About Me:
My name is Aimee. I am a newly-employed Project Management Consultant at CGI and a recent graduate in Business and Management at the University of Glasgow. I began my University journey studying French, but my secondary subject of Business and Management soon began to take over as my main area of interest as I grew in awareness and knowledge of the tangible change good business practice can have on the environment, communities and the lives of individuals.
Undertaking my degree allowed me to develop many valuable and transferable skills such as excellent communication skills, teamwork and empathy-driven leadership skills.
These are now skills I utilise on a daily basis in my role as a project manager, where I continue to grow in these skills, as well as many others, as I face new challenges.
Undertaking my degree allowed me to develop many valuable and transferable skills such as excellent communication skills, teamwork and empathy-driven leadership skills.
These are now skills I utilise on a daily basis in my role as a project manager, where I continue to grow in these skills, as well as many others, as I face new challenges.
People don't buy goods and services, they buy relations, stories and magic” - Seth Godin
I enjoy a varied and diverse range of interests and hobbies, but consistent across all of these is my love for people, building positive communities and making voices heard. Driven by these motivations I have been drawn to build skills in digital communications (including social media, podcasting, graphic design, video editing, blogging etc) and oral presentation. I have developed these skills through both extra-curricular voluntary positions and paid internship positions. Notably, I also elected to spend the first semester of my 3rd year studying abroad at McGill University in Montreal, Canada. This experience catalysed a great deal of growth both academically and personally: I developed more confidence in my abilities and had opportunities in my studies to develop skills of creativity in unconventional project tasks to come up with innovative business solutions.
This e-portfolio is part of the Graduate Skills Programme, the College of Social Sciences Employability Award. I undertook the program as it provided an opportunity to improve my career prospects through reflection on significant experiences, past and present, and how these have shaped me as future professional. This e-portfolio provides a summary of some of these reflections and positions me where I am now as well as providing considerations for future areas of growth.
Professional Summary
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Academically, I have had many opportunities to develop key skills such as critical reasoning, teamwork, organisation/independent learning and communication. I have participated in a number of group projects throughout my degree. These have included a business strategy pitch on the future of the Swatch Group, a mock pitch to the Scottish Government on how to incentivise entrepreneurship and a reflective leadership project involving volunteer work in line with UN Sustainable Development Goals. However, it was a brand management group project whilst on my semester abroad at McGill University in Montréal which has been the most memorable. Our group of 6 had to conduct a full brand audit of a chosen brand (we chose Haagen Dazs) against one of its biggest competitors (Ben and Jerry’s), undertake research to identify gaps where the brand could better develop its brand equity and present an innovative solution. This project was significant in size and involved leading group meetings, processing and analysing interview data, writing up reports, designing graphics/mock advertisement campaigns and presenting findings/solutions. More generally, my semester abroad in Canada had a profound effect on me academically and personally and I feel I was challenged on every front: I improved my French, grew on confidence and was given the opportunity to be taught by some of the most esteemed professors in the business world. In addition, on returning from my semester abroad I presented my own academic work from a course I took at McGill at the LEADS Undergraduate Research Conference at the University of Glasgow, which involved a great deal of organisation and preparation. Finally, as a student more generally I have consistently produced high grades which has taken a great deal of self-discipline and time-management and have been awarded both the Mary G. Ross prize for my performance in French Culture 1 and the MacFie Bequest for my overall performance in my Business courses in 2nd year.
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In addition to my academic studies, I have always had a very broad interest in a range of extra-curricular activities and have been actively involved in a number of clubs/societies from a young age. I have had the opportunity to build upon my communicative and digital skills through volunteer positions as a student digital ambassador for the University of Glasgow and as the social media and marketing officer for Glasgow University Weightlifting Club. Furthermore, whilst on exchange, I was able to develop my French language skills and cultural awareness through becoming actively involved in a local church where I also attended a French speaking group for those looking to improve their spoken French. I looked to extend my bubble beyond other exchange students and made friends with Montréalais(es) who really helped me immerse in the culture. Montréal is a very multicultural city and this is reflected in the student population at McGill also. I had the opportunity to work in group projects with other students from a range of backgrounds and through our discussions in and out of the classroom, my eyes were truly opened to new cultural mindsets I had not encountered before. Whilst in Canada, I also I volunteered as a social media assistant at BACA eating disorder clinic - initially as part of a group for a Leadership class project, but subsequently individually, as I stayed on after the project to work with the clinic. This allowed me to use my digital communications skills to promote an invaluable service and contribute to a cause which is very dear to my heart. Finally, I have had the opportunity to compete internationally for GB University Team and Team Scotland as a -57KG Junior Powerlifter. In my most recent comp in October 2021, I took 2nd place in the British National Championships. My training requires consistency, self-discipline and self-reflection and I have recently received a Full Blue award for my achievements in the 2019-2020 season from Glasgow University Sports Association (GUSA) and an athlete sponsorship from the sports psychology organisation PsychChek and most recently, a sponsorship from Fitness Frontier - a local gym based in Glasgow.
In addition to my academic studies, I have always had a very broad interest in a range of extra-curricular activities and have been actively involved in a number of clubs/societies from a young age. I have had the opportunity to build upon my communicative and digital skills through volunteer positions as a student digital ambassador for the University of Glasgow and as the social media and marketing officer for Glasgow University Weightlifting Club. Furthermore, whilst on exchange, I was able to develop my French language skills and cultural awareness through becoming actively involved in a local church where I also attended a French speaking group for those looking to improve their spoken French. I looked to extend my bubble beyond other exchange students and made friends with Montréalais(es) who really helped me immerse in the culture. Montréal is a very multicultural city and this is reflected in the student population at McGill also. I had the opportunity to work in group projects with other students from a range of backgrounds and through our discussions in and out of the classroom, my eyes were truly opened to new cultural mindsets I had not encountered before. Whilst in Canada, I also I volunteered as a social media assistant at BACA eating disorder clinic - initially as part of a group for a Leadership class project, but subsequently individually, as I stayed on after the project to work with the clinic. This allowed me to use my digital communications skills to promote an invaluable service and contribute to a cause which is very dear to my heart. Finally, I have had the opportunity to compete internationally for GB University Team and Team Scotland as a -57KG Junior Powerlifter. In my most recent comp in October 2021, I took 2nd place in the British National Championships. My training requires consistency, self-discipline and self-reflection and I have recently received a Full Blue award for my achievements in the 2019-2020 season from Glasgow University Sports Association (GUSA) and an athlete sponsorship from the sports psychology organisation PsychChek and most recently, a sponsorship from Fitness Frontier - a local gym based in Glasgow.
In working life I have had the opportunity to engage in several paid internship positions. Firstly, as a final-year high school student, I had the opportunity to work with the BBC as a student coach on their Mindset Campaign, producing digital materials to help students struggling with exam stress. This was a paid position which exposed me to the world of professional communications and digital media at a young age. This developed my communication skills and confidence under pressure, as I was asked to express my ideas and tips on camera and for radio/podcasts. These skills have been further developed through internship positions with the University of Glasgow: as a Campus Development Communications Intern, producing external and internal digital comms material promoting the new University buildings and facilities. Most recently, my current position as Digital Media and Online learning intern for the College of Social Sciences Employability Team is allowing me to experiment with new creative ideas and solutions for promoting the college’s employability programmes and giving me the opportunity to practice new skills in web management and digital media strategy design.
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As I move forward, I hope to pursue my career as a Project Manager, firstly gaining some more experience in bid work before expanding my role to deal with sales more generally. I would also like to utilise opportunities to engage in the CSR side of the business as this is something I am really passionate about. I am currently heading up some 'Community Benefits' pro-bono projects. I have many ideas for the Community Benefits program and can't wait to see how I can be a part of supporting and setting up projects which have such a positive impact. At the moment, I have set my sites on more of a general management role in the future. However, this may change as I broaden my experience across different areas of the business over my graduate scheme.
Get In Touch
Interested in talking to me more? Whether it be regarding opportunities, my Powerlifting pursuits or anything in between, I am always keen to chat and endeavour to respond to messages promptly.
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