School of Business
Career Development Exhibition
Career Development Exhibition 2025: Maximising Career Success
The sixth annual ULSB Career Development Exhibition will take place from Monday 3 to Friday 7 March 2025.
Join us for a week of in-person workshops and online sessions, with speakers from organisations including:
- SMEG
- Jaguar Land Rover
- Association for Project Management
- Enterprise Mobility
- Cummins
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 project management, building your LinkedIn profile and developing your Excel skills.
If you have a business idea or side hustle, we have our Business Start Up Competition finale on the afternoon of Friday 7 March to close the Career Development Exhibition week (closing date for applications for the Business Start Up Competition is 19 February).
The Career Development Exhibition 2025 is open to all current University of Leicester students, members of staff and University alumni.
Find out more about the events taking place as part of the University-wide Careers and Employability Service Festival of Careers.
See below for details of all the sessions in the Career Development Exhibition 2025.
Monday 3 March
Session 1: 12:00noon - 2:00pm (online)
Masterclass on Market Intelligence
An event for anyone interested in marketing, market research, data and consumer insight.
This event is being organised in collaboration with ESOMAR, the global membership association for market research and insights, and will include:
- Presentation case studies from experts in the industry who 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 where will discuss the skillsets needed to enter the market research industry and students' aspirations in preparing themselves to enter the job market.
Host: Dr Guihan Ko, Lecturer of Marketing and Innovation, School of Business.
Speakers and panel members:
- Lucy Davison, CEO and Founder, Keen as Mustard Marketing - ESOMAR Representative for the UK
- David Smith, DVL Smith, UK
- Adam Riley, Decision Architects, UK
- Kathy Cheng, Inca Nexxt Intelligence, Canada
- Romani Patel, Microsoft, USA
- Elizabeth Norman, CEO, ENI recruiting for the Insight Profession, UK
- Jaimie Smits, Senior Analyst, SKIM Europe, Netherlands
Session 2: 3:00pm - 4:00pm (online)
Excel Intermediate Workshop
Led by: Mark Vout, Data and Information Analyst, School of Business
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 clearing and understanding your data. The session includes worksheet management, core formulas, named ranges, conditional formatting and more.
It is advised that participants have access to a laptop so they can follow the session practically.
Session 3: 4:00pm - 5:00pm (online)
Excel Advanced Workshop
Led by: Mark Vout, Data and Information Analyst, School of Business
Have you been using Excel for a little while but feel like you have 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. The session includes advanced formulas and data visualisation.
It is advised that participants have access to a laptop so they can follow the session practically.
Tuesday 4 March
Session 4: 1:00pm - 2:00pm (online)
Advanced Interview Skills
Speakers: Glenn Turner, Finance Director, Jaguar Land Rover
Host: Gaile Lloyd-Jones, ULSB Careers Team
Join the ULSB Careers Team and industry professionals sharing expert insights into interview success. The session will be valuable for students at all levels including those with considerable experience.
Session 5: 3:00pm - 4:00pm (online)
Graduate Success (early alumni reflections)
Speakers: Recent graduates from a organisations including IBM and Experian
Host: Gaile Lloyd-Jones, ULSB Careers Team
Our recent graduate alumni panel discuss their career journeys post-graduation and share their key advice for future career success.
Session 6: 5:00pm - 6:00pm (online)
Building a Career in Project Management - in partnership with the Association for Project Management
Speakers:
- Andy Baber, Senior Turnkey Project Manager, GE Vernova Grid Solution
- Ian Clarkson, Director of Portfolio Management, QA
- Bel French, Senior Project Manager, Gleeds
Host: Dr Olga Suhomlinova, Associate Professor in Management, School of Business
In association with members of the Association of Project Management, this session will give you a great insight into project management including:
- What is project management?
- Why it is a fantastic career path
- How to get started in project management
- Opportunities and events to find out more
Session 7: 5:30pm - 7:30pm (in-person - Career Hub, David Wilson Library)
Cafe Enterprise: Women Entrepreneurs
Speakers:
- Clare Jackson, Business Owner, The Job Coach
- Farhana Khan, Business Owner, Armour-Femme
- Dorothy Francis, Co-Director, The Co-operative and Social Enterprise Development Agency
Host: Leya Luhar, Pharmacy student and Founder OSCE Toolbox
Join us for Cafe Enterprise focused on Women Entrepreneurs. This event support enterpreneurship as part of our commitment to the Charter for Inclusive Entrepreneurship, ensuring we minimise barriers and enhance opportunities for under-represented groups.
The session will involve our expert panel sharing their advice and inspiring our next generation of female leaders.
Wednesday 5 March
Session 8: 3:15pm - 4:15pm (in-person - Career Hub, David Wilson Library)
Employer Round Table
Table hosts:
- Hassan Haroon, Talent Marketing Specialist, Enterprise Mobility
- ULSB Careers Team
Following the recruitment fair, ULSB students are invited to attend the Employer Round Table, offering a unique opportunity to engage directly with both an employer and the Careers Team. This interactive session will begin with a brief introductory presentation from the employer, followed by an opportunity for students to rotate between tables in a dynamic 'speed-dating' format.
This event focuses on practical advice in a relaxed, conversational setting. Don't miss this chance to build valuable connections and advance your career prospects.
What to expect:
- Employer tables: gain insights from employers, available opportunities and the recruitment process. Employers will also share valuable hints and tips to support your application journey.
- Careers Team table: receive CV hints and tips, general career advice, and strategies to enhance your employability.
Session 9: 5:00pm - 6:00pm (online)
Leveraging your MBA
Speakers:
- Nahi Thebian, AvK Global Sales Leaders, Cummins Engines (MBA Alumnus 2020)
- Mital Thanki, Founder and CEO, Spark Academy (MBA Alumnus 2020)
- Marcel Kotowski, Business Development Manager, Four Seasons Harvest Ltd and Co-founder, Mixologist's Garden (MBA Alumnus 2021)
- Helen Emery, Operations Manager, School of Computing and Mathematical Sciences, University of Leicester (MBA Alumnus 2021)
Hosts: Fran Vickers, ULSB Careers Team
Our MBA alumni panel discuss their career journeys post-graduation and share their key advice for future career success.
Session 10: Time TBC (online)
Economics Alumni Career Success Panel (organised by the Economics Society)
Please register your interest for this session by emailing ulsb.careers@le.ac.uk
Speakers: TBC
Hosts: Macaiah Darman and Usama Mahgoub, Economics Society, University of Leicester
This panel will discuss working in a range of career paths that align directly to studying economics. The event will include alumni working in the fields of consulting, analytics and finance.
Thursday 6 March
Session 11: 1:00pm - 2:00pm (online)
Advanced CVs
Speaker: Glen Turner, Finance Director, Jaguar Land Rover
Hosts: Helen Atkinson and Gaile Lloyd-Jones, ULSB Careers Team
Join members of the ULSB Careers Team together with business professionals who will share their expert insights into building an effective CV, discussing how you can utilise AI and our AI platform, CareerSet. This session will be valuable for students at all levels including those with considerable experience.
Session 12: 2:00pm - 3:00pm (in-person, Brookfield, School of Business)
Maximising the Power of LinkedIn
Led by: Ritisha Shahariar and Chetna Devi, Final Year Year in Industry students, School of Business
This interactive workshop will empower attendees to utilise LinkedIn to support career success. Join us and have your LinkedIn profile photo taken professionally.
Session 13: 6:00pm - 7:00pm (online)
Fireside Chat: From ULSB Student to Managing Director
Speaker: Daniel Hadley, Managing Director, SMEG (UK) Ltd
Host: Gaile Lloyd-Jones, ULSB Careers Team
SMEG are a global leader in innovative household appliances. Vision, intuition, international reach: owing to a business culture that places the utmost attention on quality, on technological contents with an extreme focus on energy savings, the SMEG group is recognised on an international scale as a mastermind of excellence.
Join ULSB graduate Dan as he shares his career journey from student to Managing Director (UK and Ireland) of leading global brand, SMEG. Hear how Dan has navigated the world of work and driven his career forward. He will share both the successes and challenges and share key advice for standing out in the application and interview process.