Kieran
McKenna

What were the key features that attracted you to your course?

“I was initially attracted to the flexibility of the course. After completing the first year of Economics, there were choices to either pursue a straight Economics course or change your degree to a joint honours course. This meant that I felt less stress to decide my course subject and allowed me the freedom to change if I found an interest elsewhere. Economics at Nottingham Trent also has a high number of interactive studying hours every week. This was important to me as I wanted to choose a course with a lot of contact hours so I could benefit from constant communication with my tutors.”

What do you enjoy most about your course?

“The lectures and seminars are taught in an interactive way and the course content is interesting. There is also a range of teaching methods such as one on one library sessions, sessions based around IT programmes such as Eviews, Seminar activities and Online Accessible Lectures which makes the course varied and genuinely interesting to learn about.”

What do you think about the course staff? How do they support your learning and University experience?

“During my first year, I struggled with the mathematical side of my course, so I arranged three sessions with my tutor to go over the content that I didn’t understand. This helped me to understand the content and as a result I was able to pass my exam for the module with a high grade. Additionally, the lecturers and seminar teachers are clearly passionate about Economics which makes learning it from them fascinating. Along with ensuring the students acquire a high grade, the teaching staff encourage students to challenge theories and research topics outside of the course syllabus. This has allowed me to engage with the subject on a new level and has made me become passionate about the subject.”

What do you think about the facilities available to you?:

“Nottingham Trent provides several IT programmes to students for free and sets coursework for some modules around these programmes which I find extremely useful as it teaches me the core principles of Economics with new methods of presenting, researching and calculating data. I regularly use the University library which is helpful for revising for exams and completing group work with my peers and when this is full, there is a range of learning spaces provided by the University so there is always a spare space to study.”

What work experience/placement have you completed? 

“During my second year, I applied to take part in the half Year 2 Internship programme. I sourced work experience externally from the University at Lorica Insurance Brokers in Birmingham and I worked as a claims handler for the second half of my second year. This allowed me to gain work experience as part of my course in a field which I would be interested in working in the future without having to take a year away from my course. I had to complete two projects for the University alongside my time at the Insurance brokers and I enjoyed the real-life application of my course within a workplace. Pursuing an Internship is the best decision that I have made during my time at the University as it has provided me with vital experience needed for future work and I had fun working in a completely different setting than I had done before. I have gained skills such as researching, customer service, handling clients and meeting business related deadlines which I might not have developed without work experience.”

How will your course and/or placement enhance your employability for your chosen career? What skills have you gained?

“Due to my Internship, I have started to build a professional network for myself and have been able to connect with my work colleagues and gain a recommendation on my LinkedIn. I believe that this will be important for my future employment prospects as the experience gained on my Internship could set me apart from other university graduates with no work experience. I have also been able to understand the demands of working in a professional environment which will help me after my degree when I have acquired my first job.”