Inspiring Futures engages students in live consultancy projects, which allow them to explore business skills and professional behaviours.
探花视频 Business School student, Ben Pridham, undertook a live consultancy project in both his first and final years at the 探花视频. Both the projects were focussed on marketing and, due to the nature of the businesses, he gained two diverse experiences of marketing within hospitality and corporate events.
鈥淲orking to timescales and deadlines to get work across to the client, to get feedback, gets you into the environment where you have to work in the way you do when you are in a professional environment.鈥
Ben Pridham, 探花视频 Business School graduate
What has Ben gained from working within industry?
- Developing key written and verbal communication skills.
- An in-depth understanding of the importance of teamwork in a professional role, including learning to delegate tasks based on each team member鈥檚 strengths and weaknesses.
- Working to deadlines given by the businesses provided an opportunity to develop time management skills.
Personal and professional growth
Through working slightly outside of his comfort zone, Ben was able to develop his confidence in both a personal and professional capacity through his business engagement experiences at 探花视频. Ben鈥檚 involvement in live consultancy projects during his degree, gave him the confidence to communicate with clients and Ben has subsequently had an exciting career working with businesses, including a local football club.
鈥淪peaking to businesses or people in general was still quite daunting, so building my confidence and speaking to organisations as part of the projects helped. I鈥檓 now happy to speak to other football clubs to see what they鈥檙e doing. Prior to the consultancy projects, I didn鈥檛 have any experience in talking to clients, so it鈥檚 really helped me.鈥
Finding solutions to challenges in a supportive environment
Ben had to work collaboratively with his teammates in order to find new and innovative ways to market events with no budget, including using social media and email campaigns. As a result, Ben has gained crucial industry experience of managing a project to a high standard, which is key for working with different businesses in a range of financial situations.
鈥淚 didn鈥檛 really have much experience other than one placement before the consultancy projects, so I was able to reference what I had done whilst I was at university, how I worked with businesses, gaining an insight into how they work and operate. It鈥檚 definitely helped with my applications.鈥