On the 14^th September, 21 excited students met at Belfast Airport to embark on a week’s adventure in London.  Although we were all from different academic disciplines from within Queens, we all had the same goal – to experience the highs and lows of London life focusing on gaining an insight into the corporate finance sector.

BY KATHRYN O’KANE, SUZANNA HALL AND AILISH DONNELLY ON BEHALF OF ALL THE STUDENTS ON THE CORPORATE STUDY TOUR 2009

Within hours of landing in London, we were thrown in at the deep end and arrived at our first host of the week Mercer, one of the most prestigious consulting firms.  Here we worked in teams on a business game, typical of that given in an assessment centre. This shocked us into the reality of the high expectations of the skills and qualities that Mercer and other top employers expect their candidates to possess.  Other highlights of the week included a tour of the infamous Lloyds trading floor, networking with the high-rollers in Barclays Global Investors, developing our presentation skills in Financial Services Authority, taking part in a mock assessment centre exercise in Citi and a tour of the Bank of England including standing in the room where some of the most important financial decisions are made.

As typical students, we worked hard but also made time to indulge in all aspects of city life including the night we all commuted to Canary Wharf to attend an Invest NI Networking reception in the tallest building in the UK.  At this event we mingled with a wide variety of people from a range of companies who offered us valuable advice about the transition from Northern Ireland to London, as well as sharing their own personal experiences and business knowledge.  After conversing with these successful business men and women many of us could picture our new dream lives in London in future years.  Sightseeing, socialising and shopping were also on our agenda and filled most of our spare time.  From seeing Big Ben, to getting lost on Oxford Street to partying at Leicester Square we had unforgettable times and took a few pictures to prove it!

The journey home marked the end of a wonderful week.  With 21 students, previously strangers to each other, reminiscing over the fun and laughter they shared and most importantly an experience that would change their future career plans for good.  But our journey did not end here, we are currently organising a dissemination event in which you can find out how to be a part of the Corporate Study Tour 2010 and ask any further questions. This will take place in The SU Enterprise Area on Tuesday 8^th December from 10am-5pm.

On behalf of the participating students on this year’s trip we would like to thank Roisin Copeland and Greta O’Donnell from Careers, Employability and Skills for making the trip memorable through all their hard work.  If you would like to be put on a mailing list for next year’s trip you can email programmes@qub.ac.uk to register your interest.