University of Bath School of Management

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• ► BSc in Business Administration
• ► BSc in Accounting and Finance
• ► BSc in International Management and Modern Languages
• ► Corporate Partners Scheme
• ► Alumni Network

Last week, final year undergraduates from the School of Management’s BSc in Business Administration (BBA), BSc in Accounting and Finance (BAF) and BSc in International Management and Modern Languages (IMML) came together at an inaugural event in Bath’s Guildhall.

Networking Reception - Insights into the Final Year and Beyond presented an opportunity for finalists to hear at first-hand the experiences of a number of alumni who are now in the early stages of their careers, having successfully completed their studies.

The evening began with drinks and canapés and some of the School’s corporate partners provided careers information. Representatives were on hand from Intel, Lloyds, and Procter and Gamble, while PricewaterhouseCoopers and Zurich provided literature on their graduate programmes.

Professor Richard Elliott, Dean of the School of Management, welcomed everyone and commented that although it was only a short time until they don their gowns at graduation, there was still a lot of hard work to do. He said that he understood the considerable pressure they were under in these final months and wished them well.

Introducing Diana Braddock, the School’s Alumni and External Relations Manager, the focus moved to the alumni who had kindly returned to Bath for the evening to talk about their experiences.  Diana talked about the School’s 10,000-strong alumni network and reminded the students that they can get advice in their job search by putting them in touch with these alumni and their companies. 

The panel consisted of seven alumni, most of whom had graduated in 2009. Representing the BBAs were James Boysons and Josh Noble, now both working in graduate marketing roles for Johnson & Johnson; Joe Healey, working as Sales and Marketing Executive for Coca Cola; Lea Nielsen, now working as an Industry Analyst for Google; and Aliya Karmali, now undertaking an MSc in International Management at Bath.

Rhodri Jenkins, who graduated from the BAF degree in 2008 was also on the panel and now works for KPMG as a Trainee Chartered Accountant. IMML French graduate Scarlett Seager talked about her experiences working as Vice President (Welfare and Campaigns) for the University’s Student’s Union, since graduating in 2009.

Able to empathise with the students, the alumni gave them valuable insights into their final year experiences. They were also able to show students that it was still possible to get a good job despite the economic situation and that having a degree from Bath was a valuable asset. They also reminded them to make the most of their final months as students!

Following the panel, there was an opportunity for students to network with alumni, faculty, and the corporate guests. Feedback from the students was very positive and the event was considered to be a great success. Plans are now in place for a similar event next year.