All 2 entries tagged Venice

Careers in Venice

As many students will know, the first term of an undergraduate’s final year is mad busy for graduate scheme and internship applications. It’s also when undergrads who don’t yet know what they want to do after graduation begin to panic and seek careers advice. All of this career stress, and we leave to spend this crucial term in Venice, away from key professional networks and university services. Are we crazy, or is it manageable? It may surprise you to learn that the Warwick in Venice programme recognises how important this term is and provides plenty of support for career planning.

At the end of second year, we had a careers advice session at the Warwick campus, where we were encouraged to start thinking about our postgraduate options, and to begin applying to desired schemes as soon as they opened in the Autumn term. When we arrived in Venice, our first weeks entailed a visit from our History Careers officer, where we were able to book advisory workshops with her, but also have one-to-one appointments with her to discuss any questions or thoughts we had. It was very reassuring to know that we were not being forgotten about by the folks back on campus, and that the History department remains invested in our future career aspirations. Those of us interested in the Civil Service were even able to meet the British Ambassador and other embassy staff in Rome! Many of the students here found the sessions very helpful to their decision making.

When it came to the more advanced stages of applications, things did inevitably get a little complicated. For those of us who had more of an idea of our future career paths, successful applications have entailed online tests, telephone interviews, video assessments, and assessment centres. Online tests of course are easy to work on whilst in Venice, but telephone and video interviews can be challenging if you can’t find anywhere private to do them. Fortunately, the Warwick palazzo often has a room free for students to use for this kind of thing, and I have even seen other students borrowing ties and shirts for video interviews!

 

If students are lucky enough to be invited to an assessment centre, this can be quite tricky. Our History tutors are very patient and understanding in letting us return to the UK for such interviews, or even is some cases to Brussels and other places. Financially, this jetsetting can add up. In most cases, firms reimburse travel expenses up to around £100, and can cover the costs of cheap accommodation near the assessment venue. Just keep the receipts handy and submit claims forms promptly. In any case, I think it’s best to have some funds to fall back on personally if you think you will need to travel for interviews during this term.

For prospective Warwick in Venice programme participants reading this, or History staff thinking about how to further help students in the future, career planning during the Venice term can be challenging, but it is not impossible. Of course, if you are dead set on a path, I would look into the application requirements beforehand, as some will require you to launch the application from the UK for security reasons. Students are definitely not left behind here in Venice and are given lots of support in thinking about their future and in applying for roles. Just remember, as personal advice, to set aside a little bit of money for potential interviews!

(Sorry this is pictureless, but I have no photos of my attempts at career planning!)

Charlotte Wilson, University of Warwick History Finalist

Charlotte Wilson : 29 Nov 2018 16:26 |  Tags: Careers History Studyabroad Termabroad Travel Uniofwarwick Venezia Venice Warwick Warwickinvenice Warwickuni |  Comments (0) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

Finding our Feet

To kick off this Warwick in Venice blog is a piece on finding our feet in our first week, discussing the challenges we encountered and the help we have received from the Warwick History department.

I had avoided visiting Venice before this term abroad in order to really relish the surprise and beauty of the city when we arrived at the start of term, but perhaps this had some practical drawbacks. Landing at Marco Polo airport and lugging our heavy suitcases onto a boat to the city, and then up and down some of the hundreds of bridges Venice sports, was certainly an interesting and muscle-building experience, and we were relieved to be met by our landlord who helped with some heavy lifting near the apartment we had found with the help of the Warwick in Venice coordinators. We found our apartment fully furnished with all we would need to cook and clean for the term, maps to navigate the city, and wellies to wade through acqua alta if it ever occurs.

The next morning introduced us to Venetian supermarkets, and how to become comfortable shopping for our diets abroad, without the familiarity of Tesco or prices in sterling. This aspect of moving abroad is perhaps the most overlooked challenge, as the reality of not being a tourist isn’t immediately apparent and the delicious Italian restaurants are all too convenient. But on a student budget, identifying the Venetian equivalents of our home favourites was key. With this hurdle cleared, we enjoyed walking around Venice as tourists before checking out Warwick’s Palazzo Pesaro Papafava. We took in the beauty and overwhelming crowds of the Piazza di San Marco and the Rialto, enjoyed some sublime gelato, and noticed that the city is home to many friendly dogs.

The Warwick in Venice programme is different from most study abroad experiences as the work completed over the term is summative and the staff are from Warwick University. That Warwick has its own palazzo with staff has made navigating the course content, library locations, and contact with the home campus much easier and less daunting. Having a lecture around the churches of Torcello and seminars in a Venetian palazzo, made for a much more authentic and meaningful learning experience, and it’s certainly engaging to see the buildings in your seminar readings from your apartment window. The Warwick staff have also helped us settle in to the student social life of Venice, by using their links with Ca’ Foscari to put us in contact with Italian students looking for English-speaking buddies. As a group we arranged some drinks in bars popular with Venetian university students and got some tips for settling into the city.

Perhaps the hurdle many of the Warwick in Venice students were concerned about for the term was the use of Italian. Having learned it for two years, we have an idea of the language and have been better able to engage with and settle into Venice this past week. Of course, in many situations when our Italian knowledge hasn’t stretched far enough, Venetians have happily helped us in English if they have been able to speak it. I was even able to use some Italian to help fix my broken phone screen!

All in all, there are some challenges to studying abroad, with the main issues of the degree course, finding accommodation, and speaking the language, but also including the menial tasks of food shopping. Fortunately, we have been prepped with a basic knowledge of Italian and have been guided fantastically by the Warwick in Venice coordinators in getting ourselves settled in for a stimulating term studying in Venice!

Charlotte Wilson, University of Warwick History Finalist

Charlotte Wilson : 16 Oct 2018 18:48 |  Tags: History Studyabroad Termabroad Travel Uniofwarwick Venice Warwick Warwickinvenice Warwickuni |  Comments (0) |  Close comments |  Report a problem