Taking advantage of the employability support offered at De Montfort University Leicester (DMU) has helped Aaroon Younis land a coveted place on a graduate scheme.
The final-year Accounting and Business Management student will start his role as a corporate banking analyst at British multinational investment bank Barclays in Birmingham in August.
"It's a great opportunity," he said. "Barclays has one of the top 20 graduate schemes.
"It's also a great weight off my shoulders and now I can focus 100 per cent on my studies."
Derby-born Aaroon has attended CV and cover letter-writing workshops and events such as mock assessment centres - offered through #DMUworks, the university's careers programme - after first seeking support to land a placement.
"The faculty's placement team was instrumental in me landing a role," said Aaroon, who spent a year as a finance assistant at Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust.
"I was happy because it was in finance and an opportunity to build on what I'd learnt on my course. If I hadn't have used Excel in a second-year module I couldn't have hit the ground running.
"I experienced different areas of finance and it made me realise that I wanted a job involving problem-solving."
He credits his year in industry with giving him an advantage over other graduate scheme applicants, while Ann Baughan, from the employability team, helped tailor his CV "to give the extra impact needed".
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Aaroon has always been interested in finance, having attended three industry insight weeks before starting university.
Although he didn't initially apply for DMU, he had attended an Open Day with a friend, and on A-level results days decided to do additional research before accepting an offer from his second-choice university.
"I looked at DMU's employability figures, in the Destinations of Leavers from Higher Education report, and I had a great experience at Open Day, which swayed my opinion. Plus DMU offered a placement," he said.
Since joining through Clearing, Aaroon has made the most of the DMU experience. He has volunteered with three projects aimed at improving children's skills in maths and computing - Mathletics, Excel Yourself and Playdough - through the #DMUlocal initiative.
"It was a nice experience," he added, "with the double benefit of being able to help influence young people's outlook of finance and boost their skills, while enhancing my teaching and leadership skills."
Ann Baughan, career development manager, said: "Aaroon was really proactive in booking a careers appointment so soon after returning for his final year. From talking with him about his placement, I realised he wasn't getting the maximum benefit on his CV from this experience.
"During the course of the meeting and with some additional feedback by email, I helped Aaroon recognise how to convey his achievements and the depth and range of his experiences more effectively.
"It's always a thrill when this happens and especially for Aaroon to get such a great result so quickly."
Posted on Wednesday 3 April 2019