Two Business and Marketing graduates from De Montfort University Leicester (DMU) are building careers in the property industry after landing jobs with a top housing developer.
Anthony Richardson and Emma Gristwood are Marketing Manager and Marketing Executive, respectively, and both credit their course with providing them with the skills needed to bag jobs with David Wilson Homes South Midlands (DWH).
Completing the marketing team is current DMU student Olivia Duval, who hopes her placement year at DWH will also lay the foundations for job success.
She said: "It definitely makes me feel positive about my future and it's nice knowing that there is the opportunity for progression within the company."
The trio say their time at DMU is a talking point, while Senior Lecturer and Placement Tutor Julia Cook, who has taught them all, said: "I am so proud of them."
Anthony, who graduated in 2009, was first to join DWH. He had chosen to study at DMU because of its great reputation for business courses.
He said: "Everything was almost a mini-preparation for the working environment. The theory was invaluable in helping me get to where I am today and, without the support of the lecturers, I may not have been able to get a position on the graduate scheme at Barratt Developments."
Anthony was placed at DWH South Midlands as part of the scheme and offered the position of Marketing Executive after completing the two-year programme. Having worked his way up to Marketing Manager, Anthony now manages the marketing function of the South Midlands division.
He is also in a unique position to provide valuable support to DMU placement students. Anthony said: "I know what the course is like and what experience may benefit them."
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It is thanks to her placement at DWH that Emma, who graduated in 2015, was offered her role. This sandwich year opportunity attracted the 23-year-old to study at DMU - and the experience helped her achieve greater success than she originally envisaged.
Emma said: "I started my placement with a very clear basic knowledge of what I was going to be doing and the impact that marketing can have on a business.
"I went back to my final year a lot more confident in my ability and got a first, when previously I was aiming for a 2:2"
Emma landed a job as a Marketing Assistant with another company after graduating, but "jumped at the opportunity" to go back to DWH when the Marketing Executive position became free.
Current placement student Olivia is due to graduate in 2017 and is hoping to join the Barratt graduate scheme. Meanwhile, the 22-year-old says her Business and Marketing course has provided her with the background knowledge needed for her Marketing Assistant role.
Olivia said: "My module, Principles of Marketing, has enhanced my market research skills, which is essential in my day-to-day tasks of looking at competitors."
DMU lecturer Mrs Cook said the team's success emphasises the good work of the Business and Law Placements Unit. She said: "Placements have always been important, but never as much as now."
Posted on Thursday 4 February 2016