The successful placements and internships undertaken by Faculty of Management students last year were celebrated at the recent Employability Awards.
The awards, which recognised the contributions of over BU 50 students, is part of the faculty’s Student Talent Employability Programme (STEEP), a careers-focused programme designed to develop employability skills through workshops and events with the aim of helping students secure a placement or graduate role.
Dr Philip Ryland, Associate Dean for Student Experience in the Faculty of Management and Chair of the awards panel explained: “The Awards were launched this year to celebrate the incredible range of experiences our students have whilst on placement, notably, the level of responsibility they are given, the opportunities to meet and work with high profile individuals, companies and agencies and the range of challenges they are asked to explore and resolve.”
Talking about the prize winners, Philip added: “The Awards judging panel was enormously impressed by the quality of many of the submissions this year and narrowing down the field of submissions for each award has proved to be a difficult task. However, we managed it and we are really proud of your achievements”.
Georgia Jones, BA (Hons) Events Management student, received a special mention for successfully winning in three categories (Innovation, Global Citizenship and Outstanding Contribution) for her work at technology company IBM, where her ideas saw IBM invest almost £100,000 to develop additional functionality with an app used by National Grid engineers.
Dr Philip Ryland commended Georgia’s achievements saying: “One of the greatest pleasures in being involved in these awards has been the opportunity to read about the interesting and innovative things our students have been involved in whilst on placement and we are all incredibly pleased and proud of Georgia’s achievement".
Overall winners for the five categories:
- Outstanding Contribution Award: Annie Wakeman, BA (Hons) Business Studies with Marketing, Miles Smith Insurance Group
- Financial Impact Award: Jack Matthews, BA (Hons) Business Studies with Finance, Unilever
- Global Citizenship Award: Greta Sagurskyte, BA (Hons) Tourism Management, Placement International
- Innovation Award: Elizabeth Falkowska, BA (Hons) Business Studies with Marketing, Microsoft
- Service Excellence Award: Victoria Leon-Bethencourt, BA (Hons) Retail Management, Bentley Motors
Outstanding Contribution Award winner, Annie, shared: “I’m really proud of the contribution that I have made during my time at Miles Smith, it has been incredible to see the transformation of the marketing department and I feel pride with each campaign or advert that goes out as I appreciate the hard work that has gone into creating it”.
It has been challenging at times to adapt to the level of responsibility that I have been given and sometimes I have made mistakes, however the challenges have helped me grow and develop and I am really pleased to be returning to Miles Smith in July 2018 in a managerial position”.
Innovation Award winner, Elizabeth, was also featured in BUs #MyPlacementStory campaign earlier this year. You can watch her video about her placement with Microsoft and find out how to share your placement story on our website.
Photos from the event can be found on Facebook and on the photobooth supplier’s gallery.
STEEP offers workshops, developed by programme leaders and industry experts, that concentrate on the key skills needed when applying for work, inspiring, challenging and building confidence and industry knowledge in those who take part.
Visit our website for more information about STEEP as well as careers services and opportunities, open to all BU students, including the Global Talent Programme.
