I was born in Pune, but grew up in the Middle East as my dad took up a job in Kuwait. After high school, I decided to go back and complete my further studies and computer engineering in India at Cummins College of Engineering, Pune. My mother and I shifted back to Pune but dad stayed back because of his job. When I first decided to pursue my master’s in the U.K., I researched several universities to find out which course would be best for me. Sheffield University won my heart and impressed me with the amazing opportunities it provides to students from all over the world. Sheffield is said to be one of the friendliest, greenest and safest cities in the U.K. The university is a member of the Russell Group, which is an association comprising the U.K.’s top performing research universities.
My course is jointly run by the university’s Management and Information school. So I get to brush up my IT skills as well as gain project management skills. To gain some work experience to increase my chances of securing a good job after graduation, I applied for the role of a student ambassador at the Management and Information School. At a brief, informal interview, the panel asked me questions about my skills and ambitions. I was offered the role on a zero-hour contract basis.
As a student ambassador, my role is to be influential in decisions that have a huge impact on the university including a student’s decision to study at the university. The student ambassador’s role gradually improved my communication and interpersonal skills.
Building skills My next job was working part-time as an alumni student caller where I had the amazing opportunity to interact and build rapport with Sheffield Alum throughout the world. My role was to represent the university in a professional manner and handle each phone call with courtesy, tact and sensitivity. This role further enhanced my confidence and communication skills.
After the student caller job, I was confident enough to apply for core industry-based roles. I secured a 10-day HR work experience placement at the university’s HR department. My role involved analysing UKVI Tier 4 visa restrictions for international students during weekly working hours and providing suggestions to the HR team on what can be done to mitigate the risk of students who are exceeding work hours. This role gave me the chance to interact professionally with the university’s staff in several departments and also strengthened my analytical skills.
While I was completing the work placement, I got a call from the Sheffield City of Sanctuary (part of Sheffield City Council) regarding an internship as a database consultant. These internships are called Postgraduate Advantage Schemes (PAS) wherein the university ties up with SMEs for a 100-hour internship. My crazy journey at Sheffield doesn’t end here; currently I am pursuing another 100-hour internship called onCampus Placements at the university as a researcher which involves financial data analytics.
I have had a busy year but I always make sure I maintain a healthy work-life balance. This is possible because the university understands the work structure (comprising busy deadlines and exams) of a master’s student. Hence, my managers always made sure that I prioritised my studies first and wasn’t pressured in any way. I enjoy travelling and have visited several countries.
In the time that I have been here, I have visited Manchester, Oxford, Cambridge, Nottingham, Whitby and the Harry Potter Studios with plans of visiting London and Scotland soon.
My suggestion to future master’s students would be to choose Sheffield University because of the amazing support and work opportunities it provides. It has a strong professional network in the careers service department that helps you in job hunting even after graduation.
The writer is pursuing M.Sc. in Information Systems Management at Information School, University of Sheffield, U.K.
