Landing a job with a leading home furnishings retailer before graduation is the icing on the cake of Devina Tailor's university experience.
The Business and Marketing graduate has had "an amazing time" at De Montfort University Leicester (DMU) and is now excited to start her new role.
The 22-year-old will be working as a merchandising assistant (web replenisher) at Dunhelm's head office in Syston - and she's already starting to feel at home there.
Devina said: "I'm really pleased to have found something so quickly, especially before graduation.
"I feel a great sense of achievement and peace of mind."
Devina will be ensuring products appear in the right store, and on the website, at the appropriate time and in correct quantities. She will be working closely with the buying teams to accurately forecast trends, plan stock levels and monitor performance, with her role beginning today - the same week she graduates with a First.
She said: "I am really excited to start and learn something new. I have already been able to sign on to their employee portal and book myself on to various training courses and site visits.
"I am glad that this company has a well-structured induction period, and I'm sure that there will be loads more training opportunities, not only national but also international."
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Leicester-born Devina has always been passionate about business and marketing, having chosen to study at DMU because of the subject combination. "I knew it was the perfect course for me," she said.
Her favourite modules have been Brand Management and Marketing Planning and Management. "I feel that they really helped me to further develop my research and analytical skills," she said.
Devina has also benefited from DMU's employability guidance - which helped her land a 12-month placement as a site content executive with TopCashback as well as her graduate job.
She said: "The placement unit were amazing at keeping me updated with any opportunities suited to me. They worked through my CV and prepared me for any upcoming interviews.
"I have also had big help from my personal tutor David Gordon, who guided me through the graduate interview and assessment centre processes."
Devina's time with the cashback portal helped her gain "valuable insight into a fast-paced working environment".
She said: "The job required me to manage my time efficiently and effectively to ensure that all the tasks were complete and scheduled on time. This helped during my final year to manage assignments as well as extracurricular activities."
These activities included being choreographer of the DMU Bollywood Dance Society.
Devina said: "This has provided me with huge performance opportunities, from dancing at the DMU Matriculation ceremonies and performing in front of 40,000 people during Leicester's Diwali celebrations to representing DMU in an interuniversity Bollywood dance competition."
She also visited New York earlier this year as part of the biggest #DMUglobal trip to date. "It was a once-in-a-lifetime experience," she added.
Posted on Monday 17 July 2017