University News Last updated 27 September 2013
MOBO and BRIT Awards nominated pop star Laura Mvula is one of the former students from Birmingham City University featured in a new promotion highlighting how graduates are shaping our world.
The successful career paths of Birmingham City University graduates are tracked across a range of sectors, including the worlds of entertainment and the creative industries, arts and culture, technology and business, health and wellbeing, plus teaching and education. Nine in 10 of the University’s graduates and postgraduates gain employment or go on to further study within six months of completing their courses.
As well Birmingham Conservatoire graduate Laura, who has recently been nominated for a Mercury Prize Award, the newly launched campaign features a host of success stories. They include:
Andrew Higginson, one of the most successful business leaders in British retail who helped transform Tesco into a global organisation, Jamie Barry, one of Birmingham’s youngest headteachers, broadcaster and property expert Jonnie Irwin, Metropolitan Police Commander Mak Chishty, plus Neil Edginton, the developer behind some of Birmingham’s most iconic new buildings and Stephen Harrison-Mirfield, Director of Operations at KPMG Saudi Arabia.
These graduates, and many more, will be featured in eye-catching advertising across the region, including giant posters, press and radio ads, plus a special website www.bcu.ac.uk/stories where former students are invited to tell their story.
“We have been launching the successful careers of thousands of individuals since 1843,” said Kathryn Jones, Director of Marketing at Birmingham City University. “We are very proud of the impact our graduates have and continue to have on the world in which we live – for us, there is no better success story for the University.
“Some of the faces featured in the campaign will be very familiar to us from their roles in entertainment and broadcasting; in the case of others, it will be the brands and organisations they have worked for that are equally well known.
“While other graduates will be unsung heroes, making vital contributions, such as expert witnesses in important investigations or offering their professional expertise at vital moments in people’s lives. We hope the campaign inspires future students to start their own story by coming to our Open Days and demonstrates that in most areas of modern living a Birmingham City University graduate is likely to be playing an important role.”
Birmingham City University has a track record of educating professionals since its predecessor institutions were first founded 170 years ago. These programmes are based on listening to employers and responding to needs – and the Sunday Times recently highlighted the University’s advantage in producing “job-ready” graduates. While at BCU, students are encouraged to develop their employability skills through a range of schemes, including:
- OpportUNIty, a pioneering scheme to provide an in-house recruitment agency to place students into temporary vacancies across Birmingham City University with a target of employing 3,000 students within the University – triple current numbers – by 2015
- the Career KickStart programme with experts and employers offering advice on interview scenarios and job searching techniques, such as networking and social media skills.
- the award-winning Student Academic Partners initiative which offers students a range of paid work as part of academic projects in partnership with faculties or service departments
- placement opportunities are built into many of the University’s vocationally focused courses.
“We know that our graduates are already shaping the world,” added Kathryn. “We can’t wait to hear more amazing stories from graduates who may have lost touch with us over the years and we are excited to see the impact future graduates will make in years to come.”
Did you study at Birmingham City University, or one of its predecessor institutions? If so we want to hear from you.