The team at Marlowe are proud to help young people on their career journeys. We support official programmes such as the University of Kent’s Employability Points Scheme which help keen students to learn more about business change as well as the world of consultancy and work.
We recently caught up with two of our interns Marzia Bilwani and Alex Weighton to see what they’ve been up to since their time with Marlowe.
Marzia Bilwani (L) & Alex Weighton (R)
Marlowe: Tell us a little about your internship at Marlowe, what encouraged you to do it?
MB: I did my internship in June 2022. I wanted to do it with Marlowe as I felt that consultancy offers the bridge between analytics and interaction with people. At that point I’d had a job offer with two of the big four and wanted to see what working in a smaller, specialist consultancy would be like.
AW: After leaving university in 2020 I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do and needed more work experience to find out. It was an awkward time given Covid lockdowns and it was difficult to find a job. I like problem solving and working with lots of people. A family friend introduced me to Deborah and after that conversation she suggested working on a short internship with Marlowe which I did for around a month.
Marlowe: What are you doing now?
MB: After gaining a distinction in my Masters, I worked in Pakistan as a data scientist and through that I was able to spend some time teaching children on the subject which was wonderful. I’m now based in the UAE. I work at Etihad Airways working with the data scientists. I’m part of the revenue management team and spend my time finding solutions to optimise pricing.
AW: I’m delighted to be working at Rockpool as a Private Client Executive . After leaving Marlowe I took a finance role at a reinsurance company, and it took me that to realise that despite training to be an accountant I wanted to spend more time with people. What I have now is a combination between finance and people. I make introductions between HNWI’s, private investors and family offices to private equity and debt opportunities.
Marlowe: How did the internship help you to get your roles?
MB: I had to interact with a lot of people in the time I spent with Marlowe. I’ve realised how important it is to converse with people in the workplace so the confidence that I got from doing that at Marlowe has helped enormously. I was fortunate that Marlowe helped me to receive public speaking training at RADA and now I always remember their advice: think about the audience, take deep breaths and relax! Doing the final presentation with Deborah was great, I’ve always liked presenting so to have that confirmation that I was good at it gave me even more confidence.
AW: I felt it bolstered the skills I learned at university. The Business Administration course I studied for at Bath gave me the skills to succeed in business but it’s only when you leave and start working that you can put them into effect. I’ve always thought that communication and teamwork were my strong suit and working with Marlowe enhanced that. It was super to work on a specific project in the pharmaceutical industry – not one I’ve had experience in – and create presentations that added value to the people I was working with.
Marlowe: How does it feel to be in full-time work? Has anything surprised you?
MB: I was already working before the placement, but I would say that as a student you can control what’s happening, in the workplace things can sometimes be out of your control. It can be quite difficult to navigate different people’s personalities!
AW: Fortunately, because of my university course and the placements I’ve had there haven’t been too many shocks! Many companies want you to be able to hit the ground running, which is great, but you need time to learn. The main issue for me was knowing what I wanted to do, I tried and tested a few different industries.
Marlowe: What piece of advice would you give to other young people stepping out into the world of work?
MB: It’s important not to stay in your comfort zone - do something that is outside the scope of your work or your skill set. And talk about your achievements outside of work – show people and future employers that you’re doing things all the time!
AW: Definitely get work experience, it gives you the real-life skills once you get into work. After you leave university it probably will be trial and error to find the role or sector you want to be in. Find something you’re passionate about while at the same time tuning the skill sets you have. Give different industries a go and don’t be afraid to drastically change your plans, it’s taken me to reach 26 years of age to realise what I want!
Marlowe: And finally, what are your long-term career plans?
MB: I’d love to do a PhD in computational creativity. The application of data science in the airline industry is quite exciting and I’d like to take it even further by understanding how data science can impact social issues such as inequality and climate change. I want to help other people to grow too so I'm also hoping to move into a leadership role soon.
AW: Very simple. I want to combine my finance and people skills and keep progressing to be a Relationship Manager in the private equity sector.
Marlowe: Thank you both, you’ve achieved so much, we’re very proud of you and good luck with your future career. Keep in touch!
About Marlowe
At Marlowe we partner with organisations to deliver large scale, complex transformation and change. We deliver business change solutions, change capability, assurance, training, leadership effectiveness and cultural change.
We’re proud to support young people in their career journeys. We offer internships to talented people with the aim of giving them the skills they need to embark on their career and welcome the opportunity to talk to university development offices about partnering opportunities.