On Friday 29th July the Spanish Chamber of Commerce hosted an informative session that was part of “The Two Weeks Programme”, an initiative jointly organised by the Polytechnic University of Valencia (UPV) and the Valencia University (UV).
This is the fifth year in a row in which the Spanish Chamber of Commerce in Great Britain takes part in this exciting initiative. The delegation that came to London was led by Mr. Antonio Reig, Prof. Dr. Industrial Engineer from the Polytechnic University of Valencia and coordinator of the programme.
The “Two Weeks Programme” takes place once a year and it gives 20 students from the above universities the opportunity to travel to London for a two-week stay. During the programme the participants attend a course about recruitment processes and visit prestigious companies from different industries related to their field of studies, such as Energy, IT, Industrial Production, Technical Consultancy, Financial Engineering, Construction and Real Estate.
The participants of the “Two Weeks Programme” from the UPV.
The session hosted at the Spanish Chamber provided further information about the role of the institution and the opportunities available in the UK for young graduates.
To start off, Ms. Cristina Carmona, Head of External Relations and Communications, welcomed the participants on behalf of our institution and spoke about the main services provided by the Chamber and the activities we organise throughout the year. This topic proved of special interest for the students, who took the opportunity to enquire further about it.
Ms. Cristina Carmona (Spanish Chamber of Commerce) welcoming the participants along with Mr. Geoff Curran (Energy Live News).
The next speaker was Ms. Sofía Vázquez, Co-founder of Bookingenglish, a company specialised in sourcing English courses, assessing candidates CVs and finding placements for graduates. She offered the participants of the Two Weeks Programme useful tips to be successful at interviews and selection processes, and highlighted the importance of making a first good impression.
She also mentioned other things to take into consideration such as the need to be flexible in a competitive and demanding market and shared her experience as co-founder of a business and the challenges it presents.
Ms. Sofía Vázquez, Co-Founder of Bookingenglish, during her talk.
Finally it was the turn of Geoff Curran, Founder and Commercial Director of Energy Live News, a leading energy news site in the United Kingdom. Mr. Curran shared relevant information about the background of the company and focused on explaining how to survive and thrive in business by providing an inspiring talk full of day-to-day examples to follow based on his previous experience.
Ms. Cristina Carmona closed the informative session and received a commemorative plaque from Mr. Antonio Reig as a memory of this fifth collaboration between our institution and the participants of the “Two Weeks Programme”.
Mr. Antonio Reig (UPV) handed a plate to Ms. Cristina Carmona (Spanish Chamber of Commerce) to mark this visit.
We would like to thank all the speakers of this informative session as well as the students who have taken part this year in the “Two Weeks Programme” for their interest and involvement.
If you wish to obtain further details about the programme and how it works, have a look at the following video on last year’s edition.