Podcasts by What Do You Actually Do?

Human-centred design in the cultural sector from 2023-12-06T07:00

Alyson Webb is a Director at Frankly Green + Webb, an agency specialising in human-centred design to improve digital experiences in the cultural sector.

Listen as Kate gets to the bottom ...

Service Designer from 2023-11-22T07:00

Kate Every works as a Service Design Practice Lead for global digital transformation company Mastek. Service design is a really interesting area of work that's getting more and more attentio...

Engineer at National Grid from 2023-11-08T07:00

Dan is a York graduate and works at National Grid where he completed a year in industry before becoming a Transmission Engineer.

Dan tells us what his day to day job looks like as well as...

Consultant in the heritage industry: helping galleries, theatres and museums from 2023-10-18T06:00

Elizabeth studied History of Art and thought she'd go into museum curation, until she discovered the amazing world of consultancy in the heritage sector! She helps museums, theatres and gall...

Placement year in recruitment 🧑‍💼 from 2023-10-04T06:00

Pretty much any student at York can do a placement year or year in industry! And right now second/middle year students can register for the programme. With that in mind, we thought it would make...

Climate Communications Consultant from 2023-06-07T06:00:04

Cass is a freelance climate communications consultant in Belgium, working with NGOs, charities and ethical organisations to help them improve their communications and translate the good work the...

Working in rail industry: life as an engineer at Network Rail from 2023-05-24T06:00:06

Lots of people want to work in the rail industry and York graduate Laura has made it happen. She is Technical Head of System Safety at Network Rail, which means it's her job to make sure the...

Senior Estate Manager - English Heritage from 2023-05-10T06:00:41

For grads interested in heritage, Rebecca Thompson might just have the dream job (she describes it as 'one of the best jobs in the world'): Senior Estate Manager at English Heritage, whe...

Investigative journalist from 2023-04-26T06:00:25

What does an investigative journalist actually do?? Sam Bright studied History at York while running a politics blog in his spare time. He's now the UK Deputy Editor at DeSmog and has writte...

Speech and Language Therapist (SLT) from 2023-03-01T07:00:28

We get a lot of questions about Speech and Language Therapy careers. It's a hugely rewarding area of work where you support and care for people of all ages who have difficulties with speech, lan...

Executive producer in TV from 2023-02-15T11:06:03

Want to work in the television industry? Tim Dean knows how to make it happen! He graduated from York with a degree in Social Policy and now has 20 years' experience in TV. Tim and Kate talk abo...

Barrister from 2023-02-01T07:00:14

Kate talks to York graduate Jack about training to be a barrister. Jack studied History and decided to train as a barrister after completing the Teach First Programme. Jack explains what skills ...

Imposter syndrome: how to deal with it in university, work and everyday life from 2023-01-18T07:00:33

Something a bit different in this episode - Kate speaks to two Uni of York colleagues about imposter syndrome. What is it? Why does it happen? How can you deal with it?...

Digital archaeologist and entrepreneur from 2022-11-16T07:00:06

Bethany is a York graduate and director of Experience Heritage, where she uses her expertise in archaeology and interest in digital storytelling...

Running a startup from 2022-11-02T07:00:56

Interested in startups or working for yourself? That's what this episode is all about. Toby Cannon graduated from York in 2019 with a degree in Computer Science. He now runs Listen

Placement Year in the NHS from 2022-10-19T06:00:33

Vinusha is a York History student who completed a placement year in the NHS Cheshire Clinical Commissioning Group as a Quality and Safeguarding Support Officer. Vinusha explains what she got out...

Journalism researcher at the BBC from 2022-10-05T06:00:42

Want a job in research? Or interested in working in the media? This episode is for you. Today Kate talks to Lucy, York grad and current Journalism Researcher at BBC News, about what her job is a...

Life as a CEO: running Cafédirect from 2022-06-08T06:00:15

Think you want to be a CEO? Interested in marketing, fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) or the world of ethical business? This episode is for you. John Steel is the CEO of Listen

Financial services from 2022-05-25T06:00:12

Ben graduated from York with a degree in Philosophy and after a few years found himself working in the financial services sector for Deloitte. It wasn't something he planned. In the episode Ben ...

Working in international development from 2022-05-11T06:00:13

This episode is for anyone interested in international development or the humanitarian sector. Rob Simmons works in Somalia for Committed to Good and was speaking to Kate from a shipping contain...

Student Internship Bureau special from 2022-04-27T06:00:15

Did you know that each summer loads of York students do an internship through the Student Internship Bureau (SIB)? SIB advertises paid, project-based internships in and around York that are excl...

What do you actually do if you're graduating in a global pandemic?!: 2022 edition from 2022-03-16T07:00

The worst of the pandemic might (hopefully) be behind us but the world of work has permanently changed because of Covid-19.

Remote working is here to stay for many people and some sectors...

Environmental Consultant from 2022-03-02T07:00

Kadi is an environmental consultant who coordinates and project manages the environmental inputs for big infrastructure projects. She's also a York Environmental Science graduate. In this episod...

University widening participation officer from 2022-02-16T07:00

Interested in a non-academic job in higher education? In this episode Kate talks to Victoria Brooks about her job as Widening Participation and Outreach Project Officer at the University of Live...

Engineer - European Space Agency from 2022-02-02T07:00

Neil studied Physics with Philosophy at York and has been working at the European Space Agency since 2002. His full job title is Parabolic Flight and Drop Tower Coordinator and Payload Systems E...

Prison Officer (Unlocked Graduate scheme) from 2022-01-19T07:00

In this episode Kate talks to Dan, a York graduate working as a prison officer on the Unlocked grad scheme. Find Listen

Thanks for listening this autumn - here's what's coming up in Spring term from 2021-12-01T07:00

Thanks for listening this autumn. Here's a preview of what's coming up in Spring Term. If you haven't already, follow us on your chosen podcast platform so you don't miss them. 

In t...

Management Consultant from 2021-11-17T07:00

Management consultancy is always a popular job area with our students, but do you actually know what the job is like? Today Kate chats to Jo Auger about what she does all day, the skills she use...

Film composer from 2021-11-03T07:00

Attention music students! In this episode Benji Merrison explains how he created a career for himself as a composer for film and television after graduating from York. He takes us through what h...

Aldi Graduate Area Manager Programme from 2021-10-20T06:00

The Aldi grad scheme has a reputation for being challenging, giving its grads a lot of resp...

Civil Service Fast Stream from 2021-10-06T06:00

The Civil Service Fast Stream is one of the most popular grad schemes in the country and the Times Top 100 number 1 graduate employer. In this episod...

Six key questions you need to know the answers to if you’re graduating in 2021 from 2021-08-23T06:00

To celebrate graduation week here in York we have a special episode covering the key things you need to know about graduating in 2021 in the middle of a global pandemic.

We cover how to s...

That's it for another season - but stay tuned for a graduation special in August! from 2021-06-23T06:00

Thanks for listening this term. We'll be back later in the summer with a special graduation episode for those of you leaving York this year. In the meantime, follow us/subscribe on your chosen p...

Training to be a lawyer, with Alex Stewart-Moreno from 2021-06-09T06:00

Alex graduated from York a couple of years ago. He studied Law and is now a trainee at Norton Rose Fulbright. He tells us about the reality of being a trainee, the best and worse bits, and what ...

How to make a portfolio career work from 2021-05-26T06:00

Our guest today is Dan Rutstein, whose career history is proof that you definitely don’t have to pick one job and stick to it. Dan graduated from York and his career (so far) has included journa...

Changing careers: switching heritage for accounting, with Alice Yevko from 2021-05-12T06:00

When you’re looking for your first job after graduation it can sometimes feel like you’re picking a career for life, but that’s far from true. In this episode we chat to York grad Alice who star...

Working in heritage: In the archive in lockdown from 2021-04-28T06:00

We’re back for a new season! In this episode Kate talks to Paul Backhouse, Head of the Historic England Archive. They cover tech skills in the heritage sector, imposter syndrome, the pandemic an...

Changing fast: working in agile project management, with Alison Critchley from 2021-03-17T07:00

After graduating from York in 2011, Alison started her working life in account management before taking a short career break to figure out what she actually wanted to do. She now works for the C...

English grad to junior doctor: Graduate medicine and beyond, with Ian Henderson from 2021-03-03T07:00

Ian is an Academic Clinical Fellow and junior doctor in Obstetrics & Gynaecology. After graduating in English during the 2008 credit crunch, he pursued Graduate Entry Medicine and an MSc in ...

Running an advertising firm, with Luke D'Arcy from 2021-02-17T07:00

Luke is President at Momentum Worldwide, the most awarded global experiential agency in the world. With offices in over 30 countries the agency works for clients such as Samsung, Verizon, Americ...

Exploring clinical science, with John Filby from 2021-02-03T07:00

John is a clinical scientist at Congenica, a digital health company specialising in genomic medicine. Before that he worked in the genomics service in the NHS and completed the NHS Scientist Tra...

Talking census: a career in genealogy, with Christina Copland from 2021-01-20T07:00

Christina works for the family history company Ancestry, where she researches client families in the U.S, Canada, U.K, Ireland and the Caribbean. She gained a PhD in History from the University ...

Leading innovation in the legal sector, with Alexander Malt from 2020-12-02T10:02:06

Alex is the Innovation Manager at Norton Rose Fulbright’s Newcastle Hub, where he works at the forefront of technological innovation in the legal sector.  He graduated with a PhD in Philoso...

Making a splash, with Tom Pagett from 2020-12-02T07:00

Tom has worked at the Environment Agency for the last 10 years, in a range of roles from planning to environmental regulation, flood risk, and biodiversity. He is currently managing the largest ...

From TV to tech, with Vivien Chung from 2020-11-04T07:00

Vivien graduated from York with a degree in English and Education, and spent three years working in the TV industry at institutions like the BBC before deciding she wanted a career change. Four ...

Life as a social worker, with Bethany Pease from 2020-10-21T06:00

Bethany graduated from York three years ago with a degree in Social Work. She now works in the fostering team in a local authority, and previously worked in child protection. In this episode Bet...

A career in corporate social responsibility, with Daniel Arda from 2020-10-07T06:00

Daniel is Sustainability Assistant Manager at Grant Thornton UK LLP. During six years in professional services, he has inspired colleagues to get involved with initiatives aligned around educati...

What do you actually do if you're graduating in a global pandemic?!, with Tom Banham from 2020-06-17T06:00

Today's episode of What Do You Actually Do!? is a bit different.  Recorded during the lockdown, Kate and Tom, Director of Employability and Careers at the University of York, chat about wha...

Making Medicine, with Tom Ronson from 2020-06-03T06:00

Tom works as a process development chemist at the pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca. He is part of the Chemical Development department, which is responsible for developing efficient and robust ...

Flirting with Algorithms, with Harpal Sahota from 2020-05-20T06:00

Harpal Sahota is a data scientist at MagicLab, who operate a number of dating apps, including Bumble & Lumen. He studied an MA in Computational Biology at the University of York, and we...

Starting a Startup, with Phil Daneshyar from 2020-05-06T06:00

Phil Daneshyar is an entrepreneur and co-founder of Kanda (formerly TradeSmart), which is a payment system for tradespeople.  He appeared on Dragons' Den in 2017, with his idea 'Thirsti.' P...

Managing a University, with Charlie Jeffery from 2020-04-22T06:00

Charlie Jeffery is Vice Chancellor and President of the University of York. He is a political scientist whose main work in the last years has been constitutional politics in the UK. He joined Yo...

Writing for a living, with Lewis Lansford from 2020-03-11T07:00

After getting a BA in English Lit at the University of Colorado, Lewis initially worked at a proofreader at the University of Arizona Press in Tucson, then spent about six months teaching Englis...

Pollution is in the air, with Aiden Heeley-Hill from 2020-02-26T07:00

Aiden is a PhD candidate in atmospheric chemistry at the University of York, currently researching indoor air pollutants and, more widely, characterising indoor environments. He holds a BSc and ...

A day in the life of a BBC journalist, with Lucy Vladev from 2020-02-12T07:00

Lucy is a TV reporter, producer and presenter for the BBC. In this episode, we talked about the skills that are required to go into journalism and how Lucy got to where she is today, from studyi...

On the beat, with Ross Gehnich from 2020-01-29T07:00

Ross has worked for Thames Valley Police since graduating in 2010, undertaking a variety of different and challenging roles. Currently, he works as a Neighbourhood Policing Sergeant, leadin...

Placement year in a political think tank, with Andrew Gloag from 2020-01-15T07:00

Andrew is a final year Politics student at York. He has just returned from a placement year with London based think tank Demos. As a research assistant, Andrew was involved in conducting qualita...

Calling the Midwife, with Jessica Allason from 2019-12-04T07:00

Jess Allason has been a midwife for six years and recently trained as a private hypnobirth teacher. She is passionate about informing and empowering women in their choices around childbirth, bec...

Making people's lives healthier, with Sam Thomas from 2019-11-20T07:00

Sam Thomas leads funding programmes for the Health Foundation, an independent charity committed to bringing about better health and healthcare for people across the UK. He previously led policy ...

Marketing in the museum, with Tasha McNaught from 2019-11-06T07:00

Tasha has worked in marketing for five years, having started while studying at the University of York. For the past two years she has lead the development of digital and relationship marketing a...

Managing the economic growth of York, with Alex Dochery from 2019-10-23T06:00

Alex currently manages the Economic Growth team at City of York Council, which focuses on making sure that the city continues to be a fantastic place to live and to do business. Alex also works ...

Get into book publishing, with Helen Barton from 2019-10-09T06:00

Helen is a Commissioning Editor at Cambridge University Press, responsible for hundreds of upcoming books at any one time. In this episode, Helen and Kate talk about how to get work experience, ...

How to train your teacher, with Sarah Dagnell from 2019-06-12T05:00

Sarah is a Primary STEM Subject Expert, running training courses, predominantly in Science but also in Technology, Computing, and Maths, for primary school teachers. She also mentors on school i...

Getting on a top grad scheme, with Lewis McDowell from 2019-05-29T05:00

Lewis graduated from the University of York in 2018 with a Management degree. His journey into marketing and L’Oreal begun upon winning the Male Undergraduate of the Year award, on the back of w...

Summer Internship: Make it yours! with Julia Hebron from 2019-05-15T04:00

Julia is a third-year BA English Language and Linguistics student. In the summer she did a SIB internship with Make It York where she conducted market research ...

Historical consulting for video games, with Nicholas Gliserman from 2019-05-01T04:00

Dr. Nicholas Gliserman is the Chief Academic Officer at Game Learning, where he oversees development of educational video games that get kids excited about history. He holds a Ph.D. in history a...

Summer Internship: It's not easy being green, with Oscar Bentley from 2019-04-17T05:00

Oscar is a third year BSc Film and Television Production student. Over the summer,  he did a sustainability programme internship in the Department of Estates and Campus Services at the Univ...

Being a project manager, with Laura Hallett from 2019-03-13T07:00

Laura has worked as a professional manager in Higher Education for 10 years, focusing on strategic project management across a range of institutions. She currently leads the Strategic Projects a...

All roads lead to film-making, with Richard Knight from 2019-03-06T09:58:34

For many years Richard Knight worked in the film industry as a freelance location manager, sourcing and organising the locations for films such as the BAFTA award-winning "This is England" and "...

Pursuing your passions in the charity sector, with Cat Schroeter from 2019-02-26T11:52:41

Cat graduated from Newcastle University with a Psychology and Linguistics degree in 2015. Whilst at university, she was on the committee for the Raising and Giving Society, where she gained a pa...

Lecturing is the tip of the iceberg, with J.T. Welsch from 2019-02-20T08:00

JT Welsch is a Lecturer in English and Creative Industries at the University of York's Department of English and Related Literature. 

For more information on becoming an academic see...

I ❤ Compliance, with Kate Pyle from 2019-02-12T11:27:38

Kate is the Compliance and Corporate Services Manager at St Leonard's Hospice.

For more information on working in the healthcare sector and St Leonard's see: 

• Healthcar...
  Listen

Getting involved with theatre, with John Tomlinson from 2019-02-05T09:55:04

John is a producer at York Theatre Royal and company director at Stand and Be Counted. 

For more information on working in the Theatre sector see: 

• https://ccskill...
  Listen

Within and without the laboratory, with Stefan Sipika from 2019-01-29T14:14:57

Stefan holds a B.Sc. (Hons) in Biology from the University of York. He currently works for Aptamer Group as their Process and Production Manager, leading the laboratory team in delivering result...

Bringing social media into The Economist, with Adam Smith from 2019-01-22T13:24:13

Adam Smith is a writer, journalist, podcaster and social media editor. In his day job he's the audience engagement editor for The Economist, a global news magazine, where he focuses on stimulati...

From lecture theatres to film sets, with Hannah Greig from 2019-01-15T12:07

Dr Hannah Greig is a Senior Lecturer in the History Department and member of the Centre for Eighteenth Century Studies. Her research interests lie in the social, political and material history o...

TRAILER | Launching on 16/01/19 from 2019-01-07T12:06:43

We’ve been preparing an exciting new podcast series called What Do You Actually Do!? Each week, starting on Wednesday 16th of January 2019, we’ll interview a different guest working in a wide ran...