BBA European Management student Mathea Bernhardt (whose course is changing its name to BBA International Business Management) has made it to the final ten candidates in the national competition and she and the other finalists have been invited to the final event in Canary Wharf on Friday, where the winner will be announced.

She has been shortlisted alongside students from other leading universities including York, Bath and Oxford.

In the competition, which is run by Target Jobs and sponsored by Enterprise Rent-A-Car, judges are looking for students who have developed key employability skills through a variety of work experience, voluntary and extra-curricular activities. Applicants have to go through a rigorous application process - the same as the process for students applying for graduate schemes.

Mathea is studying on the double degree where she will study for two years in the UK and two years in Germany. She has also done some voluntary service in Nicaragua where she worked for an educational organisation campaigning for women’s and children’s rights.

She said: “I applied for the Management Undergraduate of the Year Award mainly to see what the UK application process is like and to challenge my skills and my knowledge. I did not expect to make it to the Top 10.  I received an e-mail saying that I was invited to a telephone interview. Soon I was at the assessment center in the European Head Quarters or HQ of Enterprise Rent-A-Car.

“I met lots of nice people, even another girl from Lancaster University, and after lunch with the assessors, and three challenging tasks, I was exhausted but happy to have made the journey to London whether I made it to the next stage or not. I experienced what the application process and the assessment centres are like, made new contacts and learned a lot about Enterprise Holdings and their career opportunities.

“Of course I was even happier when I received the call from the recruiter who congratulated me on making it to the Top 10. Now I am looking forward to the ceremony at Canary Wharf in London where we will have lunch and drinks and Fiona Bruce will announce the winners of the different awards.  I keep my fingers crossed and hope to do an internship with Enterprise Rent-A-Car this summer.”

Placements and Internships Officer Jo Hobbs said: “Myself and other members of the LUMS Careers team supported Mathea with the preparation of several parts of this process including the telephone interview and the assessment centre. She kept me up to date with her progress and we are all proud that she has made it through to the competition final.”