Yanan Hou

Country of origin: China

Sales Department, Sailun Group (China)

LUMS, noted for its advanced research facilities, world-class faculty and intellectually stimulating academic atmosphere, really attracted me whenI was  looking at universities. It has a high academic ranking in the UK, the location is very peaceful and Lancaster is a lovely city.

The mock ‘World Economic Forum’ is the highlight of the International Business & Strategy MSc. As representatives from different delegations we discussed the global economy, analysed developing trends, addressed economic issues and discovered the potential solutions. I learned a lot from this activity, not only the academic knowledge but also the teamwork spirit and interpersonal skills.

During my time at LUMS I was one of the course representatives. Part of this role included attending a staff/student liaison committee meeting every term. As representatives we collected students’ comments and suggestions about the course and then communicated that back to the professors, teachers and course director to stimulate change and improvement.

It’s a wonderful experience, studying at Lancaster University, full of surprise and happiness. The beautiful campus and the perfect library and learning zone provide us with a good place to concentrate on academic study. In LUMS, I met the best staff and professors. I also made many friends from different countries. We learnt about different religions, different cultures and different worldviews. LUMS is like a big family, making us not feel lonely, even though we were so far away from home.

The LUMS Careers team provided many support services. They gave me direction and helped me to develop my career path as well as showing me how to write a good CV. Through the many career activities they put on, we were given the opportunity to learn about different companies and graduate jobs.

Since graduating I now work for Sailun Co., Ltd. in China, where I am focusing upon international business in the sales department. Thanks to the mock world economic forum and lots of teamwork, I developed good interpersonal skills and good spirit of team work which has given me confidence in communicating with people from different countries.