‘The diversity of this degree opened doors to graduate job roles’

Nicole Hall studied BSc Business and Management and graduated with a First. She took a Year in Industry as part of her course at Disney and has secured a role working for Amazon as an Associate Partner Manager.

‘I wasn’t really sure what I wanted to do after Sixth Form and so a BSc in Business and Management looked really broad and far-reaching. Taking a course that kept my options open gave me a chance to breathe and work out what my strengths and passions are.

From the word go, I felt that this degree offered a diverse range of knowledge and gave me transferable skills such as team work that can be applied to any future situation.

My favourite parts of the course were the group work sessions in the Drill Hall library and seminar rooms. This time to share knowledge with my cohort was not only fun but rewarding. I also enjoyed having external speakers come in for sessions such as the ‘negotiation workshop’ which gave us real insight into the business world.

Lecturers like Debbie Kemp (Product Design and Buying) and Steve Robinson (European Business) will stay with me forever. Their guidance and clarity of expectations meant I worked to my full potential. Their sessions were not only great for learning and development but fun and engaging!

Outside of my studies, I loved university life. I took part in a lot of extra curricular activity during my time at Kent – I was was on the Medway Universities’ first team, competing in many competitions and often travelling to the Canterbury campus for games, so I felt I got the best of both unique spaces at Kent.

Taking a Year in Industry at The Walt Disney Company as a retail supply chain intern was a dream come true. The selection process was hard, but I was assisted by the employability team who helped me plan a presentation and ran a series of mock interviews. The year confirmed in my mind that supply chain management was an area of business I was very interested in, as it seemed to come naturally to me.

Business and Management was a course which enabled me to learn a high variety of knowledge across many fields and in the end, the diversity of this degree opened doors to employability opportunities and graduate job roles.

I applied for several graduate job roles in my final year and went through an intense process to get a job, including a three-hour interview. Thankfully, I was offered the job of New Accounts Graduate Manager, at Amazon to start once I’d finished my course.

My biggest highlight at university was securing a First-Class Honours and graduating with friends. This sense of achievement is one that I will remember forever and will always be proud of. Standing there, in my gown on the backdrop of the grandeur of Rochester Cathedral holding my certificate was just indescribable.  I even received two special awards for academic achievement during the ceremony, the Dr Gerado Abreu Pederzini Award and Elsatex Product Design Prize Award.

Nicole’s graduation last year at Rochester Cathedral

Working for such a large organisation like Amazon ever since graduation has given me so many opportunities. My favourite project since starting has been hosting webinars for selling partners to educate them on how to optimise their selling account and boost sales. Working on supply chain has allowed me to see end to end processes and find improvements to aid sellers’ experiences.

I use lessons from my degree in everything I do, from specific modules that tailor to my job role to life skills like time management and a sense of independence, gained from university life as a whole.