School of Business
Career Development Exhibition
Career Development Exhibition 2024: Maximising Career Success
The fifth annual ULSB Career Development Exhibition will take place from Monday 11 to Friday 15 March 2024
Join us for a week of in-person workshops and online sessions, with speakers from organisations including Goldman Sachs, Lloyds Banking Group, CIMA, J.P. Morgan, Mercedes AMG High Performance Powertrains, Asset Intelligence, Jaguar Land Rover and The National Basketball Association.
Our expert panels provide first-hand insights into careers in various business sectors, whilst ULSB alumni share their career journeys to date.
Boost your employability by finding out more about Bloomberg, practising psychometric tests, building your CV and LinkedIn profile or developing your Excel skills.
If you have a side hustle or business idea, come and showcase it at our entrepreneurship event or pick up some ideas about what you could do to boost your income whilst studying.
The Career Development Exhibition is open to all current students, members of staff and University alumni.
See below for details and links to join online sessions across the week.
Monday 11 March
Session 1: 1:00pm - 2:00pm (online)
Maximising Career Success with Lorna Hinds-Sotomey
Speaker: Lorna Hinds-Sotomey MBA, FCCA, Chartered MCSI, CMgr CCMI
Host: Dr Dennis Pepple, ULSB Director of Employability and Enterprise
We are delighted to welcome Lorna Hinds-Sotomey to deliver our ULSB Public Lecture and launch the 2024 Career Development Exhibition.
In conversation with Dr Dennis Pepple, Lorna will share her career journey and discuss how to navigate the challenges of the current dynamic world of work to achieve career success. The conversation will include discussion around workplace challenges, the impact of technology, the importance of diversity and inclusion, and the impact leadership has on driving both organisation and employee growth.
About Lorna
Lorna is a seasoned finance and business management professional executive with a wealth of global experience in influential roles within financial institutions, spanning finance, strategy, regulation and technology. Lorna is a fellow, and member of various chartered bodies including the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants, Chartered Institute for Securities and Chartered Management Institute. She holds a bachelors degree in Accounting and Finance and an Executive MBA from the University of Manchester Alliance Manchester Business School.
She currently sits on various advisory boards and committees for the Chartered Management Institute, Women in Banking and Finance, Institute for Sustainability at the University of Surrey and has previously held roles for small voluntary organisations utilising her financial, strategic and risk management expertise.
Lorna maintains a keen interest in equity, diversity and inclusion, with a keen emphasis on ensuring racial equality is incorporated into executive decision making. Lorna was founder and chair of the Race Equity ERG in her previous organisation, supporting and building our initiatives and programmes to drive inclusivity for individuals in the workplace at all levels.
Lorna provides mentorship for organisations such as SEO and Amos Bursary for talented young individuals and is a mentor for female professionals within the 30% Club Moving Ahead mentoring programme.
An avid runner, Lorna enjoys participating in marathons in her spare time.
Session 2: 4:00pm - 5:00pm (online)
Postgraduate Career Success
Speakers: Lisa Monteith, Head of Talent Acquisition and Onboarding UK, HSBC, Jitin Topiwala, Marketing Consultant and NED Leicestershire County Cricket Club; Theodora Dede, Senior Data Scientist, Allied Irish Bank; Dr Jingyi Mao, Lecturer in Economics, University of Leicester; and, Georgia Bekyra, Senior Ticketing Manager, Arsenal FC.
Host: Fran Vickers, ULSB Careers and Employability Manager
Our postgraduate alumni panel reflect on their career journeys to date and share key pointers for future career success.
Session 3: 4:00pm - 5:00pm (In-person)
Bloomberg Workshop
Bookings are now closed.
Led by Ayomide Tijani, ULSB Student Ambassador and final year BSc Financial Economics and Banking (with a Year in Industry) student
Host: Chandni Anil, ULSB Employability Coordinator
Join Ayo in the Bloomberg Trading Room for an interactive workshop, providing an introduction to the Bloomberg terminals and how to make the most of this resource to support your studies and career success. Ayo has extensive experience of using Bloomberg terminals and is keen to share his insight.
Session 4: 5:00pm - 6:00pm (online)
Accounting Panel
Speakers: Alun Davies, Chartered Accountant and Founder of Venture Accounting; Eniola Adenuga, New Analyst, Goldman Sachs; Jo Duddle, Director, Accounting Insight Advisory at RSM UK; and, Jusmeet Dhanjan, BSc Accounting and Finance graduate
Host: Gaile Lloyd-Jones, ULSB Employability Coordinator
Our expert panel discuss working in accounting, what recruiters are looking for in candidates entering the field an how to succeed within this varied sector.
Session 5- 6:00pm - 7:00pm (online)
Economics Career Success panel - in partnership with the Economics Society
Speakers: Rebecca Girma, Management Consulting Analyst, Accenture; Yagmur Sisman, Senior Financial Analyst at American Express; Hana Chopdat, Leasing Intern, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation; Charlotte Lycett, Finance and Treasury Placement Student, Nationwide; and, Alex Robertson, Senior Consultant, Steer Economic Development.
Hosts: Fran Vickers, ULSB Careers and Employability Manager; Usama Mahgoub, President of the Economics Society; and, Avani Dughrekar, Vice President of the Economics Society.
Our expert panel will discuss working in a range of career paths that align directly to studying economics. The event will include students currently undertaking their placement year and graduates who have studied economics and are now working in the fields of consulting, analytics and finance. The event has been organised and will be run in partnership with the Economics Society.
Tuesday 12 March
Session 6: 12:00noon - 1:00pm (online)
Advanced CVs
Speakers: Glenn Turner, Finance Director, Jaguar Land Rover; and, James Potter, Pricing Intelligence Manager, British Gas, Centrica.
Host: Fran Vickers, ULSB Careers and Employability Manager and Paul FitzGerald, Student Progression Team Lead, University of Leicester Careers and Employability
Join members of the ULSB and University careers teams, together with business professionals who will share their expert insights into building an effective CV. The session is aimed at students with significant experience in the workplace but valuable for all.
Session 7: 1:00pm - 2:00pm (online)
Marketing Panel
Speakers: Roberta Barkauskaite, Display Manager Dentsu; Victoria Buckingham, Global Strategy Director, PHD Global; Opoku Sanaa, Sales and Market Management, Mercedes-Benz & Fuso Trucks RC Central Africa; Cleye Ingles, Account Executive, PHD Global; and, Abbie Sleath, Marketing and Engagement Manager, University of Leicester School of Business
Host: Gaile Lloyd-Jones, ULSB Employability Coordinator
Join our expert panel as they consider their consider their experience of working in this dynamic sector and share top tips for marketing success.
Session 8: 1:00pm - 2:00pm (online)
Human Resource Management Panel
Speakers: Katie Ellisdon, Recruitment Specialist, Mercedes AMG High Performance Powertrains; Sophie Owen, HR People Experience Graduate, Jaguar Land Rover; Ella Emovon, Executive Education Coach, University of Hertfordshire; and, Victoria Demery, Organisational Development Specialist, University of Leicester.
Host: Helen Atkinson, ULSB Careers and Employability Manager
Members of our expert panel share their experiences of working in human resource management, discuss what recruiters are looking for in candidates entering the sector and how to achieve success in this field.
Session 9- 2:00pm - 3:00pm (online)
Graduate Success (early alumni reflections, one to two years post-graduation)
Speakers: (Alumni) Alejandro Medina, Global Media Distribution, National Basketball Association; Tim Nehikhare, Investor Relations Analyst, J.P. Morgan; Katie Ellisdon, Recruitment Specialist, Mercedes AMG High Performance Powertrains;and,Jasmina Musiqi, Graduate Management Trainee, University of Leicester. (Employers) Adam Sibson, Continuous Improvement and Controls Analyst, Centrica, British Gas; and, James Potter, Pricing Intelligence Manager, Centrica, British Gas.
Host: Chandni Anil, ULSB Employability Coordinator
Our alumni panel discuss their career journeys post-graduation and share their key advice for future career success.
Session 10: 4:00pm - 5:00pm (online)
Building a Career in Risk Management
Hosted by: Lisa Ponti, Vice President, Institutional Outreach at the Global Association of Risk Professionals (GARP)
Speakers: Nour Alaswad, Energy Market Risk, Shell Corporation; Marcus Cree, Managing Director - Financial Technology and Services, GreenPoint Global; Andreas Psara, Senior Analyst - Manager Model Risk Management, Virgin Money UK, PLC; and, Benedict Metuh, Funding and Modelling Manager, Vanquis Banking Group.
From the back office to the trading room floor, risk affects nearly every aspect of the financial world. Join Lisa Ponti, Vice President for Institutional Outreach at the Global Association of Risk Professionals (GARP) and based in New York, to hear how to enhance your skillset and achieve your risk and analytics careers goals. Lisa is a former commercial credit card analyst with a number of banks across the globe - now working to promote the best practices in financial risk management as well as sustainability and climate risk.
Session 11: 5:00pm - 6:00pm (online)
How to Develop a Career with Purpose: Exploring Social Enterprise
Speakers: Joanna Fleetwood-Smith, CEO of Norton Housing and Support; Zinthiya Ganeshpanchan FRSA, Founder and CEO, Zinthiya Trust; Peter Smith, Director, Real Purpose; and, Sangeeta Patel, Joint CEO, Reaching People Charity.
Host: Tobias Gould, Director of Social Innovation, Community Enterprise Engine
Our expert panel discuss working for organisations operating in the social enterprise, charity and third sector. This sector has a wealth of opportunities for graduates, volunteers, interns and experienced hires to make a difference in the workplace.
Wednesday 13 March
Session 12: 11:30am - 12:30pm (online)
Psychometric Tests with the Chartered Association of Management Accountants (CIMA)
Speaker: Joanne Monkman, Student Recruitment Manager, CIMA
Psychometric testing has become increasingly popular with employers and is frequently used to measure candidates' skills, abilities or personality, according to a defined set of criteria. This interactive session is designed to prepare you for undertaking these tests and will include an overview of CIMA and the new Finance Leadership route, the types of tests you could face, plus practice questions.
Register for this session. Please make sure you enter your correct email to ensure you receive the link for the session.
Session 13: 1:00pm - 2:00pm (online)
Advanced Interview Skills
Speakers: Glenn Turner, Finance Director, Jaguar Land Rover; and Emma Norman, Partner Performance Analyst, Centrica, British Gas.
Hosts: Helen Atkinson and Fran Vickers, ULSB Careers and Employability Managers
Join members of the ULSB Careers Team and industry professionals, sharing expert insights into interview success. This session is aimed at students with experience in the workplace but valuable for all.
Session 14: 1:00pm - 2:00pm (in-person)
LinkedIn Workshop
Led by Women in Finance
Bookings are now closed.
Host: Jane Baker, ULSB Employability Coordinator
This interactive workshop will empower attendees to utilise LinkedIn to support career success. Join us and have your LinkedIn profile photo taken professionally.
Session 15: 2:00pm - 4:00pm (in-person)
Investment and Asset Management Workshop (with Asset Intelligence and Furnley House)
If you are a FINAL YEAR student and interested in this event and haven't yet registered, please email: ulsb.careers@le.ac.uk
Speaker: Kel Nwanuforo, Investment Specialist, Asset Intelligence
Host: Gaile Lloyd-Jones, ULSB Employability Coordinator
This session is for undergraduate final year students interested in asset management or financial planning ,and keen to develop team working, data analytics, management and communication skills while developing financial skills.
As part of CDE 2024, Asset Intelligence and Furnley House are running an interactive workshop where you will put together a credible financial plan for a fictional client in a given scenario, considering issues such as tax planning, life insurance requirements, pension rules and inheritance planning. Students will also have the opportunity to select a suite of suitable investment funds tailored to meet the needs of their 'client'. Throughout the workshop there will be an opportunity to engage with professionals from the industry in informal discussions around the activities to give you a real insight into the industry and career options.
Session 16: 2:15pm - 3:15pm (in-person)
Excel Intermediate Workshop
Bookings are now closed
Led by Mark Vout, Data and Information Analyst, ULSB
Host: Helen Atkinson, ULSB Careers and Employability Manager
Are you comfortable with navigating around Excel but want to learn more? This interactive session will give you an opportunity to learn more about how Excel can do some of the heavy lifting with cleaning and understanding your data. The session includes worksheet management, core formulas, named ranges, conditional formatting and more.
Participants will need to bring their own laptop to this session.
Session 17: 5:00pm - 6:00pm (online)
MBA Career Success
Speakers: Cynthia Amponsah-Antwi, Business Development Manager, HSBC; Evelyn Pokora, Sales Strategy Manager, Hershey Canada Inc.; Cardelle Fergusson, General Manager at The Barbados Youth Business Trust; and, Christian Larsen, Managing Director Americas, Direct Link.
Host: Fran Vickers, ULSB Careers and Employability Manager
Our MBA alumni panel discuss their career journeys post-graduation and share their key advice for future career success.
Thursday 14 March
Session 18: 12:00noon - 1:00pm (online)
Economics, Banking and Analytics Panel
Speakers: Sumanth Sunkari, Vice President, EMEA Payments Product, J.P. Morgan; Glenn Turner, Finance Director, Jaguar Land Rover; and, Daniel Lowry, Deputy Branch Manager, Handelsbanken
Host: Gaile Lloyd-Jones, ULSB Employability Coordinator
Our expert panel discuss working in banking, analytics or economics-related roles, including what recruiters are looking for in candidates entering the field and how to succeed within this sector.
Session 19: 4:00pm - 5:00pm (in-person)
Excel Advanced Workshop
Bookings are now closed
Led by Mark Vout, Data and Information Analyst, ULSB
Host: Jane Baker, ULSB Employability Coordinator
Have you been using Excel for a little while but feel like you've only scratched the surface? During this interactive session we will take a dataset, learn about some of Excel's more advanced functionality and create a dashboard to visualise what the data has to say. Includes advanced formulas and data visualisation.
Participants will need to take their own laptop along to this session.
Session 20: 4:00pm - 6:00pm (online)
Masterclass on Market Intelligence, with ESOMAR
Speakers: Kieran Anderson, Research Analyst, GWI, UK; Crispin Beale, Group President (Global), Behavioraly, UK - ESOMAR Representative for the UK; Kambe Mwaba, Head of Evaluation Intelligence (Research and Innovation), L'Oreal, South Africa; Christine Laurenssen, Business Director Africa, MDI (Mobile Digital Insights), South Africa; Pierre Dubosc, Managing Director North America, Consumer Insight, Semantiweb USA; Elizabeth Norman, CEO, ENI recruiting for the Insight Profession, UK; and, Christine Furlong, Global Insights Assistant Manager, Kerry, Ireland
Host: Dr Guihan Ko, Lecturer in Marketing and Innovation, ULSB
This is for you if you are interested in marketing, market research, data or consumer insight and is organised in collaboration with ESOMAR, the global membership association for market research and insights.- Presentation case studies from experts in the industry will demonstrate the relevance of market research in generating insights, fuelling innovation and getting closer to consumers.
- Career routes in the sphere of marketing, market research and data and consumer insights.
- An open session will discuss the skillsets needed to enter the market research industry and students' aspirations in preparing themselves to enter the job market.
Friday 15 March
Session 21: 9:30am - 11:00am (in-person)
CV Review Drop-in Session
Bookings are now closed
Drop in the Career Hub @ Brookfield with your CV for a 15 minute review from a member of the School of Business Careers Team.
Please note that you may need to wait for your review meeting depending on demand.
Session 22 - 12:00noon - 2:30pm (in-person), networking opportunity 2:30pm - 3:00pm
Side Hustle Entrepreneurship Event
Bookings are now closed
With ULSB Entrepreneurs in Residence: George Oliver, Managing Director, 1284 Ltd; Roderick Williams-Young, Buying Manager/Executive in Food, Homeware and Fashion Sectors; and Mital Thanki, Founder and CEO, Spark Academy.
Host: Dr Dennis Pepple, ULSB Director of Employability and Enterprise
Join us for an exciting side hustle and business idea event, open to students, academics and alumni. Our panel discussion will feature successful entrepreneurs sharing insights into their business ideas and development journeys. Students who have entered the competition will showcase their side hustle and business ideas to the panel, with the opportunity to receive unique feedback from the judges. There will be also be networking opportunities to connect with fellow attendees and industry leaders, exploring diverse pathways to success.