Ever wanted to know what we get up to on the RSC graduate scheme? In this blog, members of our graduate scheme describe some of the interesting (or unusual!) activities and projects they are working on, as well as what it is like to work in a variety of departments across the RSC.

Find out more about the RSC Graduate Scheme here
 

Jenny - Open Innovation

My time in the industry team has taught me a lot about business, events and black tie etiquette!

In March I started working on a research project aiming to find out what opportunities there were to support postgraduate students and postdoctoral researchers in commercialising their research. Little did I know what I’d actually end up doing would be speaking to senior academics, attending dragons’ den style pitching events and reporting my findings to the industry and technology division council. The project snowballed and in that time I can’t tell you the amount of times I’ve been put out of my comfort zone. But that’s good. I’ve developed my communication skills and confidence in talking to external stakeholders. But most of all, my business knowledge has grown ALOT!

In June I organised an event for our first cohort of industrial placement students who have placements with our EnterprisePlus scheme. I’ll be the first to admit that I had little to no experience of events so this was a huge challenge for me. After organising planning meetings, catering and sending invites, the day ran smoothly and we delivered a fantastic event that received positive feedback too. This bodes well as there is never a dull moment on the grad scheme. I’m currently in the middle of planning our next event for our new cohort. And it’s even bigger!

So I’ve explained about business and events but that’s only half of what I’ve been doing. I’ve also been writing case studies and planning some of our open innovation activities. But I must say, I’ve even surprised myself with the next one…

I’ve been incredibly lucky to have attended three black tie events whilst in this rotation, the industry awards at Chemistry Means Business, the Emerging Technologies Competition and finally the Summer Party. The latter falls into another ‘grad project’ but this one seems to have had all of the benefits! The Summer Party is our annual swanky event for our members to network with each other at the summer exhibition at the Royal Academy in London.

A lucky few grads had the opportunity to entertain the guests as they queue up before the party. After months of planning our ‘water into wine’ theme and a VERY windy set up, our guests enjoyed seeing some of the work we do as an organisation (and some chemistry magic tricks)! At 8.00 we rushed into Burlington House to get changed into our dresses and ran over to the RA where we enjoyed sipping champagne, looking at some beautiful art and meeting some top names in chemistry.

A lesson for all grads of the future; expect the unexpected.

Not many can say that they have wheeled a giant cart through Piccadilly in a ball gown filled with pop-up stands on the hottest day of the year in the midst of tourists!
Jenny is a Graduate currently working in the Marketing department on the Royal Society of Chemistry's Graduate Scheme. To see if we are currently recruiting for the RSC Graduate Scheme click here

 
Posted by Jenny Lovell on Jul 30, 2015 2:58 PM Europe/London

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