EU Careers Event

6 March 2012

The UCL European Institute is organising an EU Careers Event for undergraduate and graduate students, in cooperation with the UCLU European Society. It forms part of the International Careers Week organised by the UCL Careers Service.

The event will offer students an overview over career options with EU institutions, UK civil service, and relevant private and third-sector organisations. It will also give students insight into access pathways and entry criteria.

The evening has two parts:

5.15-7pm: PANEL

Presentations by and open 45min Q&A discussion with five panellists:

See speaker biographies below.
Total capacity: 60 students.

7-8pm: NETWORKING SESSION

Set up in a dedicated room, this session will allow all five panellists plus further attendants (see list below) to talk more in-depth with students and offer information material. More details below. Drinks will be made available and students can roam and approach presenters.

See biographies below.
Total capacity: 120 students

REGISTRATION

Students can register online by logging in to their My Careers Service. More information on the Careers Service website.

SPEAKER BIOGRAPHIES: PANEL SESSION

Huw Davies, European Personnel Selection Office (EPSO)
EPSO carries out the assessment that all candidates need to go through to become a civil servant of the EU Institutions- including the Commission, the Parliament and the Council. Huw manages EPSO's communication team who try and help more people around Europe to learn about careers with the EU. Huw is on secondment from the UK Civil Service Fast Stream where he previously worked as a Private Secretary to two Ministers, as well as working on policy areas such as Education and Renewable Energy. His first post in Brussels was a 5 month secondment to the Cabinet of Baroness Ashton during her period as Trade Commissioner.

Robin Walker, European Fast Stream, UK Civil Service
Robin Walker is a European Fast Streamer working in the Home Office advising the government on a decision on whether to opt out of 133 different European Justice and Home Affairs measures which has to be made by 2014. After graduating from UCL (law and French law LLB) in 2009, Robin spent a year in Japan teaching English as part of the JET programme. He then passed the LPC with distinction at The College Of Law, Moorgate in 2011 before starting his post at the Home Office at the beginning of this year.

Gawain Towler, MEP assistant
Gawain Towler is currently an MEP assistant. He was formerly in the same role in Brussels (2005-9). Before that he was a freelance journalist working with Private Eye, The Sunday Telegraph and founder/editor of the Brussels based magazine 'The Sprout'. (2001-5). Before that he worked as the International Development advisor to the Conservative Group in the European Parliament (1999-2001).

John Evan, Language Officer, European Commission Representation in the UK
John Evans is a staff translator with the Directorate-General for Translation (DGT) - the translation service of the European Commission - working from French, Spanish, Portuguese and Polish.  He currently works in the DGT Field Office in London where he is involved in a range of initiatives to promote language learning in the UK and in raising awareness of opportunities for linguists within the European institutions. John has a BA (Hons) in French and Spanish from Cardiff University (1998) and a Postgraduate Diploma in Translating and Interpreting from Bath University (2000). Before joining the Commission in 2005 he worked as a linguist in the UK civil service and as a staff translator for a UN agency in Switzerland.

Dorothée D'Herde, External Relations, McKinsey
Dorothée D'Herde is Head of External Relations at McKinsey, Sustainability and Resource Productivity Practice, where she works to develop the global thought leadership agenda on climate change, sustainability and resource productivity, handles media relations and manages the firm's reputation. She was previously account director at GPlus Europe, a London and Brussels based public affairs consultancy specializing in European Union political strategy, policy development and media and public relations. She has also worked in the Cabinet of the Belgian Deputy Prime Minster and Minister of the Interior, for a Network of European Foundations and for the European Commission Spokesperson's Service. She holds a Master of European Social Studies from the College of Europe (Bruges) and a BA in Linguistics and Literature from the Universities of Ghent and Nijmegen, as well as a Teacher Training Degree from the University of Ghent and the Universidad Complutense in Madrid.

Gergely Polner, European Parliament Office in the UK
Gergely is Head of Outreach for the European Parliament in the United Kingdom. He is a litigation lawyer who travelled and worked around the world from the Caribbean to Bosnia and Herzegovina and he has never considered becoming a "eurocrat" - actually thinking EU law was the most boring subject at law school. Following the big-bang EU enlargement in 2004, he nonetheless joined the European Parliament in Brussels, where he got addicted to the EU. In 2011 he acted as spokesperson for the rotating presidency of the Council of the EU. Serving in the Council during the Arab Spring and the increasing sovereign debt crisis allowed him to witness one of the most intense periods of diplomatic negotiations in EU history. He returned to London in August 2011 at the height of the "euro-crisis" to continue supporting a meaningful public debate on the EU.

SPEAKER BIOGRAPHIES: NETWORKING SESSION

Elizabeth Krahulecz (Regulatory and Public Policy, Ernst & Young's)
Elizabeth Krahulecz is an associate director of Ernst & Young's regulatory & public policy activities. In her role she is working closely with regulators and public policy makers in Brussels and across Central and Eastern Europe. Between June 2007 and July 2011 she worked as economic attaché for the Ministry for National Economy of the Republic of Hungary in London where she was the key interface with economic and financial institutions dedicated to effectively managing and developing key client relations between EU, UK and the Hungarian financial sector. Prior to that she had worked for Ernst & Young in Hungary including EU and public sector projects. Elizabeth is also leader and co-founder of think tanks, professional and social networks including the CEE Network and the Hungarian Professionals. Elizabeth has broad experience of economic advisory and deep knowledge of economic policy, EU projects and macroeconomics (EU/CEE). Elizabeth holds an MA in International Relations from University of Westminster and BA in Economics from Budapest Business School, Department of International Management and Business Studies, Economic Diplomacy and International Management Programme.

Brian Capon (Assistant Director, Media, British Bankers' Association, BBA)
Brian joined the BBA press office in 1995 and covers all aspects of media relations and in particular personal and business banking.  He also has responsibility for the BBA's radio broadcast studio and photographic requirements. A qualified banker and Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Bankers, Brian started his career in the Midland Bank in Wellingborough, Northamptonshire, in 1969. His subsequent management roles covered a range of banking activities at various locations across the country including retail, corporate, international, specialised industries, compliance, training and media relations in both Midland Bank and then HSBC. He is an advocate of community relations and is actively involved with various educational and youth projects.  He is a financial assessor for the Personal Finance Education Group and at one time ran the Midland Bank Motoring Club.

Arjun Singh-Muchelle (Head of EU Affairs at the British Bankers' Association, BBA)
Arjun leads the BBA's lobbying and engagement with the EU Institutions and across Europe. Prior to this, he was a Policy Advisor in the Retail banking team at the BBA. He has previously worked at European Commission, the London Councils European Service, the think-tank Policy Network and the National Council for Voluntary Organisations. He completed his Bachelor's degree in Canada and, subsequently his Master's degree, in European Political Economy, at the London School of Economics where he also completed his PhD in the same subject. He has published articles on topics ranging from the political economy of climate change to Norwegian politics and speaks four languages.