What Do You Actually Do?

In this episode, Kate meets Flora Palmer. Flora is a current University of York student who is on placement year at the Walt Disney Company, working on production and operations for National Geographic.Flora describes her role, the skills and qualities she has developed and how this experience has helped her shape her future career ideas. Kate and Flora also discuss taking the initiative and going for a goal!Flora's BioI’m Flora, I’m an undergrad History of Art student, currently working in Production and Operations with National Geographic at the Walt Disney Company. I love art, history and film, and am looking to work in the art sector when I graduate! Useful links and transcript

Kate is  joined by Juany Murphy, who is Director of International Relations at the Otra Cosa Network, an International Development charity and alongside her, is one of her volunteers, Kate Geraghty. They discuss the satisfaction of making an impact with their work coupled against the precarious nature of funding for international development. Juany and Kate also share their tips and advice for breaking into this sector.Juany's BioNGO - Founder and Director of Otra Cosa Network (OCN) with many years’ experience of creating and implementing sustainable development projects in Latin America. Skilled and experienced manager of people and resources, able to work alone or in a team, at an operational or strategic level.Consultant working in international development, with specific expertise in education, health promotion, women’s and girls’ rights programming within a range of organisations, including project management and volunteer service programs. Country experience in UK, Peru, Brazil and Mozambique.Useful links and transcript

The Art Loss Register is the world's largest private database of stolen, missing and looted art, antiques and collectables. It currently lists over 700,000 items.In this episode Kate chats to Charlotte Chambers Farah who works as the Global Art Fair and Auction House Manager. We've got Lucy O'Meara, the Recoveries and Art Finance Manager and James Ratcliffe, who is Mediator, General Counsel and Director of Recoveries at the Art Loss Register.They discuss how their studies and experience impacted their career paths, what their advice and tips are for students aspiring to a career in the art world plus the exciting recent return of a lost panel to York Art Gallery and the Art Loss Register's part in that!

In this episode, Kate chats to George Young. George graduated in History and undertook the Change 100 internship programme which matches graduates with any disability or long term condition with progressive employers. Through the programme, George secured an internship with the NHS Confederation working in the People and Culture department. George and Kate discuss the process of applying for the programme, using transferable skills and George's thoughts on how their disabilities have impacted their career. Useful links and transcript

Kate chats to Laura Gravini-Rodriguez who is a senior associate with DAI, a large employee owned International Development company.  Laura gives us an insight into her role and the many routes into International Development work. She explains the personal qualities she feels are key to her work and the skills she developed as an international student in the UK. Laura and Kate also discuss the evolving challenges facing the future of international development work Laura's Bio Laura is a Colombian alumni from Class 2021 of the University of York. Since graduating from university, Laura has had the opportunity to work across various teams, dimensions, and sectors in international development, including business development, project management, knowledge management, and strategy development, focused on the delivery of projects in sustainable value chain development, climate and gender finance, and financial inclusion. Useful links and transcript

Kate is joined today by Faz Kazmi. Faz graduated in Economics and Finance and now works as a Vertical Launch Grants Manager at the UK Space Agency. Listen as Faz reveals what his day to day looks like. He also talks about the breadth of roles within this sector for graduates from all degree disciplines plus his tips on how to develop your skills and gain insights to help you break into the Space sector.   Faz's Bio:  After graduating from York, I joined Meta's risk management and intelligence team, where I analysed social media trends. Recently, I moved to the UK Space Agency, where I manage government-funded grants to facilitate rocket launches from British soil.   Useful links: UK Space Agency: ⁠https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/uk-space-agency⁠  UK Space Careers: ⁠https://spacecareers.uk/home⁠  European Space Agency: ⁠https://www.esa.int/About_Us/Careers_at_ESA⁠  Active debris removal: ⁠https://www.gov.uk/government/case-studies/space-sustainability⁠  ⁠https://www.esa.int/Space_Safety/Space_Debris/Active_debris_removal⁠  Space Sustainability employer: ⁠https://astroscale.com/about-astroscale/about/⁠  Careers in finance and consultancy: ⁠https://www.york.ac.uk/students/work-volunteering-careers/ideas/sectors/finance/⁠ 

Kate chats to York graduate Cezara Jalba about her role as a Control, Electrical & Instrumentation Design Engineer at the Sellafield site, which is part of the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority. They discuss what her role entails, key skills, how Cezara's degree helped to prepare her for this role and what she loves about her job and the bits that she doesn't love quite so much. Cezara's Bio I am an engineer on a mission: to solve problems and make the world a better, safer and more efficient place. I specialize in driving innovative solutions for nuclear decommissioning and remediation projects in the civil nuclear industry. My expertise lies in delivering design packages that include control systems, robotics, and instrumentation; systems engineering; site asset management; and delivering digital transformation initiatives that redefine industry standards. Passionate about leveraging technology to put more people out of harm's way and deliver the mission of cleaning up the UK's old nuclear sites faster, safer, cheaper. Links: Sellafield careers, grad schemes and placement year Nuclear Decommissioning Authority Environmental and Energy related careers Engineering and manufacturing sector Jobs and internships in Electronics, Energy, Engineering and more! A transcript of this conversation can be found in the Resources section on Handshake

Listen as Kate chats to Molly Watson about her past life working as a BBC News Journalist and her recent career change. She currently works as a Media and Communications Officer focusing on the impact of food on climate change. In this conversation, they discuss the similarities and differences between journalism and a communications role, leaving your comfort zone to make a career change and also Molly's thoughts on what personal qualities are helpful for a career in journalism or communications. Molly's Bio I'm a media and communications officer working with Professor Sarah Bridle, communicating about the impact of food on climate change and how we can make our food system more resilient. Until a year ago I'd spent my career working in journalism, starting off in newspapers before moving to the BBC and working as a tv news producer. ⁠Transcript and useful links

James Halpin is a York graduate who is currently on the science and engineering stream of the Civil Service Fast Stream programme. Listen as Kate gets to the bottom of what James's job looks like. They cover the variety of postings James has undertaken on the Science and Engineering Fast Stream, the transferable skills that have helped him in his role and the future challenges for the Civil Service. James's Bio I'm part of the UK Civil Service Fast Stream graduate programme and I'm on the Science & Engineering scheme. I'm currently working at the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities and my past postings include the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy and a secondment at the Newton Venture Program. I hold a first-class integrated Masters degree in Chemistry from The University of York and I spent my masters year at the University of Helsinki as a year abroad working in a research lab. After University I worked for the charity Shelter for a year before joining the Fast Stream. Transcript and useful links

Izi Hutchinson is Senior Account Director at VCCP, an international integrated communications agency. Listen as Kate gets to the bottom of what Izi's job looks like. They cover the breadth of roles within advertising, the highs and lows of account management, the importance of mindset and attitude and what the future of advertising could look like. Izi's Bio Izi's most recent piece of work was relaunching Lotto (The National Lottery flagship game). She has also worked on client accounts for Maynards Bassetts, Nationwide, British Red Cross, McLaren, Saga, Royal London, Macmillan, Avis (EMEA) and MoreThan. Izi is deputy lead of the VCCP entry level scheme - The Table. The scheme is designed to find future leaders in the industry. Izi is a graduate of the University of York where she studied History. Transcript and links