My name is Charlotte and I am a Final Year Undergraduate studying Business Management with Marketing at Pearson Business School. Since studying this course, I have developed a keen interest in events. On 4th May, I had the pleasure of hosting the final event of the Pearson College London Enterprise Festival EDU 2021, Next Steps: Deciding which route to take.
What is the Enterprise Festival Edu?
The Enterprise Festival EDU is a series of events targeted at school and college aged students, that wish to pursue a career in business, to help them understand where to start for a future of success, whether this is in the corporate world or starting a business from scratch.
(Although this series was aimed at post 18 education leavers, plenty of helpful info to support current university students or recent graduates in their careers was also given).
Event Overview
As the Panel was the last event within the Enterprise Festival EDU series, it aimed to tie together and summarise the prior sessions; ultimately providing students with potential options available to them after finishing formal education. This was achieved by speaking to a diverse panel of 4 panelists; Callum, Adeola, William and Andrew, who all took different paths to their current positions.
Callum Bonfield:
Firstly, Callum is currently a Commercial Development Executive for Nestle, who achieved this position following two years of experience in the Consumer Goods Industry since graduating from Pearson Business School in 2019. Whilst studying at Pearson Business School between 2016-2019 Callum was supported in his desire to work alongside his studies after completing an internship in India, gaining work experience to boost his progression into industry post-graduation.
Adeola Karaole:
Similarly, Adeola is a Pearson Business School Graduate, however, she took a slightly different path into her degree. Before joining Pearson Business School, Adeola initially began her studies as a dental nurse, but quickly realised this wasn’t for her. From this, Adeola Applied for the Pearson Business School Degree Apprenticeship but was unsuccessful. However, Adeola was offered a place on the full-time Business Management Degree with Pearson Business School. During her studies, Adeola completed a guaranteed internship with the Pearson College London Communications Department. Today, with the application of these experiences Adeola has progressed into a permanent role as a HR administrator with Pearson Plc.
William Monange:
Although William is also a Pearson College London alumnus, he took an alternative route into his current role. Between 2016 and 2018, William completed a fast-tracked Degree Apprenticeship with BBC, in Partnership with Pearson Business School and then progressed into a role with BT post-graduation. Despite gaining vast experience within the corporate environment,today, William is the Co-Founder of two start-ups: an influencer management agency and a subscription platform.
Andrew Griffiths:
Finally, Andrew, unlike the other panelists is not a Pearson College alumnus. Andrew initially took a gap year between finishing school and beginning his Psychology Degree. During an exchange year and post-graduation Andrew explored a variety of different avenues through work experience to determine his true interests and passions. Since then, Andrew has fallen into a variety of roles organically through networking and today his key role is Director of Community and Partnerships for Planet Mark, a sustainability certification.
Key takeaways from the event
From the panel discussion, the value of work experience and networking arose a common, reoccurring theme that has supported the panelist's success. If you are unsure of what you want to do work experience is a fantastic way to explore different areas that are available, helping to determine your likes and dislikes, informing the future steps you should take. Alternatively, even if you are set on a career path already, work experience helps to get develop your skills, enhance your employability, and get your foot in the door to succeed. But how can you get this experience? Networking is a great tool that has supported all the panelist's journeys and this can be achieved face to face or virtually. Tools such as Linkedin and Eventbrite are great place to start; helping to find like-minded people or events to find out more about industries and opportunities.
Overall, no matter if you are 16 or 25 without a set career goal, it is completely okay and not unusual so do not worry! And this has been illustrated by the range of experiences and paths taken by the panelists.
Find out more
To check out ‘Next Steps: Deciding which route to take’ or any of the prior events* in the Enterprise Festival EDU this year, you can watch the recordings via our website.
*These Prior events were Where to begin: It's ok to not know what to do, From passion to profit: How to make money doing what you love and finally, Brand Building: The importance of building your personal brand.
-By Charlotte Lane (3rd year Business Management with Marketing student)
