6 minute read
Employability
Wherever you want to go, BU can help you get there. Everything we do – from the development of our degrees to the support we offer through our Careers & Employability Service – is designed to make you globally employable.
Becoming globally employable
It’s an exciting world out there, and we work hard to make sure our graduates can explore as much of it as they want. Our courses are designed to make you employable all over the world, giving you an international outlook whatever career you choose to follow. We can also help you to learn a new language – or strengthen your skills in one you already speak.
BU Skills Development Programme
This has been developed with employers to help you discover and demonstrate your potential to work in a truly global way, crossing physical and cultural boundaries to deliver outstanding results in your studies and the workplace.
Work placements
Many of our degrees offer the opportunity to undertake some form of work placement as part of your studies – a great way to improve your CV and make invaluable contacts for the future. We work with some of the biggest names around the world, making sure that your work experience has global relevance and will make you stand out to employers anywhere in the world.
MyCareerHub
This online job vacancy system can be accessed anywhere at any time, and provides hundreds of part-time, vacation, placement and graduate employment opportunities. We also use it to tell you about upcoming events, webinars, Skype chats and visits from people and companies that might boost your employability.
CV and careers appointments
We offer one-to-one appointments with our professionally qualified careers advisors to discuss your CV and career plans. We can help you formulate job-hunting strategies, practise mock interviews and assessments with you, improve your CV, and advise you about working abroad.
Employer presentations and skills workshops
Our graduates have a great reputation, and we have strong links with a range of employers. That’s why employers visit us to tell you about placement and graduate employment opportunities, and talk about the type of graduates they are looking for. The sessions can help you sharpen up your applications to other companies too.
Graduate and Placements Fairs
We host recruitment fairs in October, November, and in the Spring of each year, as well as smaller sector-specific events. Local, national, and international employers participate to meet you and discuss your options. These events are a great way to make contacts within the industry you want to join, as well as to get valuable help and advice.
Proven success
The work we put in to help students improve their employability means that 90% of our postgraduates say they went on to work in an industry related to their degree (BU Alumni Survey 2020). In total, 90% of BU graduates were in sustained employment or further study three years after graduation (Longitudinal Educational Outcomes Survey 2021).
Taking a placement as part of your degree can make you more employable. To hear how previous students have found their placement experience to be invaluable visit: www.bournemouth.ac.uk/my-placement-story
Become globally employable
Innovation excellence
Ben Burkard
BU graduate Ben Burkard has enjoyed remarkable success since co-founding a digital agency in Germany, winning awards at the prestigious German Design Awards for three years running.
Ben, who was one of the first graduates of the MSc Innovation Management & Entrepreneurship in 2015, founded ideenhunger with Simon Eberhardt in 2014.
It didn't take Ben long to get up and running, as the company won awards in the prestigious German Design Awards for three consecutive years – Fair and Exhibition in 2016, Excellent Communications – Poster Design in 2017, and Excellent Communications Design – Corporate Identity in 2019.
Commenting on the win, Ben said: “It is always an honour to be recognised with an industry award. The digital marketing business is a tough one. The most important thing for us is to build strong relationships with our clients, which are based on trust, co-operation and authenticity. I believe this is what makes us successful, and every time our work is recognised it helps us feel as though we have got the right philosophy to compete.” Ben chose to study the MSc Innovation Management & Entrepreneurship to gain experience of new business approaches and to learn from other students from different countries and industries.
He said: “I enjoyed the opportunity to participate in a completely new course. This meant that we could help to shape the course by giving feedback – a bit like entrepreneurship in action! It was a good chance to improve my English language skills, which has helped me in dealing with international clients. The course gave me a whole new network of friends, who are now based all over the world. Overall, it taught me to believe in your dreams and follow them by pushing yourself out of your comfort zone.”
Spice up
your life
Illana Smith
MSc Human Resource Management graduate
Double-BU graduate Illana Smith is bringing the tastes of Sri Lanka to the UK with a business selling spice kits to curry connoisseurs.
Illana, who completed both her undergraduate and postgraduate degrees at BU, launched Hari Hari in 2014. The business, named after a Sri Lankan expression which translates as “OK, OK” or “it’s coming”, provides spice kits which can be bought online, as well as via a network of independent food stores.
Illana, who is half Sri Lankan and who spent a big part of her childhood in the country, had always dreamed of running her own business.
The mother-of-three said: “Growing up in Sri Lanka, life revolved around hotels and hospitality. This shaped my decision to study Hospitality Management back in the mid-90s, during which I developed a specific interest in human resources. I eventually combined these interests with a career in HR for a cluster of Hilton Hotels in central London, but the desire to run my own business never left me. After having my third child, I thought it was now or never. The fact that being my own boss meant I could flex my hours around looking after my children was a big motivator.”
Illana’s Sri Lankan-inspired cookery had always been a hit with family and friends, and this sparked the idea to source, package and sell spice kits which could help others capture the authentic flavours.
While a degree and Master's might not seem the obvious route to becoming an entrepreneur, Illana credits both with getting her where she is today. She said: “I did my Master's in Human Resource Management to further my career. But it also gave me a glimpse of what it was to think and work more independently. I grew in confidence and felt that I really could run my own business if I put my time and energies into it. I loved the experience of studying at university and that love of learning hasn’t stopped since graduating. There are always new things to learn, and you never know where it will take you.”
