram and Facebook pages. We also send out a weekly newsletter called Women’s Weekly, which we post career opportunities and announce any important news for our members. On campus, we normally organise events with our partners and sponsors such as workshops and presentations for our members to gain information regarding the company’s application process or to increase skills in general. We also have weekly CV clinics to help guide our members to build more competitive CVs from our successful exec members. Other than that, we host the WoMentorship scheme, which is a mentorship scheme for our members to be paired up with female mentors from companies.”
For any society, this is an impressive array of support in helping its members secure internships, placements, and graduate roles. When asked how members can join, Aiynah told us membership is free! One simple need to sign up through the Warwick Student Union website.
Do you work with any brands in particular?
“We’ve recently partnered with Sleek Technique, Women Societies Alliance, Project Access, and Love the Oceans.
In the past, we’ve collaborated with many corporate companies as well such as Morgan Stanley, Accenture, Jane Street, HSBC, JP Morgan and many more!”
What have been the best ways employers/recruiters have worked with your society in the past?
“We mainly organise events with our partners and sponsors, by having career-related workshops, case study competitions, and presentations. We also invite them to become speakers for our annual Warwick Women’s Summit, at which they are able to share their experiences and tips for a successful career/application. Also, [it’s great when they] email us any student opportunities that we could advertise through our social media and newsletters”.
How do you want to work with employers and recruiters in the future?
“Conduct a minimum of 1 event per term and preferably provide mentorship to our members. [It would also be ideal] for… [employers] to join our annual summit as sponsors or speakers”.
What recommendations do you have for employers/recruiters on how to engage your society and its members?
“Employers must truly engage with society members over a variety of platforms and using innovative methods such as ‘breakfast with’ events, an exclusive office visit, or online webinars. The engagement should be more wholesome and innovative rather than basic employer presentation”.
Aiynah aptly identifies that this will allow for innovative engagement, which we see time and again leads to a better understanding of your brand, its values, and your opportunities that stand out from competitors.
Do you have any projects in particular you’re working on you want people to know about?
“Every year, we host the amazing Warwick Women’s Summit, at which we invite prestigious speakers across many industries, such as finance, politics, charities, tech etc. We are currently in the process of making it bigger than ever, and would be very delighted if anyone, no matter male or female, would join our summit next year”.
We hope this has given you a better insight into what some societies are doing amidst the pandemic, with Warwick Women’s Careers Society continuing to impress with their activities! Do you have any questions Warwick Women’s Careers Society? Do you wish to discuss our various other partner societies and campus connections we will be highlighting in this series? Please do get in touch, we’d love to hear from you!
