The university term is coming to an end and many of our talented alumnae aged 19-22 are looking for graduate schemes, internships, summer jobs and work experience. Any of these can make all the difference to a young person at the start of their career; just ask alumna Sofia Gotham-Pardo (Class of 2022), who is nearing the end of a year-long internship at Unilever as part of her degree course at Loughborough University.
Says Sofia, who is studying Sociology and Criminology: “I deliberately chose a four-year course as I wanted to get real hands-on experience of the working world before my last year at uni. The application process was very competitive – there were 6,000 applications for around 100 places – so I was thrilled when I got through it and was offered an internship in Unilever’s Human Resources (HR) team. I’ve always been a ‘people person’ so it suited me perfectly.”
Sofia started at Unilever’s Kingston office in June last year and says the past 12 months have transformed her as a person: “I genuinely feel that I’ve accumulated so much knowledge of how large companies work and learned so many valuable skills; it’s definitely opened my eyes to career opportunities in FMCG (fast-moving consumer goods) and especially in Human Resources when I graduate in 2026.” Sofia has also made many friends at Unilever, which is sure to stand her in good stead when she starts building her career.
If you, your company or organisation can offer a young person a similar opportunity or work experience in the summer holidays and beyond, please email me, Ros Roberts, at alumnae@notredame.co.uk. I have an extensive database of our alumnae currently at university, and those who have graduated in the past few years, so can even try to match you with a Notre Dame alumna studying a relevant degree to your business. And of course, you can be sure that all our alumnae have had an excellent education!
