The lead careers and experiential learning adviser coaches students at Northeastern University in London and runs his own social enterprise, Impact Black, to address racial inequality outside of work.
LONDON — For students, keeping their eye on the prize is all about securing an esteemed degree. In London, Busayo Abidakun’s job is to help them see the employment opportunities their studies open up.
Before the lead careers and experiential learning adviser gets to his desk in Marble Quay, the campus building for professional staff, he gets his head in the game with some of his favorite music — hip-hop, soul, funk, jazz and increasingly amapiano, a form of South African dance music, make up the playlist — as he rides the Docklands Light Railway into work.
Once on campus, a typical day consists of appointments with students, appraising their resumes and creating mock interview situations depending on the type of job or research field they are looking to progress into. If he isn’t working one-on-one with students, the east Londoner — who joined Northeastern University a year-and-a-half ago after previously helping recruit for the major U.K. bank HSBC — will be promoting co-op opportunities and coming up with future employability-related events.
The day doesn’t end there, though. Abidakun moonlights in tackling social inequalities outside of work. He founded Impact Black, a social enterprise that seeks to empower people to develop their personal and professional leadership capabilities while at the same time taking action to address racial inequity.
Northeastern Global News spoke to Abidakun about job satisfaction, how being director of Impact Black informs his work at the school and his top tips for food near campus.
Getting to listen to the aspirations of our students and then creating plans to help them reach those goals. Hearing a student has been made an offer after I’ve encouraged them to apply for a role or given them advice on preparing for an interview is deeply fulfilling.
I would say it is making students aware of the range of opportunities they have at their disposal. Students often pigeonhole their career options based on their degree, but there are often more career pathways available to students than they think.
In my job role, I’m often creating learning materials that will help students develop the soft skills they need to attain a fulfilling co-op or full-time job after graduating.
This job is very similar to the type of work I do at Impact Black, where I tend to work with experienced professionals. I take approaches I use when developing workshops with Impact Black and very often use them to do something similar for our students here.
Experiential learning is also a core part of what Impact Black does. It is about showing people that volunteering and efforts outside their work can help boost their careers while also serving to address social challenges around inequity.
I think I’d like to do some of the research and teaching that our faculty do. I’d probably teach history.
There is a Brazilian spot called Pop Skewer on Cable Street. They serve meat on skewers with rice, cassava and other vegetables. They also do other classic Brazilian dishes like feijoada [a black bean with beef or pork] and other stuff like that, but I always get their sandwiches.