Economics grad tackles interview gauntlet to land high-flying post


An Economics student is celebrating after landing a job on a high-flying graduate training scheme – before he has even graduated.

Amarjit Bains will be starting work for multi-national insurance giant UNUM on a salary of £31,000 after winning a place on its fiercely competitive future leaders professional development programme.

The application process was tough – after a successful telephone interview, then a video interview, Amarjit was invited to the assessment centre. Prior to the two-day assessment centre he had a six-hour online test to complete.

Economics student main

He and other candidates then had dinner with UNUM’s US and UK CEOs and senior management team before facing a day of interviews. It was nerve-wracking, but Amarjit’s hard work paid off when he got a call on the way home offering him the job.

“I was really happy,” he said. “It was really intense and hard work, but to have a job, especially one as good as this, lined up already is incredible. My family are so pleased.”

Amarjit, from Coventry, chose to come to DMU because it was one of the few universities offering the chance to study for a joint honours degree in Business and Economics.

During his time at DMU he also completed a placement year thanks to the Faculty of Business and Law’s placement programme which has links with global companies.

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Amarjit spent a year in the strategic consultancy department of Pfizer, one of the world’s biggest biopharmaceutical companies. He got to travel to the company’s offices in Berlin and Dubai.

He said: “My placement was absolutely phenomenal, it was such a good year. It gave me the confidence not only in my ability but also in communicating with people. It definitely helped in the interview and I knew to do my homework, I researched the company and everyone I would be meeting, which meant I had lots of questions to fire at them!”

Amarjit said he has thoroughly enjoyed his time at DMU, which has included a #DMUglobal summer school in China, which included cultural trips and studying at Liaoning University, one of DMU’s overseas partners. He has already negotiated a delay in starting his new job so he can complete a placement.

He said: “Every university offers support, but I think DMU offers the complete experience. There’s a cultural aspect – the campus is very diverse, and a great social side, too.

“They really look after you while you are at university but are also looking forward to make sure that you can succeed once you leave.

“The lecturers are really good, always exploring new topic avenues. In Economics we were able to study what was happening to economies around the world and see how business can solve problems.” 

Posted on Tuesday 8 December 2015

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