Undergraduate Blog

What I studied on my year abroad: University of Mannheim

By Reece Bracewell

Whilst looking at possible universities to study at, part of the research I conducted was around the modules they offered and what I could study whilst abroad. I was given some specific/core areas by the Management School which were mandatory to take whilst on study abroad, this was to ensure I was able to progress in to my third and final year when I returned to Sheffield. The other modules I was free to choose from the business school in Mannheim (where I was studying). After selecting which modules I wanted to take they then had to be approved, this is done when you complete the learning agreement form, which you then have to get signed by both home and abroad universities. It sounds like more work than it actually is, it was relatively painless.
While I was studying in Germany I took a range of different modules, and as the credit system was different in Germany (ETCS) it meant that I was able to take a larger number of modules than if I had been in Sheffield as the courses were smaller in content than what you may be used to, allowing me to explore more areas of business and gain a wider range of knowledge. For instance I studied financial behavioural psychology which was a completely new area for me, I feel this was a major benefit from the study abroad programme and one that not all students get the opportunity to do, it is just another reason to grab the opportunity with both hands and take advantage of study abroad.
Some examples of the range of modules I had the chance to study included; Strategic marketing, production and operations management and international and strategic marketing. Whilst studying abroad there were also many guest lectures from global companies such as Nivea and SAP which always brought a great insight to real business and added depth and context to what we were learning throughout the modules.

Why should you do a placement? It’s great fun!

Claire Richards

My placement year was one of the best years I’ve had of my time at university! It was so much fun alongside the challenging work.

The job itself can be really fun. I worked for Glaxo Smithklinehad and had a very big role which was very busy and stretching but I thoroughly enjoyed it. It was great fun to actually organise induction programmes for the new graduates or a Development Week for all of the existing MBA associates across the business. Lots of the pictures below are dinners from assessment centres or induction and development weeks!

Obviously closely connected to this is the people you work with. Despite us being quite a small team we always had time to laugh and bond with each other. Some of the (very long) quarterly meetings with the whole team were the most fun meetings. Even though we were discussing very serious things, like where we taking our strategy over the next few years, we still managed to discover that one person in the team had been in a music video!

The other industrial placement students (affectionately called IPs) that you meet will be a lot of fun. From going to a bar after work and getting to know everyone to the more organised events like boat parties; the ‘IP community’ is a lot of fun, both to just be part of but also to lead, if the opportunity is there for you. The picture of a lot of us in orange t-shirts was when a lot of IP students went to support the GSK Impact Awards which acknowledges some incredible work done by charities around the UK – that was a fun and emotional night.

Doing an industrial placement will enable you to have a little bit more money to do a lot more fun stuff on placement too. Manchester United v Arsenal at the Emirates, Twenty20 games at the Oval and too many dinners to count gave me some awesome memories of my placement year, and would never have been possible without throwing myself in and undertaking a placement.

To ask Claire or any of the other Placement Ambassadors about doing a placement year, email mgt.plambassadors@sheffield.ac.uk . You can also drop-in to the Employability Hub to speak to the Employability team.

Why should you do a placement? To network and earn some money!

By Dan Radcliffe

Networking
Networking is a great aspect of doing a placement year. There are so many valuable benefits to keeping in touch with people you worked with of varying levels of seniority.
The contacts made on placement can be fantastic for receiving advice from and being mentored by. By getting myself out there while working for a large organisation and speaking to as many people as possible, I was able to find the areas I really wanted to work in for my future career and how to get there. Without the networking I did on my placement I would be very much stuck with what to do post-graduation, as well as being unaware of a huge number of career opportunities.
One of the contacts I made while on placement moved on to a new business and when I had finished my placement I asked to do work experience with him, as it was in a field I was particularly keen on working in. So don’t think of the networking as over after your placement year… They are contacts who can be really valuable in a sociable and professional manner.
The people you work and build close relationships with can be a huge resource when in your final year should you be applying for graduate vacancies. Not only can they stand out as glowing reference providers, but they can also help you with recruitment into the organisations which you choose to apply to.
So to summarise, get yourself known while on placement. Don’t just work in the remit of your team. Try and explore areas you’re interested in for the future, thinking past that 12 month (give or take) placement year. The people you network with are massive assets and you can really benefit from them – keep them close!

Earn Some Money
With the length of an industrial placement, you will probably have a salary to help out with the costs and give you a bit of extra money. Though the purpose of an industrial placement is focused on the experience and learning as opposed to the money, it’s a nice bi-product to enjoy.
Throughout my placement, I didn’t have to rely on student loans or financial support from my family as my salary enabled me to be self-sufficient, living away from home.
Furthermore, it gave me the ability to enjoy some extras, such as the technology I couldn’t afford as a student, and a few holidays within the year.
Depending on where you are in the country will determine your salary as well as the company and industry you work in.
Like with part-time work, the pay is a real credit to the hard work that you put in day-to-day on a placement year and a nice bonus to doing an industrial placement.

To ask Dan or any of the other Placement Ambassadors about doing a placement year, email mgt.plambassadors@sheffield.ac.uk .

You can also drop-in to the Employability Hub to speak to the Employability team.

BA Business Management – what I studied

By Andreea Ionescu

The syllabus for BA Business Management covers a wide range of topics and most importantly, it gives you the chance to tailor your degree to suit your career preferences. It offers a broad scope of knowledge and skills with the opportunity to specialise later in the course, starting with eight core modules in the first year and ending with only one core module in the final year.

As it is important to get a grasp of each topic (i.e. maths, accounting, economics, marketing etc), the first year includes a range of modules. Without basic knowledge in all core business sides, it is very difficult to become a valuable professional for either a company or for your own enterprise. These modules are constructed as an introductory stage to business management and possible pathways in your career.

Moving on to the second year, the flexibility of choosing your modules tailored to your preferences increases. The core syllabus includes Organisational Behaviour, Business Strategy, Operations Management and Essentials of Marketing. Beside these modules you are able to choose from a very wide range of optional modules (eight run by SUMS and other unrestricted modules from across the university, such as foreign language modules).

To give you an example of the benefit of tailoring your degree I will describe my journey at SUMS. In the first year, as an international student, I wasn’t familiar with the British curriculum and how the course was delivered. Getting an insight in every topic has helped me to familiarize myself with the British and international business environments. As I developed academic knowledge in these various topics, I have realized I really enjoy studying business strategy.

In my second year, although the Business Strategy module is challenging, with the teaching methods and help from my lecturer and tutor, I have managed to score 80 marks.
Continuing in my final year, I have tailored my range of modules to match my interest in strategy and in internalisation, by choosing Strategy Practice, International Business and International Marketing.

I believe that the possibility to tailor my degree around my interests and professional goals has helped me to gain high grades and to greatly enjoy my degree. As a result of this amazing benefit I will be continuing in education to do my Masters.

How to make the most of what’s on offer

By Claudia Sorescu

When it comes to ways to get involved with the Students’ Union, I could talk to you for days. I’m really active in societies and clubs (anything from martial arts to volunteering to the Lord of the Rings Society), so I know my way around the Union, and I’ve always been really impressed with how easy it is to become a part of the community here. There’s definitely a feeling of belonging that you get from being here, no matter what you decide to do with your spare time, and I couldn’t love it more.

For example, I think one of the best ways to get involved here is Bummit, the world’s largest student-led hitch-hike. Every year, a thousand students head out to raise money and awareness for a huge number of charities: just one trip last year, from Sheffield to Romania (which is actually where I’m from, so I got to show my more adventurous friends around!), raised more than £85,000 for 9 charities. I’ll admit my inner couch potato was skeptical about the whole hitchhiking thing, until this February, when I got dragged into a smaller version of Bummit called the Rat Race.

The concept is the same, but my team-mate Chris’ and my destination was Manchester, and to keep things interesting, we had a long list of challenges to complete along the way, which went anywhere from having to chase a builder down to take a selfie with him…

…to getting a present from Town Hall officials (sadly, our negotiating skills couldn’t get us anything more than a free parking ticket), persuading Chris to get fake nails (he wasn’t impressed), and even running through a fountain- you don’t really want to be completely soaked when hitchhiking, but it worked out. We had a somewhat scary walk through Manchester late at night, stumbled upon a brilliant jazz gig by complete accident, and overall had a fantastic time.

It sounds like a silly thing to do, but when you’re there you get to meet some kind and amazing people that otherwise you wouldn’t have had the chance to speak to. A person we randomly met for a challenge was directly affected by the charity we were raising money for, Children’s Heart Surgery Fund, which suddenly put everything into perspective for us and made our cause tangible.

Bummit is just one way to get involved here at our Union, but I definitely think it’s the most rewarding one. It was a crazy day, but immensely satisfying, and if anything it taught me to take on more challenges and break out of my routine, which this time turned into a chance to make someone’s life better. As they say, sometimes you really just need to take a leap of faith and see where you end up!

Enactus (Entrepreneurial. Action. Us)

By Georgina Rees

Enactus Sheffield is a student run company based at the University of Sheffield, dedicated to running commercial and social action projects to make a difference to the lives of others both in our community and internationally.
Through both social and commercial projects we aim to harness students’ entrepreneurial spirit, to make a difference in our local community and to communities abroad. Commercial projects enable students to run real, profitable businesses, allowing them to use their creativity and business acumen to raise money for our social portfolio. Through social projects and working with vulnerable people Enactus aims to positively impact their lives through the power of social enterprise, students work proactively and are rewarded by witnessing the changes in their lives first hand!
Every year, we present a handful of our projects at the Enactus National Competition. This is a great event which allows students to showcase what they have achieved in the year and provides exposure to their projects to allow them to expand and continue their work. In 2013, Enactus Sheffield won the National Competition. It’s a great opportunity to not only to have an impact on the world whilst at university.

Here at Sheffield, there are commercial projects which include The Intern, Marketing Mission, Football Frenzy, Campus Clothing and Event Planning. The Intern is a unique competition designed to test and develop a variety of entrepreneurial skills for students, based on the TV show The Apprentice. The Marketing Mission group aims to bridge the gap between Sheffield students and the Sheffield sports teams. Football Frenzy is a student run football league which runs on a Sunday to raise money for social projects. Campus Clothing is a student run business that supplies personalised clothing to societies and organisations. Event Planning gives aspiring event planners the opportunity to run events to raise funds for Enactus.

Some of the social projects are: HOPE Local, HOPE Nigeria, Homemade and Blankets for Bolivia. Hope Local aims to empower vulnerable women who have previously been sexually or domestically abused, or trafficked, through Enterprise. Hope Nigeria offers pastoral care and personal development for all women, including educational qualifications, business management courses, counselling and legal assistance. Enactus Sheffield created the ‘Homemade’ project, working with homeless men to help them gain financial stability and become self-sufficient again. Blankets for Bolivia run a social enterprise making emergency blankets from recycled crisp packets.
I would highly recommend getting involved with Enactus, not only is it a great thing to do but it will also look fantastic on your CV!

Studying at Sheffield University Management School

By Saad Khawaja

Having the opportunity to study at Sheffield University Management School has been a really proud moment for me. Being a leading business school, it gives students the skills set and opportunities to enhances their employability prospects and enables them to make a positive impact on the local and international community.
The programmes offered by the University are internationally recognised coupled with excellent quality of teaching, research output and student support that availed the University in achieving Triple crown accreditation by AACSB, EQUIS and AMBA. This accreditation helped place the University in the top one percent of business schools worldwide, making it stand out against other universities worldwide.

The Management School provides excellent opportunity to enhance your employability skills. The Employability Hub is specifically built to provide students with a variety of skills sessions and opportunities such as placement years, year abroad and many more, which brings them into the lime light in front of the employers. The Management School hosts many careers events as well, inviting numerous companies in to speak with students.

The schools astounding teaching quality attracts students from all over the world. Lectures and tutorials help give a combination of real world experience and academic expertise which are academically stimulating. The teaching methods are quite intellectual and demanding, as they are applied to real world case studies, giving students insight about practical situations. The modules are quite interesting and challenging, which is exactly what I was looking for.

Being a newly built building, the advanced facilities are also admirable. Since I got here, the facilities have been improving constantly, and the school is even being extended to house a bigger and more central Employability Hub.

Being an international student, I have received constant support and help at every stage from the Management School. When I came across Sheffield University Management School during my A-levels studies I knew it was the university for me, and I’ve had no doubts since.

Your first year on the BA Accounting and Financial Management programme

By Robbie Bailey

The first year of study for the BA Accounting and Financial Management degree is designed to give students an introduction to a number of topics within finance. There are a lot of core modules in the first year programme to ensure that all students get the same basic knowledge which then helps them to decide which routes they would like to take to tailor their degree in the second and third years of study. I came to the University of Sheffield with no experience of accountancy or finance at all so it was very helpful for me that the modules required no prior knowledge of the subject, just a desire to learn and a bit of hard work!
Two important first year modules are ‘Introduction to Financial Accounting’ and ‘Introduction to Management Accounting’. The financial accounting module covers the basics of company reports, things like Balance Sheets and Cash Flow Statements, and explains how they are created. You will also cover the fundamental accounting principles that form the foundations for these reports. Management Accounting focusses on the accounting processes within an organisation like Cost-Volume-Profit analysis and Budgeting. You may find it helpful to do some research before you arrive in Sheffield, as to the differences between financial and management accounting to give yourself a head-start!
There are a number of other compulsory modules aimed at giving you a strong foundation on which to build later into your studies here at Sheffield. ‘Business Economics’ is a one-semester crash course in basic economic theory. Personally, I struggled at first with this module as I had never done economics before but as the weeks passed I became more comfortable and got a good result in my exam. The ‘Behaviour at Work’ module covers organisational behaviour and provides an introduction to areas such as Leadership Theory and Motivation Theory. I found this module very interesting as it gave a great overview of the day-to-day decisions managers face and the theories that underpin their approaches. ‘Professional Self-Management’ helped me to gain valuable knowledge about my career development. This involved guest speakers from a number of organisations including BT and Enterprise Rent-a-Car and CV writing sessions.
My favourite module from year one was ‘Analysis for Decision Making’. I have a strong mathematical background as I studied both Maths and Further Maths at a-level so I enjoyed this module as it is effectively a statistics module. This course takes statistical methods like probability distributions, hypothesis testing and regression analysis and shows how they are used in the finance world day-to-day. I chose to study BA Accounting and Financial Management as I wanted to focus my maths skills into a particular field and this module was my first opportunity to do that. Those of you who have not done a-level maths, don’t panic! The module is divided into two halves (A and B) and those students doing Analysis for Decision Making B, who don’t have a maths a-level, are given more contact hours to ensure that everyone is at the same standard.
You will also have one unrestricted module, which means you can do 10 credits of any subject you like from a long list of modules from throughout the university. I did a post-GCSE level German module that helped me to further improve my language skills, but many people choose to take the ‘Business Challenges’ module offered by the Management School. This gives students the opportunity to take part in a number of challenges that require the use of team-working, problem-solving and leadership skills and provides a great experience to add to any job applications.
To summarise, the first year of study here at the Sheffield University Management School provides a fantastic foundation knowledge on all the key areas of finance and really helps students to decide where their interests may lie. This learning experience partnered with the excitement of first year university life makes for a brilliant year all-round!

What will I study on BA Business Management?

By Lily Robinson

As a final year student looking back over my three years on the Business Management degree course, I am very satisfied with the variety of modules and topics that have been available to me. I have covered many areas of business; accounting, human resources, marketing and supply chain to name a few. In first year, though it seems you have less choice, the modules are based around important different areas of business, to really help your understanding of what you enjoy. A good manager will have knowledge of all of these areas, so it’s also beneficial for your employability prospects. All modules in first year teach the basics, so if like me you didn’t take Business at GCSE or A Level, please don’t feel you are at a disadvantage starting this degree!
There are compulsory basic maths, accounting and economics modules in first year, which personally I was nervous about to begin with. All the lecturers were great at explaining things. I did poorly in Economics during my AS Levels and achieved a 2:1 in the Business Economics module at degree level, which really is a testament to the great teaching staff at the University who were there to support me.

Having taken a placement year after second year, I found that I used learnings from some of my modules during work. During the second year supply chain module, I did a group presentation to a number of academic lecturers and industry experts which was an invaluable experience. I also found the unrestricted module I chose, Business Challenges, gave me the chance to work on my communication skills and meet new friends.

Through later years, there are less core modules and you really get a chance to tailor your degree and take modules in subjects that really matter to you. I am currently exploring a career in Marketing after working as a Marketing Assistant at Arla Foods during my placement year. I have chosen two different marketing modules in third year and have decided to work on a marketing based project in my Management Project module. This has allowed me to research subjects that I find interesting, which I believe has helped me achieve good grades in my modules. One of those modules, Digital Marketing, is a relatively new field of marketing and I received up to date theories and research from my lecturer.
Overall, the variety and quality of the modules has been very beneficial to me. I have tailored my degree to the point where I can highlight certain modules to employers and mention specific works in my CV.

Experience of studying abroad

by Elise McDonald

Hi, my name is Elise and I’m studying in Vienna for my second year of International Business Management. I chose to study at WU as I really enjoyed learning German at GCSE and I’ve been desperate to start learning the language again to help me in my future career in business – it is crazy the number of employers I have seen that are looking for German speakers!

Obviously, Vienna is also a beautiful place and Austria has great links to other countries which will make it much easier for me to travel this year. I’ve only been here a couple of weeks and I’ve already been to Oktoberfest and have booked to go on trips to Salzburg and Budapest next month, as well as a ski trip to Zell-Am-See in December!

It’s so great to have so many things to look forward to, particularly the Christmas markets in November/December. I’m already shocked by how much I’m enjoying myself as, for the whole of first year, I dreaded this year abroad. Yes, you’re probably reading that sentence thinking that I’m crazy, but I’ve always been a glass half empty kind of person and I kept focusing on the negatives of the experience; leaving my boyfriend and friends behind, missing out on a second year uni house, being so far away from home… need I go on.

So, I guess my blog posts will be good for people that are considering a year abroad but find the idea scary! Hopefully, this year will prove me completely wrong and help to ease other students’ nerves. I’ve been here for just under two weeks and I can already say that nothing I was worried about has happened. To be honest you’re so busy exploring and meeting new people that you don’t really get a chance to think about home and if I have had a difficult moment there’s always Netflix to distract me.

So far I am so happy that I picked WU as my host University as the Erasmus set up here is amazing! We have the Erasmus Buddy Network (EBN) which organises so many trips to other places and gives you a ‘buddy’ to help you settle in. I was so lucky that my Buddy offered to collect me from the airport and showed me to my accommodation as I’m not sure I’d have managed on my own. By the way, the accommodation here is great and was so easy to apply for. I have my own kitchen and en-suite and its cleaned every week – it’s like living in a hotel which is perfect for an undomesticated person like me! The University itself is also incredible and so modern that the library looks a lot how I’d imagine a spaceship would look. I have already been assigned two essays to write before I even start classes though which was a bit of a shock to the system! I’m not sure I’m prepared for the change in teaching style that they have here but hopefully it won’t take long to adjust as I start classes this week.

Now enough of the boring stuff and on to the fun things I’ve already done. The first thing I did when I arrived was go for weiner schnitzel and apfel strudel, which definitely did not disappoint and was really good value for money at an all-night restaurant called Mozarts. I also went on the Giant Wheel at Prater which was great to do at sunset with views of the whole city.

The whole time I have been here the weather has been so warm which was obviously not what I was expecting in Austria. I was also surprised to find that they have beaches and bars along the Danube but I thought I’d best experience them before the weather changes and they close for winter.

Again, AMAZING FOOD and just generally a great night but so surreal to be sat on a beach looking at high rise buildings! Finally, the main attraction: Oktoberfest. Two days ago I went on my first EBN trip to Munich on an overnight ‘party train’ with a free bar. It’s safe to say that it was one of the weirder experiences of my life but seemed a lot more normal by about my 10^th drink. I didn’t get much sleep on the way to the Festival which is a huge regret as I spent the whole day too hungover to drink again. Yes… I went to Oktoberfest and didn’t drink!

I think I’ll leave it there for now but I’ll try my best to post regularly to brag about all the fun stuff I’m doing!

Elise x