Hi everyone, my name is Sophie Symonds and I’m a first year English Language and Literature student. This month, I had the opportunity to attend Capital Connections, a fully funded two-day career trip to either Manchester or London run by GROW your future!

To be accepted on the programme, you have to first go through an application process, as if you were applying to a placement or a graduate role. This involved answering some questions online about why you want to attend the trip and what you hope to get out of it, followed by a skills-based video interview- both of which I received some helpful written feedback on, as well as some ai analysis on the interview. Despite taking some time to complete, this was a useful opportunity to understand how best to answer these questions, and a good way to practice interview techniques, some of which I learned through a Capital Connections specific video interview workshop offered by GYF.

Once accepted onto Manchester, I then attended an optional Capital Connections LinkedIn session and student networking, as well as the trip briefing that came complete with pizza! This was a good way to meet other GYF students and develop some skills in preparation.

On day one of the trip, we first visited the offices of AECOM, Deloitte and Havas Lynx, where we got to hear directly from both recent graduates and other employees, as well as get a feel for the companies and what they do. These visits provided a great insight into career progression across a variety of industries, and we were able to gain advice on graduate recruitment, making yourself stand out, the variety of routes that can be taken post-university, and more!

After some free time in the city, we finished off the day at an alumni networking event in the DiSH building, where we spoke to some of Lancaster’s graduates. Like many students, networking prior to Capital Connections felt to me like it would be quite daunting, however the set-up of this trip meant that this experience wasn’t stressful at all and has only reassured me that networking isn’t as scary as it may seem! This was also a great opportunity to ask questions that I had about both university and beyond, as well as build up some LinkedIn connections and knowledge of different career paths.

On day two we finished off the trip with visits to the offices at Autotrader and McCann's Macclesfield site. The presentations here took us through some of their current work, allowed us to go on tours of their sites, and meet members of their teams.

Overall, I would say that Capital Connections was a great way for me to experience different industries (especially as someone who, prior the trip, didn’t have many ideas about which ones I’d be interested in!), learn about the graduate job market, and meet industry professionals. It really opened my eyes to how varied and flexible the career paths available to me are, and is a great thing to add to my CV!

If you are interested in attending Capital Connections 2027, please register your interest here - https://lancasteruni.eu.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_9QSzwiZfRrLworc

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