Undergraduate Blog

Internship Update

By Robbie Bailey

Hi guys!

I have now finished my internship at Santander and a lot has happened since my last blog post!

The Provisions team have been fantastic and really made me feel welcome from the start. They have given me a lot of work that has been interesting and worthwhile. I have been working on some proposed changes to the mortgage provision model and have been producing data on Excel to assess the impact of these changes on the overall provision. These changes will be a significant change to the nature of the teams work and they are being implemented later this year. Graphs and analysis that I have produced have been used in board papers and have gone right to the very top of the organisation. I certainly did not expect to be given so much responsibility during a 10 week internship programme but it has given me great exposure!

I have attended a number of training sessions for a variety of topics. We had sessions with teams from Risk and Pricing and learnt all about how these teams work. I was also invited to learn about Santander’s Finance Graduate Scheme and what life as a Santander graduate is like. These sessions were very useful and helped me when considering what I would like to do after I graduate from university next year.

The CSR Challenge is now finished and my team and I were very successful as we raised over £2,000! We ran weekly food sales within the office including cakes, popcorn, pastries and samosas! I organised a football score predictions game that was very popular in the office. Players paid £2 to enter and half of the money went to our charities and the other half went to the winner of the game. Our main fundraiser was a pub quiz night which we hosted in a local Wetherspoon’s! Teams from various departments across Santander came along to play and it was a fantastic evening. Local companies donated some great prizes including lunch vouchers, a free gym membership, a signed photo of Jessica Ennis-Hill and the winners took home a team go-karting session.

In my penultimate week I delivered a presentation to the Provisions team about my life, my experiences on the internship and my future career plans. This was really good as it helped me to reflect on the programme. This last 10 weeks have gone incredibly quickly, it has really flown by but I have had brilliant experiences and met some great people.

All Finance interns were offered the opportunity to interview for the Finance Graduate Scheme during our final week. We were asked about our experiences on the internship and our motivations and plans for the future. I was then called on my final day and told that I had been successful in securing a place on the Santander Finance Graduate Scheme. This is a 3 year rotational programme based in Santander’s London head office and I will be starting in September 2017.

The internship has been a fantastic experience and having a graduate job already secured means I can focus on my studies in my final year and takes away a lot of stress!

Erasmus Society: Trip to Oktoberfest

By Lissandra Radu

Before Christmas, the Erasmus society organised a trip to OKTOBERFEST! Keeping in mind that my only experience with beer is going to the pub’s beer garden, I had absolutely no expectation of what the day would be like. We left Vienna on the Thursday evening, taking a night party train to Munich where the festival takes places.

Tip no. 1: Do NOT get *too* drunk on the train as you will have to nurse your hangover for 14 hours at a beer festival.

Tip no. 2: Invest in traditional dress, a dirndl for girls or lederhosen for boys, although I wore an adaptation of the male outfit. The whole dressing up process puts you in the mood for partying and you really feel as part of the event!

The festival itself can only be described as an adult Disneyland, where instead of princess houses you have massive beer tents where a band plays traditional German songs and people bang their 1 litre jugs of beer in tune. It was fantastic!

The first part of the day we spent in a tent where we had booked tables, drinking beer (or if you do not like beer, you can have a Radler which is essentially beer watered down with lemonade!) and eating chicken or pretzels. The second part we moved around different tents, each with a slightly different atmosphere, in search for a table that would fit all 15 of us. Turns out people actually book these tables a year in advance, so as you can guess, we did not have much luck but it was definitely a lot of fun.

In hindsight, the trip was definitely a whole new experience and I am gutted I did not get to try the caramelised almonds, which are supposedly to die for. Personally, as I am not an avid admirer of beer, Oktoberfest might not be the ideal festival for me. However, having said that, it is a great place to have a lot fun with your friends and a very good excuse for day drinking J.

Hello from Dallas!

By Aleena Raikundalia, BA International Business Management

Hey everyone, welcome to my blog! My name is Aleena Raikundalia, and I’m studying International Business Management at The University of Texas, Dallas.

My passion for travelling inspired my decision to study abroad, and this is an opportunity I will cherish for the rest of my life! I chose to study in America primarily because I wanted to experience the diversity and the variety in the American way of life, although Chipotle and the sushi bars also played a part in my decision!

The UTD Campus is located in the heart of Richardson, a city next to Dallas. The campus is vast yet very modern. It is slightly difficult to travel off campus without a car, especially since the distance between the campus and other amenities is too far to walk. However, you can always rely on the University Shuttle, Ubers or a friend with a car.

As an exchange student, it is a requirement to stay university residence halls. I managed to make amazing friends during my first month, so living on campus is definitely an amazing way to meet new people and get involved in the various events and activities. Academically there are no restricted modules allowing students to choose classes of their choice/interest.

Studying abroad surely benefits your CV, but there is so much more you can do to get the most out of your year abroad! Personally, I am looking forward to travelling around the United States, experiencing new cultures and traditions, making new friends and, most importantly, making memories that will last a lifetime!

Arrived at WU Vienna

By Lissandra Radu, BA International Business Management

So, I made it to Vienna! It is really beautiful here; the city, the lifestyle and definitely the weather. The student halls are very central and the subway system here is extremely easy, so if you can hack London underground, the one in Vienna will feel like a breath of fresh air!

Before I tell you about my adventures, I cannot stress enough the importance of having a to-do list. In Austria, they love their paperwork so you need to make sure you have documents ready, so everything flows smoothly. Having said that, the queues here are really quick and everyone speaks English.

Having moved in, I would advise against a 60kg luggage allowance (which is what I had!!) and only bring things you really cannot bear to part with, as Vienna has a huge number of stores where you can pretty much buy anything your heart desires. There is no shortage of supermarkets, corner shops or ice-cream parlours so overall, it is well stocked in terms of food …if you ever had any worries!

In terms of accommodation, it is really modern and the company supplies you with kitchen equipment and bedding, although if you have a favourite pillow I would bring it.

So far, I love it here and meeting people is so so easy! If you have any doubts about Erasmus, I would not hesitate, and not just because it looks good on your C.V (which it does) but because you get to really appreciate the differences in cultures, make great friends and be independent!

List of places:

Schonbrunn Palace – beautiful gardens and zoo, as well as a yummy strudel shown hosted in one of the cafes, where you even get to try a sample.
Café Museum – lovely central café, where you can grab a smashing mango and melon apperol for a great price (considering it is central)
Amerling Beisl – set in a courtyard, it is restaurant that is mostly used by locals, however they have a lot of Viennese food as well as a huge breakfast range
Museumquartier – Museums & drinks, in an amazing location where you will find a mix of modern and new architecture all blended together. Perfect for a chilled evening
Stephansplatz- you can go to the top of the cathedral for a stunning panorama view of the whole city!
Mariahilfer strasse- Very long and wide boulevard, filled with clothes shops, bars, taverns and everything in-between

A year at the University of Amsterdam

By Ardilah Kamaruzzaman, BA International Business Management

Hey everyone! My name is Ardilah and I’m studying International Business Management at the University of Sheffield with a year at the University of Amsterdam (UvA).

I chose to study at UvA as I fell in love with Amsterdam when I first came to visit during Christmas break last year. It is such a vibrant city! Not only that, but UvA is also one of the most reputable universities in the world.

Before I embarked on this new journey, I had been contacting GG (who did her exchange at UvA last year) to ease some of my nervousness. I asked her a lot of questions so that I knew what to expect when I arrived. I found that it helped me when I talked to GG, so if anyone has any questions about UvA or Erasmus in general, I would be more than happy to help!

I am lucky that my accommodation is only seven minutes away from the business school by bike. I have 12 other flatmates and they are a great bunch of people. We went to watch a soccer match (Ajax vs. Vitesse), have cultural dinners and do a whole lot of other stuff together that it feels like we’re a big family now, which is nice since you’re away from home and can get homesick at times.

So far, it has been a hectic two months for me. The education system here is so different from Sheffield’s. One semester is divided into three blocks, which also means you have three exam periods in a semester. Block one and two usually last about seven weeks and block three lasts four weeks. It is kind of intense here and it took me quite a while to adapt to the system and the workload I was given (I hope I’m not scaring you!), but once you get the hang of it, you’ll be fine.

So for those of you who are thinking of doing Erasmus, you should totally consider it as, not only will it look good on your CV, but you can expect to discover new things about yourself, have lot of fun and meet new people which will help you broaden your horizons!

AIESEC- leadership with impact

By Megan Seaman, BA International Business Management

So, what is AIESEC I hear you ask? It stands for the Association Internationals des Etudiants en Sciences Et Commericales, but that still doesn’t really tell you a lot, even if you are fluent in French. Watch this video for ‘why we do what we do’ (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IDJQOJCFPng)

AIESEC is one of the best kept secrets at universities. It operates at universities across 125 countries, making it the largest youth-led organisation in the world. I heard about AIESEC during my year abroad in Vienna, and when I arrived back in Sheffield in September, still armed with the untamed desire to be surrounded by international students, getting involved with AIESEC, whose core value is ‘living diversity’ was a great way to do this!

AIESEC encourages people who were ‘born to lead’. It functions, much like any other business, but is run entirely by university students meaning that there is a real ‘hands on’ approach because your managers are your peers and board meetings are conducted in seminar rooms at university.

AIESEC exists in order to allow thousands of young people to experience the unknown. It does this by sending them on global volunteering projects and internships which fit nicely into the summer holidays, or for graduates and professionals who want to work abroad for a year. Partnered with the United Nations, all the projects target the UN sustainable development goals meaning they don’t just benefit students, they reach thousands of communities in need as well.

In just three months as Sales Team Leader at AIESEC Sheffield I have learnt so many invaluable skills which relate to my degree and look great on your CV; how to motivate my team to reach our targets, communicate with people from international organisations in order to generate new ideas, and how to recruitment new AIESEC participants.

The biggest thing that AIESEC has taught me is that YOU are the driver of your future. At university there is going to be a lot of new, exciting opportunities and it is your job to get involved with as many as you can, “never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.”

Applying for a placement year

By Jack Wignall, BA Business Management with Employment Experience

To undertake a placement year, you will have to go through an application process the same way you would if you were applying for a full time or graduate job. Although the process of applying for a placement is a very time consuming one, it will hold you in good stead when it comes to applying for graduate jobs in your final year and if you apply early enough, you can get them done before any major coursework deadlines or exams.
Applications Steps

Every placement application is different but they all follow roughly the same pattern of application steps. These are:

Online ApplicationThis initial stage usually comprises of uploading your CV and Cover Letter. However, many companies also take this opportunity to ask some suitability and competency based questions.
Psychometric and Situational Judgement Tests (SJT)The psychometric tests are designed to examine your all round ability and they usually include numerical reasoning, verbal reasoning and logical analysis tests. The SJT tests put you in a situation within the company you are applying for and is intended to test how you would respond.
Phone InterviewAn interview which takes place over the phone with the recruitment department.
Video InterviewAn interview using a computer or laptop where a question comes up on your screen and you present an answer using your webcam. Treat this like a real interview in how you present yourself and how you prepare for it.
One to one interviewA traditional interview with members of the recruitment department at the company.
Assessment CentreA screening process where several potential employees are evaluated on individual and group tasks in order to showcase specific skills and attributes.

During the whole process, it is important to keep track of a company’s business and social activities. This keeps you up to date on their dealings as well as ensuring you develop some understanding of their marketplace. On top of this, you can keep a record of the questions and answers you have made so far, so you can refer back to previous experiences when preparing for the next stage.

My 5 top tips for applying:

Apply early – many companies advertise early in the year, so apply before coursework/exam stress comes calling.
Stick at it – it is a time consuming process so keep going even if you feel like giving up!
Take advantage of the Careers Service – they are very helpful, and give you advice and showcase events.
Tailor applications – make each application specific to the company you are applying for.
Prepare for all types of questioning – competency based, experience based, fun and quirky

It is a gruelling process that needs a lot of time and effort, but if you work hard and – more importantly – be yourself, then some success may well come your way.

Good luck!

What’s it like to go to University and live in Sheffield

By Jack Wignall, BA Business Management with Employment Experience

Welcome to Sheffield, your new home away from home!

Sheffield is Europe’s greenest city with its borders reaching far into the neighbouring Peak District. The Peaks are a short car, train or bus ride away and offer breath-taking views and enjoyable walks for you all to explore. No other University will be able to offer this sort of setting right on your doorstep so it is well worth making the most of!

The Sheffield nightlife is legendary. Having produced global talent such as the Arctic Monkeys and Def Leppard, Sheffield is home to many famous venues. The most famous of these being Leadmill where local talent take their steps to stardom and is a venue which hosts many gigs throughout the year. Also, there is the O2 Academy where more big named artists play and is located right in the city centre. From a student’s point of view, there is a long list of places offering cheap and crazy student nights which includes Code, Plug, Tank and the famous Corporation (make sure you bring a special pair of ‘Corp shoes’).

If it is more of a mellow and relaxed environment you are looking for, then that is just as easily accessible too. The city centre has many coffee and clothes shops to have look around as well as having Meadowhall shopping centre just on the outskirts of the city. There are plenty of niche and independent stores to visit with many quirky features to suit all tastes. Sheffield also offers all sorts of activities within the city, with my personal favourite being the up and coming popular ‘Escape Rooms’ encounter also found here in Sheffield.

Sport is a big part of what makes Sheffield the city it is. They are proud and loyal people and show this through the support they offer to their local professional teams. They hold the accolade of having the first ever and oldest football club in Sheffield F.C. and also have two football league clubs in Sheffield Wednesday and Sheffield United. Sheffield Steelers, who are the Ice Hockey team, play at Sheffield Arena and the basketball team is called the Sheffield Sharks. Cricket and rugby are also sports thoroughly enjoyed in Sheffield as well as the Sheffield Tigers Speedway team.

Sheffield’s culture is a down to earth and friendly one. The locals are very accommodating of students from University and are always helpful and entertaining, whether you bump into them in the street or on a night out.

Once you understand some of the local lingo and get used to climbing all sorts of hills, you will thoroughly enjoy your time here and a lot of people choose to stay after graduation. I guarantee you won’t want to leave!

Off to study at WU Vienna

By Lissandra Radu, BA International Business Management

Hi, there! My name is Lisandra and I am an International Business Management student going into my second year at WU Vienna.

A few years ago I began travelling around Europe to various capital cities, where I realised how different people and societies really are. Being born in Eastern Europe and moving to England was a massive culture shock but there are endless benefits such as so much more approachable, it opens your mind to other people’s perspectives as well as you get to eat your weight in new and delicious food. Therefore, when it came to choosing my degree, I was set on experiencing this difference in culture once more, but this time I wanted it to last more than a few days!

Vienna-street I picked Vienna…mainly because of their schnitzel. Well, the modules at the university definitely had something to do with it too! WU has so many unique and niche modules on huge range of business related topics that it made the choice that much easier. In terms of the city, it has amazing location with such easy access to the rest of continental Europe that it became a no-brainer really! Also, I heard famous stories of Sacher Torte so to me, it seemed to tick all the boxes.

Choosing the accommodation was a really smooth straightforward process, especially as everything is in English (although I am keen on starting German courses as soon as the semester begins!). In the end, I chose a studio mostly so I can decorate not only a bedroom but the bathroom and kitchen too J. The University schedule is slightly busier than what I experienced in Sheffield, although, saying that, there are no compulsory modules which means you really get to study what you are interested in!

My year abroad begins in 2 days and for now there is a mix of fear and excitement. To be honest, I am not really sure what to expect, but I can say for sure that I plan on making the most of it from every aspect! I cannot wait to meet new people and share this experience with like-minded individuals.

Work-life balance

By Frances Kendall, BA International Business Management

I’m a third year studying International Business Management and last year I lived in Denmark attending Copenhagen Business School. Suffice to say, coming back to Sheffield for this academic year has been a big shock after living independently abroad!

There are many people who tell you that the point of university is simply to get a degree, but I think university is about much more than that. In my eyes, at least, it’s a lifestyle and a learning curve combined, not purely a means to a future career.

Work-life balance is, therefore, something I have definitely learnt to appreciate more than ever this year. Third year unsurprisingly spells more work and responsibilities, but also provides more opportunities to take part in the multitude of activities which Sheffield University has to offer.

In Denmark, they place a huge amount of emphasis on flexible working hours which researchers have found contributes substantially to it being consistently rated the ‘Happiest Nation in the World’ by its inhabitants. Thus, I am hoping to pass on some of the lessons I learnt abroad and have tried to implement here in Sheffield!

Plan your time and prioritise. As long as you know the amount of time you have available, you can keep track of the days and hours left until your next deadline. This means you can afford to do the all activities you want without having to ‘pull an all-nighter’!
Do not feel guilty (if you have planned right)! When others around you are working, you shouldn’t feel bad if you want to take a break to have a coffee or a day off in the Peaks. Some people take longer to work than others and this shouldn’t put you off.
Always allow an extra half an hour to do things. I always find that things take longer than I expect. The last thing you need is to be stressing about getting to a lecture or meeting on time, on top of everything else, so just prepare for it! The Sheffield hills may take a little longer to climb when you are tired or you might come across a friend and want to have a chat, either way it’ll all take time.
Enjoy the little things. Personally I think that little treats or regular breaks is the way to go when aiming for happiness and balance. I can’t deal with being overloaded and then having to take a while to recover. It’s better to not get to that stage in the first place – prevention not cure is key!
Don’t be afraid to do things independently. Many students come to university after having participating in activities with their friends from home which they have known for years. Coming to university and trying something on your own can be daunting. Don’t worry! You will make friends whilst there and everyone is in the same boat, even if they might not look like it or tell you so! I joined the Lacrosse team and have made so many friends this way. Take that step and it will help so much in keeping that balance between social and work life in check.

I really hope these five pieces of advice are helpful, both for prospective students looking to get an insight into student life, and for those current students nervous about giving something new a try. Finding that balance will help you to become a more rounded individual and enjoy the years you have at university so much more!