CALEB MEAKINS
AGE: 24 years
DEGREE: Civil Engineering
UNIVERSITY: Loughborough University
CATEGORY: Social
This year team Adzuna partnered up with the UK’s top grad job site Milkround in a nationwide search for the 2013 Graduate of the Year. Our aim was to find the brightest and best Academics, Politicians, Sportpersons, Entrepreneurs, and Artists graduating from UK universities this year.
In a time when competition for jobs is tougher than ever for university leavers, with over 50 graduates fighting it out for every job, we are proud to be supporting the UK’s exceptional talent straight out of the blocks. With the incredible support and cooperation of over 150 universities we have been blown away by the sheer quantity and calibre of applicants from every facet of university life. Narrowing down from 1000s of candidates to 7 exceptional finalists was the unenviable task of the Adzuna judges who spent hours toing-and-froing over applications. The final seven have been battling it out head-to-head over the summer and we are now delighted to announce the winner:
Drumroll please… We are so excited to announce that Caleb Meakins, a 24 year old Civil Engineering Graduate has been crowned “Graduate of the Year”. Caleb beat off thousands of other entrants and amassed an impressive 700+ votes from around the country to win the illustrious title. 
- Caleb is a creative, hardworking individual who lives by the motto of ‘He Who Dares Wins’.
- If a Master’s in Civil Engineering is not enough Caleb was also awarded the University’s 2012 Social Enterprise Award, is an Ambassador for the Global Poverty Project AND sat on the board of judges for the National Student Apprentice.
- The half Ethiopian and half English graduate decided to take a year out after graduating to launch ‘My 40 Days’. The idea behind this is to undertake and document 40 challenges submitted by the public and deemed ‘impossible to achieve’, to shape the way he deals with failure and to inspire Graduates nationwide showing that failing is actually a valuable experience in today’s competitive graduate job market.
Our friends and competition partners over at Milkround said: “We were blown away by the talent this year and the whole initiative has been a real testament to the hard-work from all the finalists. Caleb’s entrepreneurial spirit and enthusiasm really shone out. I have no doubt this is the first of many achievements for him and he’ll continue to inspire the next generation of graduates.”
As promised by Adzuna & Milkround, Caleb will receive £1000 cash, a CV mentoring session with a top UK entrepreneur and an Awesome intership at top UK company (TBC). Keep your eyes peeled for news on how Caleb gets on.