Networking and Graduate Career Event Highlights

Welcome to the official Bright Network Event highlight page. Your one-stop-shop for finding out why attending networking events is one of the best things you can do in your early career. You’ll discover what to expect at Bright Network events and which ones you can attend next!

What events are coming up?

A total of 12 flagship events take place in-person and/or virtually throughout the year. Whether you’re focused on kickstarting your career in a certain sector or you’re simply unsure what direction you want to go in, you’ll find an event designed to accelerate your future and help get you career ready.

Spaces for our events fill up fast! So, we recommend jotting down the key dates in your diary and keeping an eye out on the event hub for when applications open.

You can also see how last year’s event were and what other members thought of them by clicking on the events you’re interested in below:

Why attend?

Through a range of panel and skills sessions, you’ll be equipped with the tools you need to succeed and collect insights you couldn’t get anywhere else. Plus, you'll build your network, ask firm representatives your questions and gain tailored advice for your career path.

Across our events we continue to introduce exciting features for both our in-person and virtual audiences, including...

Student Leadership Board

Getting involved in the Student Leadership Board (SLB) is a fantastic next step to become a stand-out candidate and gain a competitive edge! You’ll take an elevated role in the preparation and delivery of the event - from community building to organising ice breaker activities and help maximise the benefits of the event for yourself and other members.

Here’s what Phoebe, Women in TEC SLB member 2023, got up to in her role:

“Generated conversations on Guild. It was really great to see a community of people getting involved in discussions.”
“Gave members a list of questions to ask employers to help them have productive conversations with partner firms.”
“Worked with other Student Leadership Board members to plan and deliver an icebreaker session of our choice to members.”

Plus, you’ll receive a range of perks including, a free CV review with personalised feedback, 1:1 mentoring from the events team and more!

Guild

If you’re keen to start building your peer network pre-event, Guild is a fantastic platform to tap into a community of other like-minded students who may be studying the same degree or have similar interests to you! Chatting with other attendees is also a great way to find a travel buddy or ease your nerves if you’re feeling a bit anxious about attending.

The Bright Network team will also provide useful updates, share employer opportunities and hold Ask Me Anything sessions before the event. Definitely keep an eye out in your inbox for an email containing the joining link.

Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging in Events

Across all our events, you’ll find a dedicated support page highlighting accessibility on the platform and at the event venues. We want to ensure we provide as much as support as possible, so you feel confident to attend!

For our virtual attendees, we ensure there is:

Live closed captioning during sessions with presentations
Preferred pronouns to be added on your profile
On the day Bright Network Helpdesk and Zoom experts to help in case of any technical issues

For in-person attendees, we ensure there is:

Step-free access via lift at the event venue
A prayer room – ask a member of staff to be directed to the dedicated space
A Bright Network mental health first aider you can seek support from. Plus, reserved seating at the back of the main room for those who have a mental or physical health condition and would prefer having an easy way to exit the room

Employer Spotlight

Whether you’re attending virtually or in-person, you’ll have the opportunity to discover leading employers from a range of sectors. This spans from consulting and financeto FMCG (fast-moving consumer goods) and the public sector. They’re eager to hear from bright students like you, so make sure you come armed with questions – remember networking is a two-way street!

Keen to know how to best leverage networking opportunities? We also asked our partner employers for some top tips about attending your next Bright Network event, here’s what they had to say:

These events put you in a premium position - you can make yourself memorable to any recruiter. By truly digging deep into understanding the company culture, you show the recruiter a genuine passion, which helps you make a great first impression
Plan your day in advance and come to the stands with specific questions, this really helps you stand out.
You don't have to be the loudest in the room to be seen or heard, trust in your own strengths and start saying 'yes' to experiences.

Emily’s Journey

Did you know that over 20,000 graduates secured their first role through Bright Network? Attending one of our events is a great place to start.

We recently caught up with Emily, who shared how attending Bright Network Women in TEC helped her secure a role with leading employer HSBC. Check out her journey below – you could be next to follow in their footsteps…