Bright Futures Students & Graduate Recruiters 'Going For Gold'

When top undergraduates from 24 UK Universities attended a Bright Futures Society event in London last week, little did they know the impact it would have not just on them but on the students they represent.

The Bright Futures Society is the largest UK career-based student-run society, operating in over 30 UK Universities. It was founded in 1977 as the Student Industrial Society and re-branded as the Bright Futures Society in 2007. Run by students and lead by a national team, it exists to help students to develop the real world skills they will need to secure graduates jobs on leaving University and also to learn about the breadth of careers available to them – all through collaboration with industry.

The event was held last Friday and included not just students but also representatives from 15 major graduate recruiters. Focused on ëHow to be a Successí, attendees heard from Ben Hunt-Davis, an Olympic Gold Medallist on what it takes to be the very best and Bruce Morton, a Gen Y specialist on the importance of truly understanding the different generations, as well as the absolute need to make things happen for yourself or as he summed it up ìLife is no longer a 3 course sit down meal but a buffet, you have to go and get itî.
The corner stone of the day was the hugely popular 2 hour speed networking event where every Bright Futures Society President had 6 minutes to promote their University Bright Futures Society to the graduate recruiters.

Also launched at the event was a new piece of state of the art software which would enable all Bright Futures student members to be headhunted, online, by employers whose needs matched the skills, academic achievement, experience and abilities of the student; saving both parties huge amounts of time when it comes to recruitment and applying for jobs.

During the event a TV production crew also interviewed the students to find out how they were using Bright Futures to help them prepare for the tough employment market they would soon be entering.

The students left the event highly motivated, brimming with ideas as to how they will immediately implement what they had learned for the benefit of their student society members and all with new & more ambitious goals for the year ahead.
ìA fantastic wealth of knowledge & contacts gained, and a renewed confidence in the futureî concluded one of our Presidents.

For further information on how Bright Futures is helping students and industry visit the website at www.bright-futures.org.uk.