As part of the second year Consultancy module, Simphiwe Shongwe completed a real-life project with a live client and presented this work at this year’s Consultancy Conference. Read all about the experience, and what Simphiwe thinks of the Consultancy module as a whole, below.
What have you enjoyed about the Consultancy module?
Gaining experience in working with a real life client and communicating with them, being able to take part and contribute to a project aiming to support the community.
What was your Consultancy proposal and report about?
The Proposal was investigating public perception on Seedley Pavillion Community Cafe and Gardens in Buile Hill Park. Our report consisted of an introduction and background into the area – we used a Questionnaire distributed to the service users at the park to investigate how often they visit the SPCCG and what they like about it as well as what they think could be improved for the future. We then gathered our results and discussed them further, concluding that there is a positive perception of the SPCCG, however there are strategies that can be developed to cater to more age groups and demographics.
Who was your real life client and what were your tasks?
Mark Frith – Our tasks were to create the questionnaire with the relevant questions, create a QR code in which participants could scan to complete it and distribute it across various social media platforms.
What did you enjoy about working on a live project with a real life client?
Communication with the client is what I enjoyed as it was clear, swift and felt like we were making good progress.
How do you think the live project sets you up for life after you graduate?
Having experience in how consulting works opens up opportunities for a career in the future.
What did you enjoy about the Consultancy Conference?
Being able to share what we have been working on and obtaining in person feedback, as well as seeing how other groups had gotten on.
Did you get to meet your live client at the conference? Tell me a bit about what that was like.
Yes. It was great to see support from Mark and how he showed his gratitude towards what we had contributed towards his project.
Was the conference a good opportunity to network? Why do you think it is useful to have clients, supervisors and a guest speaker there?
Yes, I think it’s good to enhance communication skills, gain networking skills, and building connections, and also being able to ask questions
Can you please share the work you showcased at the conference?
What are you hoping to do after university? How do you think the Consultancy module will help you to achieve that?
I am hoping to do a masters in either sustainable aviation or sustainable chemical engineering and go on to work with sustainable fuels in aviation.