We spoke to Laura Dinu, about how she came to her decision to study Business and Management BSc at the University of Bradford.
Laura Dinu, Business and Management BSc (Hons) at Bradford
There are so many questions to ask when choosing a course. ‘What am I going to study?’, ‘What modules are in my course?’, ‘What job am I going to get after I graduate?’. As an answer to the last question, there lies the decision behind my choice of studying Business and Management at Bradford.
What is business and management?
I wasn’t sure what job I wanted, I just knew I wanted to work in a multinational company. I did some research and found that this course encapsulates all the business related modules in just one year of study. After that, it’s completely up to you to decide what area you want to focus on by choosing optional modules in your second and third year.
My first year covered a range of different modules with an optional module too. My second year is so flexible in what I want to study. I get to choose one optional module per semester.
I have different optional modules available to me which really helps me to create the degree I want to study. Some of the options include:
- Understanding Consumers
- Financial Accounting
- Marketing Management and Strategy
- International Business Strategy
- Auditing
- Management of information Systems and Logistics
- Supply Chain Management.
I chose Understanding Consumers and Integrated Marketing Communications as my optional modules because I enjoy marketing.
Why study at Bradford?
The next question is ‘Why study at Bradford?’, and it’s not hard to find the answer! The School of Management is part of an elite business school group to hold the triple accreditation of Equis, AMBA and AACSB, often referred to as the “Triple Crown”. Because of this, the courses are tailored to give you both an insight of the business world and useful information to shape your skills for your future career!
As a student, you have access to professional search engines that will help you gather research or journal articles in order to complete your assignments! I used IBIS World in my first year to complete a market analysis and to compare results.
Lectures and tutorials vs. individual learning
University is different from college. All the information is given to you multiple times, in different ways!
- Lectures: the lecturer presents the topic.
- Tutorials: in which the students get the chance to discuss the topic with the lecturer.
- Assignments: which are meant to test your overall understanding of the module.
I enjoy this way of teaching because the information remains embedded in your long-term memory. I found the assessments and presentations fun! Designing posters, doing market research and a business challenge developed my skills and my understanding of the business world.
You also get to work in a team and interact with different people with perspectives. By being part of a team, I learned to listen carefully to other opinions and agree with the best option for the whole group!
Help and support
There is lots of support available from both lecturers, personal tutors and academic staff. Last year I had issues with referencing and all I had to do was to ask one of my lecturers. She was so kind to explain it to me again in order to make sure that I understood.
This year, I asked my personal tutor to write a reference for one of my placement applications. I met her at the office and we talked about my aspirations and future career, because she wanted to know me and my personality first. I really enjoyed the experience!
Placement year opportunities
As a Business and Management student, I can decide whether or not I want to take a placement year. Of course, I chose to have a placement year, since all the companies seek experienced graduates!
The placement will start at the end of my second year in May, 2019 and it will end at the beginning of my third year in September, 2020. During this time I will have the opportunity to work anywhere in the world and gain valuable experience needed in my future field of work. I can take advantage of the Careers Office at the University to help me with my CV and application forms, in order to secure a placement that I am interested in.
I gain transferable skills outside of my course
I had the chance to get involved in volunteering activities related to my course, developing the skills that I would need when graduating and looking for a job. A volunteering example would be Fairtrade; I volunteered to help raise awareness of the local sustainability and decent working conditions.
I was also lucky to find useful workshops which provided me support and help with CVs and other university-related questions/issues, like the ones in Career Booster week; a week dedicated to developing students’ skills. There are no lectures, just five days of workshops dedicated to enhance the employability skills.
What happens after graduation?
Being in my second year, it isn’t hard to see myself in three years, after graduation. I see myself happy, with a lot of experience necessary to pursue a career in marketing, having a great set of skills just because of all the opportunities that I had during my years at the University!
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