Joseph Brewer

Country of origin: United Kingdom

Graduate Project Manager, EADS Astrium

I chose to study at LUMS because it is consistently rated amongst the top business schools within the UK, giving it a great academic reputation. After speaking to LUMS members of staff during open days I realised that there was an opportunity to develop my learning across a number of academic disciplines, as I would be able to adapt the course to suit my interests.

The Operations Management degree offers the chance to work on placement for a year which I found to be the most enjoyable part of my degree. I worked on an important UK Ministry of Defence project at EADS Astrium. During the year I gained invaluable experience in a professional environment and made some great friends. Subsequently, I wrote a 20,000-word thesis based on the experiences of my year in industry which is by far the most technically impressive piece of work I completed during my time within LUMS.

In my first year of study, I was the County College Chairperson; this was great for my social life at University and helped me to gain an understanding of how the collegiate system works. When returning to Lancaster in my fourth year I joined the County College football club as a great way to make new friends.

During my placement I worked on the SkyNet5 project, which is an integral part of the telecommunication system to the Ministry of Defence, providing equipment that is relied upon on a day-to-day basis in the field. I gained invaluable experience in project management, managing engineers on mini-projects and creating a delivery schedule using a program called Primavera 6. I also greatly increased my skills in using Microsoft Excel VBA coding which I had gained a grounding in during my second year of university. At the end of my placement I was awarded a Bronze Award for outstanding achievement as well as a monetary bonus.

After graduating I was asked by EADS Astrium to return as they were pleased with my initial efforts during my placement year.

LUMS Careers helped me on a number of occasions, from writing CV and covering letters to interview techniques. They were always friendly and gave useful down-to-earth advice, which shows their grounding in the real world.