Why Join?
Yes, University is about your academic studies and having fun, but if you have also come to uni to help get a great job (which we hope you have) – you need to do more.
Joining clubs and societies from first year to final year will help you make friends for life but many, especially the Bright Futures Society, will also help you boost those important employability skills that will shine out on your CV, in your applications and at interview.
The Bright Futures Society is currently in over 50 UK universities, so if there is one on your campus, join it! You won’t regret it! If you don’t, start your own! The society it led by students for students, all supported by a national body (that’s us) and a whole host of employers who invest in the society to dedicate their expertise and effort in helping students develop the core skills they need to get employed. So when it comes to graduation you are well prepared to hit the ground running in any company.
The committee will run a wide range of events that are innovative, informative and often unique, all to help you engage with employers, develop your skills and to find out what’s out there for you in the world of work! If you have anything in mind that you want them to run, just ask! They are always happy to hear from their members, it’s your society after all!
As a National Team we also run big events for you to take part in, especially if you become a committee member. Check out the calendar to see what’s going on across all our universities and what we’re up to nationally too!
Other big things to think about to help you become more employable will be checking out your Careers Service and finding online resources to help you research your options.
We could give you a hundred more reasons why we think you should be part of the biggest network of career-focused students in the UK, but don’t just take our word for it. Check out the range of testimonials below and see if they can convince you!
Why should YOU get involved in Bright Futures?
See what Bright Futures is all about from the employers and the students themselves...
Gareth, Reading
| "As President, I have been able to improve my communication and leadership skills, which have allowed me to network more effectively between diverse groups of individuals and organisations. Moreover, this society has given me the opportunity to put theories learnt from my course into practice in the business and working environment." |  |
Hollie, St Andrews
“Like many people I started my final year of university in a slight panic about what I wanted to do with my life! As a student of Art History and French, with plenty of experience in a variety of jobs and student societies, the options were overwhelming, but I was determined that my perfect future career was out there: I just hadn’t stumbled across it yet.
That autumn I decided to go to as many careers events as possible, including a mock assessment centre run by Bright Futures and Accenture. With no prior experience in business, I wasn’t really sure what to expect and thrust into a negotiation exercise with what seemed like a room full of management students I didn’t feel particularly confident! Despite this I received some really positive feedback and I realised that employers were not interested in the result of the exercise but in how you interact with people. My confidence bolstered and I decided to apply for Accenture’s management consultancy programme. Going to the real-life assessment centre was a far less nerve-racking experience having been to the Bright Futures event, and I was privileged to receive an offer to start in July 2011.
The Bright Futures event really improved my self-confidence and made me realise that despite coming from an unrelated degree discipline, I could compete just as well in the graduate job market.”
Deepika, Lancaster
“Yesterday (at a national conference) was definitely an unforgettable and valuable experience and I know for a fact, this is the first of many, many, many wonderful experiences to come!!”
IBM
"IBM have a great relationship with Bright Futures, for the key reason that they provide bright, high performing, confident students into the Graduate Employment market, by equipping them with key employability skills including: commercial awareness, leadership, negotiation and client focus. The events that are run between IBM and Bright Futures are always guaranteed a good audience and are always well worth the time, effort and financial sponsorship. As a Graduate Recruiter, Bright Futures provides the ideal pool of potential applicants for our Student and Graduate schemes. It's a relationship well worth investing in."
Jackie, Swansea
"Bright Futures, for me, filled that huge and vast gap that linked me to employers and my dream career. Having studied Zoology at university, and come to the realisation that a degree might not get me the future I wanted (not that I knew what that was yet), I decided that I must do everything I can to stand out. I made the very most of my time at university, taking up new sports, becoming President of the Dance Society, setting up my own community project, working for the Students Union, the Athletic Union, the University itself in a multitude of different avenues as well as raising thousands of pounds for charity. Not to mention taking up a part time HNC in Business Studies on top of my degree in attempt to broaden my academic knowledge.
But despite being crazy enough to take on all these activities, there was something significantly missing. I still had no idea what opportunities I would be capable of doing in the real world, I didn’t know which companies would take someone with a Zoology degree, and I had no idea who the likes of KPMG, Deloitte and Accenture were never mind what the difference was between them, or what on earth ‘SME’ stood for!
I desperately needed to find out how to actually secure a real job, what I was even interested in doing and who in fact would take on someone like me. That’s when I received an email about becoming part of the new Bright Futures Committee and establishing the society at Swansea University. I was about to go into my final year. I needed to pick up my game on the degree front (ultimately what I was there for) so taking on a big role in another society was a risk, but I knew I had to do it.
The society opened my eyes to all these things and more, giving me the confidence to network and present to large groups of people and be secure in the knowledge that I had the capacity to secure a great graduate job, not to mention my ability to thrive under pressure!
Bright Futures also highlighted my inherent desire to help other people identify their true talents and progress in their lives and their future; this is why I continued to support Bright Futures both nationally and locally after I graduated. I wanted to know more and help others in the same position. I soon proved my dedication and developed a greater relationship with the national team. Soon enough I was offered the role of Regional Manager, directly supporting all societies in the South of the UK.
Not only did it open my eyes to the vast amount of opportunities out there and the skills required to get them, it gave me my first graduate job. A job that enables me to help hundreds of students in my committees alone to stand out in the competitive job market, a job that allows me to continuously develop as an individual and make a real difference to the way the company works, a job where I get to meet so many different people from very different backgrounds, a job that I am inspired by and love to do on a daily basis."
CIMA
“A superb event which really opened CIMA's eyes to the potential that Bright Futures offers to both its corporate Investors and students…… The networking provided an unrivalled opportunity to understand the thoughts of students in today’s credit crunch world."
Miles, Castle School
| "Being part of Bright Futures has been a fantastic opportunity for both myself and The Castle School. Working closely with Bright futures to organise our first event was incredibly useful to ensure its success. The wide range of contacts they have with companies really did boost the profile of the event and I have enjoyed every second of my experience so far!" |  |
