Things have changed a lot since my last blog! I finished my 1st rotation in the Strategic Partnerships (SP) Team and moved into my second rotation in Industry.
My last few months in SP were spent working on a number of projects, including the webpages that detailed our partnerships. I authored and helped to produce the SP webpages- about our
partnerships past and present.
The new webpages look much more engaging and it really helped to improve my web writing skills (and grammar!).
I also investigated the Food and Drinks Industry to find the top companies within that sector who are involved in Corporate Social Responsibility projects and environmental sustainability.
Based on research, I compiled company profiles which the team use to find companies we could potentially partner with.
It was insightful learning about where our food comes from as well as how chemists working in research and quality control influence everything from chocolate bars and chewing gum to healthier cooking ingredients.
I enjoyed SP and highlights were attending our charitable events and meeting Strategic Partners such as INEOS and the Wilkinson Charitable Trust. I learnt a lot from observing the team and the 6 month really increased my commercial awareness of the industry and larger companies.
All the graduates gave an end of rotation presentation which we trained for with the help of the lovely training staff here at the RSC. We learned about techniques and how to structure our presentations.
Over 6 months there’s a lot to talk about so the training really helped to be succinct within the time allocated and helped to improve my confidence in public speaking.
I transferred over to the Industry team who support and facilitate the growth of Small to Medium Enterprises (SME’s) or small businesses, in the chemical industry. The Industry team provide a service called
Enterprise Plus which is a dedicated service that we provide for SME’s. Through this service we provide access to information, expertise and funding opportunities as well as giving SME’s discounts on our conferences and advertising in our Chemistry World Magazine.
The Industry team also focus on encouraging knowledge flows within industry and facilitate open innovation through organising networking events and competitions such as the
Emerging Technologies Competition.
I am currently organising an exciting event for the Industry team. Strictly ender wraps at the moment- definitely more details later! However I can tell you I am looking at gorgeous venues in London- you just never know what hidden gems lie behind stone walls! I’m learning a lot about events management, project management and budgeting so far. Being able to take the lead is challenging but quite exciting!
I’m also going on Membership visits to universities around the UK during induction week for undergraduate students.
I had my first recruitment visit in the University of Bath. Travelling down the day before, I managed to see a bit of the lovely town centre. On the day I gave presentations to 150 undergraduate students and new postgraduate students about the benefits of being a Member of the RSC. The presentation training I received beforehand really helped me to prepare for this. It was great to meet all the lovely new students at the stall I set up in the Chemistry Department and help them start their membership with us. Talking to existing members and seeing how their membership was helping them was also rewarding. I’ll be going to the University of Nottingham on the 1
st October- so if you see me there come say hi!