DYW - Orkney
  • Home
  • Young People
    • Careers in... >
      • Aquaculture
      • Construction
      • Early Years & Childcare
      • Energy
      • Food & Drink Production
      • Health & Social Care
      • Land-based
      • Retail
      • Tourism & Hospitality
    • My Options >
      • Apprenticeships
      • College
      • University
      • Employment
      • Planning for the Future >
        • Making Decisions
        • Your Options
        • Finding and Getting a Job
      • Your Next Steps
    • Get Hired >
      • The CV
      • The Job Application
      • The Job Interview
    • Stand out from the crowd >
      • 10 Ways to get Experience
      • Make the Most of Your Work Experience
      • Get Creative
    • Work Placements
    • Employment Rights
  • Employers
    • Get Involved
    • Employer Testimonials
    • Ways to Engage
    • Apprenticeships
    • Hire a young person
    • Young Person's Guarantee
    • Funding and Support
    • Employer Workshops
  • Education
    • Marketplace for Education
  • Parents
    • Discovering their career options
    • Choosing their next steps
    • Getting their first job
    • Unlocking their potential
  • Latest News
  • Work Placements

latest news

Staff Focus: Lara Santos Ayllon, European Marine Energy Centre

23/9/2021

 
Picture
EMEC's next Staff Focus is Lara Santos Ayllon, who works as Stakeholder Engagement Officer at EMEC in Stromness. 
 
Lara graduated with a degree in Politics, Philosophy and Economics and originally wanted to work in the political and activism sectors.  However, her first role was an internship in a Communications and Public Relations agency which she saw as a chance to gain transferrable skills and learn more about the sector.  This role helped her realise she wanted to change career direction into the energy and climate change arena and she undertook a Masters Degree in Energy, Society and Sustainability where she learnt about EMEC.  When an opportunity came to work at EMEC, she applied straight away. ​

Picture
Can you describe a typical day in your job? 
On a day to day, my role usually includes internal and external meetings with individuals across industries and roles, to create connections and networks. 

Daily, it also usually includes reading through relevant policy strategies and other official documents, analysing these to map out the policy actions relevant to our organisation. 

Another part of my role is delivering on engagement opportunities, for example, creating content online for local communications, or responding to government consultations. 

How did you end up in this role? 
I studied an undergraduate degree in Politics, Philosophy and Economics, and following months of job search in the political and activism sectors, I instead found an internship at a communications and public relations agency. 

I took the internship as an opportunity to learn the ins and outs of a sector, as well as the transferable skills that came with it!  I also saw value in learning the dynamics of a full time, nine-to-five job, which I had never experienced before. 
 
During this time, I realised I wanted to direct my career towards the energy and climate change arena.  Given I personally have an affinity for academia, I decided to look for a Masters degree.  Following a year of work in communications, I moved to Edinburgh to study an MSc in Energy, Society and Sustainability. 
 
Given my social sciences background, I was afraid that without technical knowledge I would be unable to work in the industry I was passionate about.  To my surprise this Postgraduate Degree introduced me to technical content from a generalist perspective, focusing on the dynamics between the social, the political, the environmental and the technical, and how we need to consider them all together to respond to climate change.  I learnt about Orkney and EMEC during the MSc, in a module on local energy system and community innovation.  When an opportunity arose to join the EMEC team I applied straight away. 
 
I am now working in the industry I care about, in a role which matches my skills and interests, with a great team.  At the same time, I am constantly challenged to continue to learn about and understand the technical dimensions of climate, energy and environment, all in all it is a really great dynamic. 
 
What is the best thing about your job? 
In practical terms, the best thing about my job is seeing a tangible impact from efforts into political consultations, for instance, or into engagement campaigns.  Moreover, through this process I am constantly learning about the local, regional and national policy landscapes and initiatives in relation to energy, climate change and innovation and internationally too. 
 
The team is fantastic, and it is really motivating to work with the shared knowledge that we are contributing our grain of sand into hopefully, transforming the future for the better. 
 
What is the worst thing about your job? 
There are days where I feel I haven’t had time to deliver work because meetings and admin has taken up the day. 
 
What skills do you need to undertake your role? 
Oral and written communications skills. 
Flexibility working across teams and sectors. 
Proactivity. 
Time management. 
Adaptability. 
 
What qualifications do you have? 
Undergraduate Degree: BA in Combined Honours in Social Sciences: Politics, Philosophy and Economics 
Postgraduate Degree: MSc in Energy, Society and Sustainability 
 
Would you recommend this job to young people, if so why? 
Yes – absolutely. My role is in fact, a graduate scheme role. 
 
A role in external relations/ stakeholder engagement enables you to learn a vast amount about a particular industry.  You will be in touch with policy across the sector at national and international levels, while also gaining knowledge on the trade bodies, and key businesses working in each space. 
 
The role is generalist, meaning it is not specialised in a particular niche.  This has pros and cons, and ultimately boils down to different people’s skills and desired career paths.  A particular benefit of this type of role is that it teaches strategic thinking, learning to see the full picture of situations. 
 
External relations roles are also really useful for young people to increase their confidence at work and speaking with individuals within and beyond their teams. 
 
Visit EMEC on: 

Website:  www.emec.org.uk   
Facebook:  www.facebook.com/EuropeanMarineEnergyCentre
Twitter:  www.twitter.com/EMEC_Ltd  


Comments are closed.

    Archives

    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    November 2018
    September 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018

    Categories

    All
    A Job For Everybody
    Apprenticeship
    Aquaculture
    Blog
    Business And Administration
    Careers Takeover
    Construction
    COVID-19
    DYW Orkney Board
    Education
    Employment
    Energy
    Engineering
    Exams
    Financial Services
    Fisheries
    Food And Drink
    Foundation Apprenticeships
    Graduate Apprenticeships
    Health And Beauty
    Healthcare
    Hospitality
    Internship
    IT
    Jobs Of The Week
    Key Worker Campaign
    Kirkwall Grammar School
    Land Based
    Leisure And Sport
    Modern Apprentice
    Modern Apprenticeships
    Newsletter
    No Wrong Path
    Oil And Gas
    Orkney College UHI
    Project Manager
    Sanday Junior High
    Scottish Apprenticeship Week
    Sector Spotlight
    Skills Development Scotland
    Social Care
    STEM
    Stromness Academy
    Stronsay Junior High
    Tourism
    Volunteering
    Westray Junior High
    Young Enterprise
    Young People Are Great Campaign

    RSS Feed

GET IN TOUCH   |   ABOUT US   |   CONTACT US
TERMS & CONDITIONS   |   WEBSITE PRIVACY POLICY   |   CRM PRIVACY POLICY   |   DATA PROTECTION   |   COOKIE POLICY   |   ACCESSIBILITY
Proudly powered by Weebly
© 2019 Developing the Young Workforce
  • Home
  • Young People
    • Careers in... >
      • Aquaculture
      • Construction
      • Early Years & Childcare
      • Energy
      • Food & Drink Production
      • Health & Social Care
      • Land-based
      • Retail
      • Tourism & Hospitality
    • My Options >
      • Apprenticeships
      • College
      • University
      • Employment
      • Planning for the Future >
        • Making Decisions
        • Your Options
        • Finding and Getting a Job
      • Your Next Steps
    • Get Hired >
      • The CV
      • The Job Application
      • The Job Interview
    • Stand out from the crowd >
      • 10 Ways to get Experience
      • Make the Most of Your Work Experience
      • Get Creative
    • Work Placements
    • Employment Rights
  • Employers
    • Get Involved
    • Employer Testimonials
    • Ways to Engage
    • Apprenticeships
    • Hire a young person
    • Young Person's Guarantee
    • Funding and Support
    • Employer Workshops
  • Education
    • Marketplace for Education
  • Parents
    • Discovering their career options
    • Choosing their next steps
    • Getting their first job
    • Unlocking their potential
  • Latest News
  • Work Placements