May 17, 2012, by bbasb

Madeleine Hardie wins the Personal Development Prize supported by Experian

Final Year Politics student, Madeleine Hardie, has successfully completed the Nottingham Advantage Award and is the winner of the Personal Development Prize supported by Experian. Experian were looking for a candidate that had demonstrated personal development from confidence to self-awareness in activities throughout the award. Maddie was nominated for the prize by the judging panels from other prize categories, and was chosen as the winner by the Advantage Award team and module convenors.

The prize from Experian was a work shadowing opportunity with one of Experian’s business leaders in addition to one to one business coaching sessions. At the event Maddie was presented her certificate by Karen Stevens from Experian.

As part of the award Maddie undertook the following modules: Work Experience, Career Planning Skills and Save the Children Enterprise Scheme

What Maddie had to say about winning the prize:

“I chose to get involved in the Award firstly because I wanted to work for a charity and saw that Save the Children had their own Award module. Secondly, it was because I wanted to develop skills outside of my degree, I wanted to take the opportunity to meet new people, discover more about myself and develop my confidence.

My experience in the Advantage Award has centred on community giving, in particular through the Save the Children module. Our craft fair and volunteering projects raised over £1560 for the charity, well exceeding our £300 target. Working as a team, I campaigned and raised awareness throughout the student population through our “All Hands Will Help” campaign. I was also keen to go beyond university boundaries and so approached many local businesses for donations for our craft fair by conversing with them about Save the Children.

I chose my modules firstly to develop my self-confidence and to prepare for life beyond university. I wanted to learn how to present myself to potential employees and the Work Experience module allowed me to self analyse and recognise the skills I already possessed whilst the Save the Children module provided me with new experiences through which I could develop new skills. Although my career aspirations have changed, the experiences that I have had having taken part in the Award have increased both my personal and professional confidence and the skills I have learnt can be adapted to any environment.

I have also been an ambassador for the Award and have gained further skills through giving a speech at an award ceremony and by representing the student population at a fund-raising event with the Award team.

I think the award as a whole has massively helped my employability especially because of the skills I gained in the Career Planning module. I also got a placement with Save the Children as a result. I went down to London and had 10 days with them, which was really interesting. As well as this, I really enjoyed meeting new people and raising the money and awareness for charity.

Mostly it has been useful because of my confidence and how I’ve developed, now I grab every opportunity rather than shying away from them.

I’m really excited to have won this prize, it is a massive honour for me to be recognised for this on top of everything else that I have gained.”

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