Di

Admin Assistant Intern at The University of Manchester

My name is Di (Molly), I obtained a Master’s Degree of MSc Accounting and Finance from Alliance Manchester Business School last December. My current position is Admin Assistant Intern in the CARD (Centre of Academic and Research Development) Office, at the Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health.

Give a quick snapshot of your role

My job is directly related to the programmes carried out by Wellcome Institutional Strategic Support Fund and Univesity of Manchester, aiming to promote Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) in research area. I interview participants from previous programmes and edit recordings to introduction videos, which will give anyone interested a brief idea on what the programme is about, and how it can benefit participants in various ways. I also send out reminder emails for upcoming workshops, answer students’ queries on training catalogue and design surveys on Qualtrics. So if you receive an email on requests to fill in course feedbacks, that could be from me.

What have you learned during your MGT?

I’ve definitely learned to have a more open mind. I’ve got chances to interact and communicate with people from various backgrounds across the University. More than often, their inspiring insights and stories would guide me to look at the world from a broader view and accept ideas that are different from my personal opinions.

I’ve also benefited from the programmes the CARD Office is promoting. As a participant in the Being A Leader Programme, I’ve learned to stay integrated and authentic to myself and my words. While working on Active Bystander Training, which will be launched later this year, I’ve learned to stand up for unfairness and discrimination as a witness.

For my Master’s dissertation, I discussed the link between gender bias issue and accounting professionalism in the UK Big Four accounting firms. I have since learned that gender bias is not simply a general topic but embedded in females' everyday life. Now with my current role and various webinars organised by the University, especially during International Women’s Week, I’ve further learned about the challenges females are facing at workplaces and what it means to be a feminist in this century.

I’m grateful to be working in a very supportive office, where everyone kindly welcomes and helps me settle in. I’m learning how to better respect other people and contribute to creating an inclusive working environment from CARD office every day.

Why would you recommend MGT?

MGT is a good opportunity to build up working experiences right after graduation, especially for the students who are not familiar with working culture here.

What are your future plans?

I would very much like to keep working on EDI, because there is still a lot to learn. I also hope to keep working in UoM for its open, flexible and diverse working environment.

Please summarise your MGT experience in three words

First-Time: This is my first time working after graduation, first time working in a country and culture different from where I grew up and also first time working 100% in my second language.

Beneficial: I’ve learned a lot in the past five and half months, which have been beneficial to my self-development and influenced my perspective on seeing the world.

Happy: yes, happy! At the end of a day, I always feel quite happy for what I’ve done at work. I’m also gladly proud of myself that I am making progress, and with each day, I get to know more on how we can do altogether to create a more equal, diverse and inclusive world.