Class of 2000: Wh
As the class of 2007 finishes it’s exams and graduates, thoughts turn to the
future and what all this studying has been for and what it will lead to. GradLife
gives you a look at your future by asking graduates from 2000 how their
careers have progressed since they graduated all those years ago……
The Modern European Studies (and languages) Graduate
Degree: Modern European Studies (Economics, French and Politics) University: Loughborough
First Role: Temping in finance Current Role: Retail Execution Executive , Diageo
Why did you choose your degree subject? department whilst at the same time trawling the my CV to a member of HR I had met, applying
I wasn’t sure what I wanted to study at university milkrounds to see what might be of for a ‘direct entry’ role. I went in for a couple of
university. I thought that something commercial interest and sending off application forms and interviews and an assessment centre and got
like Economics or Business would always CV’s. offered a job in sales as a Business
stand me in good stead. I had a French mum Development Executive. This involved moving
and wanted to keep up and extend my French. What was your first graduate job? to Newcastle and looking after the
The politics was a bit of a stab in the dark but I temped for 6 months in the finance development of over 400 key accounts, selling
ended up being the part of my degree I department of a GE company. My first full time in and driving sales across the brand portfolio.
enjoyed most. permanent employment was with Carat, a I have since moved down to London and work
media agency. within the marketing department. My role title is
Did you know what you wanted to do when Retail Execution Manager, looking after our
you graduated? How has your career progressed since innovation and new to market products. I am
No, I had spent too much time enjoying myself then? involved in the development process of new
and then studying for exams and not enough I worked at Carat for 6 months, but didn’t really products and the below the line advertising
time thinking about what I might want to do as enjoy what I was doing there. Just before I activity around delivering these in market.
a career joined Carat I had applied to work for Diageo. I Working with both Marketing Managers and
had heard lots of good things about the Customer Account Managers I get a really
How did you approach job hunting when company and was still really interested in good insight into both Marketing and Sales and
you graduated? working for them. I went through several how our brands are commercialised in the
I had nothing lined up for when I left university. I rounds of graduate recruitment only to fall at market.
knew I needed money so returned to a temp the final hurdle. During this process I realised
job I had had the previous summer in a finance that Diageo was the company for me so I sent
The Chemical Engineering Graduate
Degree: Chemical Engineering University: Birmingham First Role: Process Technologist
Current Role: Group Financial Accountant
Why did you choose your degree subject? How did you approach job hunting when and see what options were open to me. Having
I enjoyed doing science based subjects at you graduated? enjoyed some business and accountancy
school, but when it came to thinking about I left job hunting until fairly late in my final year modules taken as part of my degree, I decided
University I decided that I wanted to do as I wanted to concentrate more on my exam to look into that as a possibility. I applied to
something more practical than pure science. results. Once exams were over I started using one of the ‘big 5’ (as they were then) large
I looked at the options available within the university careers service and attending accountancy firms and was accepted into their
engineering, and decided that Chemical graduate recruitment fairs. external audit department.
Engineering was best suited to me.
What was your first graduate job? I stayed in external audit for a number of years
Did you know what you wanted to do when I was a Process Technologist for a and obtained chartered accountant status.
you graduated? manufacturing company in Cumbria. Since then I have moved into industry, firstly as
Yes, I decided to go into Chemical Engineering an internal auditor for a large media group and
as an automatic follow on from my degree How has your career progressed since then into my current financial accountant role.
course. My initial thoughts were to look for a then?
graduate trainee scheme in the chemical Less than a year into my first graduate role I
engineering industry that would allow me to realised that, for a number of reasons, I wasn’t
attain chartered engineer status. enjoying my work. I decided to look around
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