University of Bath School of Management

The BSc in Accounting and Finance at Bath provides a good mix of finance and business administration modules. The staff here are also very supportive; in particular, I have received tremendous help during the application process of my industrial placement. I have thoroughly enjoyed the study experience here.

Shan Lu - BAF Student

During my degree in accounting and finance in my work placement year I had the opportunity to work at UBS Global Asset Management. I was based in the Operations unit which focuses on OTC (over the counter) Derivatives products. My role rotated so that I gained responsibilities in different parts of OTC Derivatives. I’ve had exposure to collateral management, settlements, and reconciliation processes within the range of OTC products.

Working at UBS has not only enhanced my financial knowledge, but also my soft skills, such as prioritisation, time management, working under pressure, IT skills and effective organisation. Furthermore I’ve gained an understanding of office culture; dealing with different people’s expectations and improving my networking skills.

The opportunity to experience a real life working environment has definitely been the highlight of the degree so far and one which I feel is an excellent stepping stone to my future career path.

Betty Tjong

Placement: UBS, Global Asset Management

When I joined Lloyds Banking Group in June 2008 it was still Lloyds TSB. To have worked in a company that has been making the headlines and been involved in a huge takeover wasn’t how I imagined my placement would go, but I’ve learnt so much because of it. Not only have I developed a better understanding of the banking world and the economic climate, I’ve also got to see how the company and employees react to takeover news from an internal perspective.

Working as a ‘Modelling Support Analyst’ I’m part of the Propensity Modelling group. My team builds models that use statistical analysis to predict the behaviour of our customers in the future so we can target the most responsive customers with direct mail campaigns. My main responsibility is to monitor these models and to ensure that they are working, but I’ve also been able to build a few which are currently used around the business.

I’ve learnt a variety of different skills on placement, many of which I can carry forward to use in my final year and beyond. In addition to the technical skills I’ve also developed a lot of “soft” skills such as communication, teamwork and presentation skills.

The placement year has definitely been the highlight of the degree so far. Although I’ve missed aspects of university life I really enjoy the structure of working full-time and being able to apply the skills I’ve learnt to business situations.

Rob Bennett

Placement: Lloyds Banking Group, Modelling Support Analyst