OXFORD

THE YEAR AHEAD
A
Natasha Davie
Wadham College,
DPhil in Medical Sciences, 2016
Senior Associate, The Boston
Consulting Group (BCG)
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opportunities.
TERMLY
The Student Consultancy. Help local organisations solve real
business problems. You’ll get consultancy training, and work in
Micro-Internships
organisation working on a voluntary full-time work placement.
Micro-internships run in 9th week each term.
ANNUALLY
The Internship Programme. Hundreds of work experience
opportunities around the world, sourced exclusively for Oxford
Careers Fairs. We run 15 major events where you can meet
employers and explore some of the options available to you.
Oxford Guide to Careers. This guide is revised each year and
PLUS...
Insight Into…. The Careers Service has developed a range
of insight programmes to help you develop your knowledge
and understanding about some sectors, including Teaching,
The Springboard Programme. Holistic development
workshops for female students, created with the founders of
Recruiter in Residence and Mock Interviews. Opportunities
to meet with visiting employers one-on-one. Find out
about their sector or organisation, get advice on your CV
and applications or have a practice interview with a HR
professional. Times and topics are advertised on the Events
listing on CareerConnect.
Career Lounges
by a Careers Adviser. Times and topics are advertised on the
Events listing on CareerConnect.
Business Mentoring. Support if you’re interested in starting
your own business or social enterprise – or simply want to
Starting out I was attracted to the idea of management
consultancy, but I didn’t know that much about it
and wanted to consider all my options. I had a lot of
uncertainty about job hunting and I used The Careers
Service in three main ways:
] FINDING OUT ABOUT CONSULTING: Consulting was
completely new to me. I went to the Consulting
Careers Fair to learn more, and was able to speak to
actual consultants about their day-to-day life, find
out how that differs for large and small firms, and
crucially, which companies I wanted to work for. The
fair was a brilliant way to get a genuine insight into
the differences between companies (this comes in
very useful at interview!). I prepared a list of questions
beforehand, both general and company specific,
which was really helpful, and I also asked for email
addresses so I could follow up with further questions.
] CONSIDERING OTHER OPTIONS: This was really
important as it cemented my decision that consulting
was right for me. During Michaelmas Term, through
Fairs, company presentations and society led events,
I explored careers in academia, met representatives
from banking, law, and technology firms, as well as
major retail brands like M&S and Sainsbury’s. There
are so many events going on, it’s a fantastic chance to
get a genuine insight into life after Oxford.
] PREPARING FOR INTERVIEWS: When I went to my first
case workshop I was shocked. I was intimidated by
the questions and began to realise how challenging
and competitive it would be. But I knew I wanted to do
this, so:
• I went to as many workshops and company events
as I could.
• I met with a Careers Adviser to discuss my CV.
• I used the resources in the careers library to work
with different styles of cases.
• I even formed a group of other DPhils to practice
cases with, which really developed my skills.
As I got more confident and started enjoying the case
part of the interview, I also began developing the
personality or ‘fit’ part of the interview. Applying the STAR
method (see p.53) for answers and practicing with real
companies that The Careers Service brought in house.
Beyond the interview, I also developed my business
knowledge, including attending the Insights into Business
programme (see p.34).
www.careers.ox.ac.uk 5