MBA class meets top recruiters in London
Published 19 July 2012
In June 2012 the Lancaster Full-time MBA class travelled to London to meet top recruiters and alumni at The Work Foundation in St James’s. The event included presentations on management consultancy careers and the opportunity to network with employers.
The event gave students opportunities to meet top recruiters face to face. It also included presentations by management consulting recruiters Don Leslie and Sandy Khan.
Networking is recognised as the key to business and career success. While virtual opportunities through new media abound, there is still nothing like meeting someone face-to-face. The MBA students valued the opportunity to find out about sector and market information, hiring news, skills required and approach methods. Employers, who are often looking for that one special individual with specific skills, found that they could identify people of interest to them through the conversations generated through organised networking rotations.
Management consulting careers
Presentations by Don Leslie of Beament Leslie Thomas and Sandy Khan of MBA Arena set the scene and gave valuable insights into MBA career choices. Sandy Khan said after the event, “The MBA team have done a great job with the students! I noticed a few ‘gems’ among them.”
Student Kiran Savadi said: “Don Leslie’s presentation on management consultancy was very insightful – especially the fact that hiring in this industry is increasing, contrary to the belief that recruitment is in decline. I feel Don’s presentation will help many students to look at the consulting industry from a new perspective and approach it in a different manner.”
The speed networking event brought together employers, Lancaster MBA alumni now based in London, and the current MBA class.
Speed networking
During an hour and a half of high-energy networking rotations, alumni gave insights into how they had made the transition from study to work following the MBA. Richard Davenport, a consultant with Dearson Winyard International, said: “I thoroughly enjoyed the speed networking session. The session was a clever and refreshing twist which allowed me to make so many more connections than I had imagined possible in the time available.” Laura Hawes (1990 graduate), said: “The buzz was fantastic and I found the students’ enthusiasm and ability to derive learning from my experiences truly inspirational.”
The format of the event helped companies to identify possible recruits. “It was really motivating to meet all those energetic young managers,” said Bob Henderson of Alexander Proudfoot. “The speed meeting system was an efficient way to keep the communication flowing.”
Later, a panel of experts was questioned about the specifics of moving to London, which many Lancaster MBAs staying in the UK following their studies tend to do.
Michael Hass, MBA alumnus (2009) now working with Ernst & Young said: “I really like these meetings as it is so nice to meet the people from our own cohort as well as the people from other cohorts. It’s always nice to share the experiences.”
Jack Jarvis, EDF Energy said, “Thank you very much for the opportunity to meet the students – they are a credit to the university.”
