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About the Career Kickstarter

Get access to career advice and inspiration
across a range of different industries

Our programs promote key in-demand future skills, as identified by The Economist Intelligence Unit.

Access to workshops, expert Q&As and online networking opportunities to help you rocket launch your career.

Online Events Per Week

Students Enrolled So Far

Trainings Delivered So Far

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Develop in-demand skills

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Career Inspiration

Hear it from them…

“As University students, we have so much anxiety about the future. Am I entering a dying industry? What if I can’t get a job? There’s so much under-employment and there’s going to be so much automation.

What we never really learn, at least not in an academic setting, is how to future-proof your career.

The Start Me Up workshops raise solutions to those issues and I think that’s really cool.”

Upcoming Events

How to Get into Product Design

Ever heard of a product design manager? Or wondered what they might do?

This week we’re joined by Maciej Szafraniec, Product Design Manager at NYSE-listed Zendesk.

In this talk, Maciej will talk about getting into product design (interview and experience tips) and offer thoughts on product development: research, ideation, design, implementation, and analysis & iteration (based on data).

 

 

 

September 2

September 7

How to Be a Better Negotiator

Negotiation is an essential life skill. And as soon as you enter the working world you’ll be entering into a series of negotiations.

Effective negotiation helps you generate value
for your business, or your employer, it can also
help you better negotiate as an employee, contractor or business owner.

In this session, we’ll cover the theory and practical exercises to help you do this effectively.

 

How to Land Your Dream Job

Ever wondered how to go about securing your dream job?

Whether it’s working for a big corporate company, a small tech startup or a social enterprise abroad, this workshop will benefit you.

This session covers everything you need to do to help you land the all important job interview. From using LinkedIn to find opportunities, to submitting the perfect resume.

 

 

 

September 10

September 14

How to Ace a Job Interview

You’ve secured the all important job interview and the stakes are high.
Now you need to ace the interview.

Easier said than done?

Whether it’s a video interview or takes place face to face, this session covers everything you need to know about preparing for and succeeding with your job interview.

 

 

 

Speakers

Barnabas Bogdan

Barnabas Bogdan

Customer Success Analytics | ex-eBay | ex-Google

Ivan Gowan

Ivan Gowan

Founder, Capital.com | Product Management | Fintech

Oliver Lucas

Oliver Lucas

Market Research | E-Commerce | Ex Arsenal | Ex TNS

Mónica Larrazábal Álvarez-Guerra

Mónica Larrazábal Álvarez-Guerra

Senior Associate at McKinsey.org | Ex McKinsey

Lavinia Losub

Lavinia Losub

Managing Partner, Livit | Future of Work | Remote Work

Agnes Krzysztofowicz

Agnes Krzysztofowicz

Senior Business Consultant, Livit

David Simpson

David Simpson

CTO, Beacon | Ex Nominet | Artificial Intelligence | Product Management

Clare Harrison

Clare Harrison

Founder, Start Me Up | Entrepreneurship | Future of Work

Cori Orak

Cori Orak

Co-Owner, Ethnotek | Operations | E-commerce

Past Events

August 31

How to Future Proof Your Career

The world of work is changing.

We often hear about the jobs that are going to be lost to automation.

But what about those that will be created?

In this session led by Livit Managing Partner Lavinia Losub, we explore the opportunities that are being created by the changes to the workplace.

 

How to Be An Effective Remote Worker

Remote work has gone mainstream.

Learning the latest tools and best practices used by remote-first companies will help set you up for success for remote work.

In this session, you will gain familiarity with strategies for time management and communication protocols; some of the biggest struggles faced by remote workers new and old.

August 24

How to Ace a Job Interview

You’ve secured the all important job interview and the stakes are high.

Now you need to ace the interview.

Easier said than done?

Whether it’s a video interview or takes place face to face, this session covers everything you need to know about preparing for and succeeding with your job interview.

August 20

August 19

How to Conduct Design Research

Design research is essential to create products, services, and systems that respond to human needs.

In this session, qualitative researcher and University of Melbourne PhD candidate Lilli Crovara shares how to approach research to design better products and services.

August 13

How to Land Your Dream Job

Ever wondered how to go about securing your dream job?

Whether it’s working for a big corporate company, a small tech startup or a social enterprise abroad, this workshop will benefit you.

This session covers everything you need to do to help you land the all important job interview. From using LinkedIn to find opportunities, to submitting the perfect resume.

Design Your Own App

You’ve got your idea and now it’s time to put it to the test.

During this workshop you’ll design your own application using the knowledge you’ve gained from the previous sessions.

This practical workshop will equip you with valuable experience for your portfolio and give you a grounding in high and low fidelity prototyping.

 

 

 

August 13

August 12

How to Write for a Business Audience

Ever wondered how to write for a business audience?

Michael Burns is a professional writer, copywriter, storyteller, and content consultant.

After studying Film and TV, English & creative writing at The University of Miami, he went onto pursue a career that spanned TV, Hollywood films, business writing, music journalism and included a stint at a record label.

In this talk, he shares his experience working as a freelancer and how to engage companies all over the world through writing.

How to Be a Better Negotiator

Negotiation is an essential life skill. And as soon as you enter the working world you’ll be entering into a series of negotiations.

Effective negotiation helps you generate value
for your business, or your employer, it can also
help you better negotiate as an employee, contractor or business owner.

In this session, we’ll cover the theory and practical exercises to help you do this effectively.

August 10

August 6

Intro to UX Research

Understand the role of the UX researcher and the fundamentals of UX Research.

Learn the ins and outs of one of the most in-demand jobs today.

Expand your user research knowledge and enhance practical techniques you can apply to building your own ideas.

 

 

 

How to Get into Product Management

Ever wondered what a product manager does and why it’s one of the highest paid jobs in Silicon Valley?

Interested in working for one of the world’s most recognizable sports brands?

Serge Bajic works as a Senior Product Manager for Nike.

In this talk he shares the framework he used to get a job at Nike and the career benefits of working in startups and larger corporations.

 

 

 

August 5

August 3

How to Future Proof Your Career

The world of work is changing.

We often hear about the jobs that are going to be lost to automation.

But what about those that will be created?

In this session led by Livit Managing Partner Lavinia Losub, we explore the opportunities that are being created by the changes to the workplace.

 

Intro to Design Thinking

This workshop will provide you with an introduction to design thinking.

Get an overview of product design and learn essential technical terms.

Learn the five phases used in design thinking and why they’re so important.

You will also gain a deeper understanding of this in-demand discipline and how it can be applied to a range of careers.

 

 

 

July 30

July 29

How to Get Into Fintech

Want to work in fintech but not sure where to find opportunities?

Ex-CEO of Capital.com, Ivan Gowan, speaks about his journey into fintech.

He shares his knowledge about spanning trends in AI and future opportunities in the sector.

 

 

 

How to Be An Effective Remote Worker

Remote work has gone mainstream.

Learning the latest tools and best practices used by remote-first companies will help set you up for success for remote work.

In this session you will gain familiarity with strategies for time management and communication protocols; some of the biggest struggles faced by remote workers new and old.

 

July 27

July 24

24

Demo Day

You’ve spent the past four weeks working on your idea, now it’s time to share it with the rest of your cohort in an interactive demo.

Whether you’ve prototyped an app to solve food waste in your area or a website to sell hip new sustainable socks, we love hearing about your entrepreneurial thoughts and ideas.

Getting feedback from others is also a great way to discover potential stumbling blocks you may not have thought about and also receive praise on areas they think will be successful.

July 23

How to Land Your Dream Job

Ever wondered how to go about securing your dream job?

Whether it’s working for a big corporate company, a small tech startup or a social enterprise abroad, this workshop will benefit you.

This session covers everything you need to do to help you land the all important job interview. From using LinkedIn to find opportunities, to submitting the perfect resume.

How to Get Into UX

Ever wondered how to go about starting a career in UX?

UX is one of the most sought after hard skills for 2020, according to LinkedIn.

In this talk, UX designer and developer Emanuele Nicolella shares his unorthodox journey into UX as well as advice for getting started.

July 22

How to Ace a Job Interview

You’ve secured the all important job interview and the stakes are high.

Now you need to ace the interview.

Easier said than done?

Whether it’s a video interview or takes place face to face, this session covers everything you need to know about preparing for and succeeding with your job interview.

July 20

July 16

How to Validate a Business Idea

This workshop covers the importance of validation and some of the techniques you can use to validate your idea and get feedback from potential users.

It also covers how to set up tests for startup idea validation and how to iterate and incorporate feedback from users.

 

July 15

What It's Like to Work for a Tech Giant

This week we ask: what is it like to work for a tech giant?
Barnabas Bogdan has plenty of experience, taking in both Ebay and Google (where he spent nearly five years as a growth manager).
In this Q&A, he’ll share more about the interview process and company culture, team setup, perks and training.
 

How to Be a Better Negotiator

Negotiation is an essential life skill. And as soon as you enter the working world you’ll be entering into a series of negotiations.

Effective negotiation helps you generate value
for your business, or your employer, it can also
help you better negotiate as an employee, contractor or business owner.

In this session, we’ll cover the theory and practical exercises to help you do this effectively.

July 13

July 8

How to Bag a VC Internship

The world of Venture Capital can be mysterious to outsiders. 

In this Q&A, Start Me Up alumna Judith Vogel, shares her experience of working for California headquartered accelerator and investor Plug and Play. 

Judith studied at Frankfurt School of Finance & Management Business Administration with a Focus on International Management.  

How to Prototype a Business Idea

This workshop covers some of the techniques used to prototype your idea and get feedback from potential users.

How to prototype your idea quickly.
An overview of creative examples of Minimum
Viable Products.

Learn the importance of validating ideas before investing time and resources into them.

July 9

How to Future Proof Your Career

The world of work is changing. We often hear about the jobs that are going to be lost to automation. But what about those that will be created? 

In this session led by Livit Managing Partner Lavinia Losub, we explore the opportunities that are being created by the changes to the workplace. 

July 6

July 3

What It's Really Like to Be a CTO

Chief Technology Officer of your own startup is a dream for many techies. But what’s it really like?

In this Q&A David Simpson, CTO and co-founder of Beacon, a CRM that helps charities to collect donations and organize their teams, shares his experience.

David studied Artificial Intelligence at the University of Birmingham in the UK. Before founding Beacon, he worked for several organizations as a software engineer, researcher, and product manager.

From McKinsey to McKinsey.org

In this session, Start Me Up Alumna Monica shares her experience of working for both McKinsey and their associated nonprofit, McKinsey.org. We discuss culture, interviews and switching from corporate to nonprofits 

June 5