By Shakira Moise, NHS Graduate Management Training Scheme
MA Creative Writing 2020
Twitter: @shakiratouss Linked In: Shakira Moise
Thanks for reading – my name is Shakira, I completed the MA Creative Writing programme during 2018-2020. Soon after, I was accepted onto the NHS Graduate Scheme where I now work at Great Ormond Street Hospital within their HR Department in both Strategy and Operations.
What do you do? What is a typical day/week like?
The NHS Graduate Management Training Scheme is a two year placement scheme. I completed both placements at Great Ormond Street Hospital, and a Flexi Placement (2 month placement which can be conducted outside of the NHS or within) with the British Medical Journal. Because of the nature of the Graduate Scheme, which is to try and get as much experience in what is in actuality, a short amount of time, you’ll find that my days are often varied.
1st year placement Job title: Workforce Development Coordinator – this was my Strategic Placement
- Liaising with Apprenticeship providers to deliver courses, information sessions and review Apprenticeship reports of current learners.
- Supporting current and completed Learners in their Apprenticeship studies or graduation.
- Supporting managers in recruiting Apprentices by creating Apprenticeship guides detailing Apprentice work journeys, 20% off the job learning etc.
- Presenting to senior leaders on Apprenticeship data including data on recruitment of learner numbers by gender, race and disability against GOSH WRES data.
2nd Year Placement: HR Projects/HR Service Desk Honorary Contracts Manager – this is my Operational Placement
- Managing the new HR Honorary Contracts Team
- Co-leading on the HR Improvement Project to improve the honorary contracts process, including engaging with key stakeholders, creating new training documents, advising senior leaders on my recommended changes, engaging the team with consultations and process mapping exercises.
When did you start thinking about applying for jobs in Human Resources and Healthcare?
I started thinking about applying while at the beginning of my MA, already thinking about what I wanted to do next. Although my passion has always been writing, I needed a career to fall back on in case anything happened. The specialism with HR and within the wider NHS presented itself as combined within the graduate scheme.
What kind of work experience did you manage to gain if any as a post-graduate student?
Maybe a strange answer, but: confidence. I hadn’t had the best experience during my undergrad at a different university. I didn’t know what to do – I only knew that I could write, but also that I didn’t have any direction, and that my writing wasn’t even that good! Being accepted onto my MA changed the course of everything – I never thought I’d be accepted onto a graduate scheme, but the diversity of my subject, and the fact that I was already studying at a higher level gave me an edge when applying. It also gave me a wealth of knowledge about my chosen passion: writing. I formed strong friendships on my course as well – and it taught me a lot about networking. Both of which turned into me being lucky enough to get to publish a short story within an Anthology this year. So although I’ve chosen Healthcare as a career, the skills gained on my MA enable to continue to grow my writing skills and edge into the publishing industry as well by way of being an author.
What advice would you give to future students who are keen to work in Healthcare? What do you wish you had known?
That there are SO many opportunities. Before I got the NHS Graduate Scheme, I wasn’t even aware that there was an NHS Grad Scheme! The NHS has so many entry level opportunities – be that into administration, healthcare or science. There are a wealth of Apprenticeship programmes as well that allow you to upskill and be paid at the same time. Some trusts such as UCLH have their own graduate schemes separate from the wider NHS one as well that you can apply to. The good thing about graduate schemes, Apprenticeships, or other Band 3-4 entry-level roles, is that they don’t expect you to have much experience. One of my traits is that I often get stuck on the details – I always overthink every aspect of my experiences and find it difficult in interviews despite knowing that I’ve done the work before. Team supervision experience, whether that be in retail, at the student bar or in your group assignments, still counts as work experience. And as long as you can apply it to the interview questions, your experiences are still valid and can show a diversity of background that many jobs are looking for.
Are there any good resources/websites to share that you found helpful when job hunting and applying?
- https://www.jobs.nhs.uk/
- https://creativeaccess.org.uk/
- https://www.brightnetwork.co.uk/graduate-jobs/