June 6, 2013, by brach6

Bisola Majekodunmi wins the Collaboration and Communication prize, supported by BT

Final year philosophy student, Bisola Majekodunmi, is the winner of the Collaboration and Communication prize, supported by BT. This year BT was on the lookout for a student who demonstrated outstanding collaboration and communication skills, two qualities that are key parts of everyday life at BT.

At the event, Lucie Svandelikova from BT presented Bisola with her certificate. The prize is £100 to support the learning of a language and a day at BT headquarters. Bisola will have a chance to network with graduates and staff, to have a mentoring session with a professional career coach, and to attend a live meeting with a senior business leader.

In addition to her academic studies, Bisola has successfully completed the Nottingham Advantage Award. She has completed the following three modules: Japanese, Inspire Mentoring Scheme, and Save the Children Enterprise Scheme.

Here’s what Bisola had to say about winning the Collaboration and Communication prize:

‘I applied for the Collaboration and Communication prize in particular because I felt as though it was a prize that directly related to not just one, but all of the Nottingham Advantage Award modules that I had taken part in. I looked at the type of candidate BT stated they were looking for and I thought I’d stand a fair chance at being able to demonstrate that I was the person, and possessed the attributes, they were looking for.

What I was able to bring to the competition was being able to show that I had participated in a range of different modules from language learning (Japanese), to working within the community (Mentoring), to enterprise work with fellow students to support a Save the Children campaign.  I was also able to demonstrate that I had put into practice some of the communication skills I was claiming to have gained from the modules, outside of Nottingham. I also showed commitment to developing those skills, for example, my language classes were something I had taken part in since the start of my time at University.

This whole experience has been useful for different reasons. Firstly, it has been useful because it has really re-affirmed the worth of the extracurricular activities I dedicated my time to as part of the award. The Nottingham Advantage Award in addition, really encourages you to identify the ways in which you are developing yourself while you’re doing it, which we often forget to do. This is useful as you are equipped not just with some great experiences, knowledge of how to sell those experiences and associated skills to employers, which is just as if not more important. I’ve also been able to add to my interview experience since part of the prize application process included an interview.

The BT prize includes money towards the learning of a language which will be useful as I plan to continue to learn Japanese even after I graduate and the prize being supported by BT should hopefully enhance potential for future opportunities too.

I’ve had the idea for a while to possibly work abroad at some point. It’s too soon to say what form that particular ambition might take but this whole experience has definitely given me the confidence to believe that I am the type of person who would really make the most of that type of opportunity’.

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