Business students show off their creativity and acumen to future employers

More than 150 first year business students at the University of Derby joined local businesses for an evening of networking and presentations on Wednesday (January 20).

Students were tasked with creating infographics for one of 14 local and national companies, which were then displayed on screens at the University’s Kedleston Road site.

The live project was given to students at the start of their degree course, as part of their ‘Marketing Fundamentals’ module, and builds upon the University’s real world learning ethos.

Marketing Derby, Sinfonia Viva, EPM Technology, Flint Bishop LLP, NatWest and Quad were among the businesses that took part in the project and attended on the evening, which was sponsored by social media agency, Status Social.

Mark Saxby, Social Media Consultant at Status Social, opened the evening along with Dr David Russell, Dean of the College of Business at the University of Derby.

Speaking after the event, Mark said: "I spoke to the students about the importance of having passion to launch the evening. The very fact that more than 150 of them turned up on a very cold Wednesday evening to display their work and meet local business people showed passion straight away. 

"As a fast-growing social media agency, Status Social is always on the look-out for new talent. Some of Status Social's best employees have studied or are studying at the University of Derby so it was great to meet potential team members of the future."

Dr Russell, added: “The event gave our students an opportunity to showcase their work and demonstrate their marketing credentials to employers, University stakeholders and our sponsors, Status Social.

“The standard of work was very high. It was particularly pleasing to see so many of our students in attendance, to engage in some serious discussion about their work and take the opportunity to network and engage with the local business community.

“This is another fine example of real world learning which sets the University of Derby apart from others. It is events like this that showcase our high quality teaching and learning and emphasise our students’ employability credentials.”