Huge congratulations to Shahnaz who has bagged herself a role at Vodafone after attending their Wonder Women in Technology event earlier this year. The event was an action-packed day filled with networking sessions and panel discussions and finishing off with one-to-one interviews. Overall, giving our attendees a great in-depth insight into Vodafone. Here she tells us how she found the event and it’s unique recruitment process and gives some useful hints to future applicants.
1. Why did you choose Vodafone?
I chose Vodafone as I felt there was a lot of potential to get involved in projects across a range of industries, which really excited me. I was initially surprised by the broad range of projects and clients Vodafone is involved with, and as a Discover Technology Graduate, the opportunities to work in different areas and gain a variety of skills is invaluable.
2. What was the most challenging part of the event and it's recruitment process? And your favourite part?
The most challenging part was certainly the group activity portion of the event. We were asked to develop an application that encouraged more people to pursue a STEM degree. Whilst a really interesting activity, which required a lot of creativity, it was challenging as our group had a lot of great ideas, but there was no decisiveness. So there wasn’t a lot of progress in choosing the right course of action, as we were eager to make sure all ideas were heard.
My favourite part of the event was the panel talks - it was great to hear the insights and stories of people that I felt I could relate to and so I left feeling very inspired!
3. Were you surprised by anything in the event?
I was very surprised by how relaxed the entire day was; knowing that there was the potential to be offered a role on the Graduate Programme at the end of the event, I had imagined it would be intense. Instead, it was far more laid back which put me at ease, and was certainly different to the experiences I’ve had with other Graduate Programme recruitment processes. The employees were very helpful and gave me a lot of advice throughout the event for the final interview, whilst it was also clear the interviewers wanted to see me succeed as they gave me continuous encouragement throughout the interview.
4. What top tips would you give your fellow Bright Network members?
As cliché as it sounds, just be yourself! Even if you don’t have a lot of relevant experience, they already know you have the potential for the technical skills they are looking for. At the interview stage of the process, they’re more interested in your soft skills and how you will be like to work with.
Also, do your company research and prepare your answers to the most frequently asked questions. It makes a really good impression to show you know the company you want to work for and have a solid start to the questions they will most likely ask.
5. What was the hardest question you faced in the interview?
‘What was the most creative thing you were involved in?’ Coming from a pharmaceutical background, my degree didn’t allow for much creative experience, so I couldn’t draw from any university experience.So I had to take the time to think about something creative I had done before university that I could also talk about at length, which was the hardest part. I ended up discussing how I developed my video editing skills when I used to make videos with my friends, which was interesting to talk about!
