Leila, could you be a winner of the 2023 targetjobs Undergraduate of the Year Awards?

The whole story was started from this question, I answered loudly in my head, yes, yes, I can. This question was a subject from the first email I received from targetjobs.

I opened the link and I found out that there were 13 different awards categories and after I contacted the targetjobs team, I founded out each candidate could only apply for one award. Taking this into consideration, my advice would be to choose the category which is more aligned with you; as in the next step you must write about your personal statement and after that you will have to sit three online tests, occupational personality questionnaire, situational judgment test and reasoning test.

After you have finished the tests, you will receive a bespoken feedback report on how you performed which I believe is very important and useful. In February, I was invited for two days at the Rolls-Royce assessment centre along with 14 others. If you keep in mind that I had never been to any assessment centre before. For me, the first day was hard, I was excited, honoured but at the same time I was very stressed, even now, I don’t know what I truly felt. Overall, I felt the assessment days went well and after that I was waiting to hear back from them. They said would call me so during waiting time, looked at my phone every single minute, and yes, after a week I received that magic phone call; congratulations Leila! I was thrilled that I been had shortlisted as a top ten finalist, and I was invited to the awards ceremony, getting to that point was an unbelievable achievement for me.

Then the day I never imagined would be come, 21 April 23, the grand final. The ceremony was held at the East winter garden in the Canary Wharf which was a very nice place (that was hosted by Sue Perkins ) her kick off talk impressed me. I met other amazing finalists from different awards and met Rolls-Royce representatives, also had the chance to network with other companies’ representatives.

Bravely I have to say that everyone I met at the event, the targetjobs staffs, the candidates, the companies’ representatives, and the guiders were all so kind and friendly. When the time came to announce the winners, let’s be honest, I never thought it would be me, so I wasn’t nervous at all.

When she read my name, I was shocked, I seemed to have been reviewing every single second of my life, it is a moment I relive every morning and I will never forget it. When I look back, it’s clear, I’ve not just won the award, it’s also opened many doors for me, I gained a lot of experience through the process, I met so many ambitious people, and have gain lot of opportunities.

My advice to you is just start with the application, through the process you’ll receive plenty of support, go for it.

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