How Natalia’s putting business theory into practice

Problem solving

When Natalia joined our BA (Hons) Business Management course, she was drawn to the amount of real-world experience our lecturers had, and our links with real companies.

 She says: “Throughout my studies at the University so far, I have worked with real companies to identify and solve their current problems.”

 In her first year, Natalia completed an internship as a Marketing Social Media Intern at Business Mentor Academy in Derby, as well as taking part as a co-creator participant in the Education for Mental Health Project. Her work experience didn’t stop there. 

"I gained my latest work experience at Atos, a multinational information technology and consulting company based in France," she explains. "I had an opportunity to work for Atos in 2021 as a Summer Intern in the Digital Engineering department. I worked with international teams to collect statistical data in order to create company performance reports."

This experience allowed Natalia to explore the areas of Project Management in real life. And she co-operated with managers from all over the world, supporting them in initiation, planning and presumptive problems in the execution stage. Natalia worked in the Polish branch of Atos, working both remotely and on-site.

A passion for renewable energy

Alongside her work experience, and her studies, Natalia has been employed for the last two years as an International Industrial Contracts Analyst at Klimat Solec, one of the leaders in the renewable energy sector in Poland.

Natalia started her role at Klimat Solec while she was back home in Poland during the Covid-19 pandemic, before transitioning to work remotely for the company when she returned to Derby.

Natalia helps the Project Director during all stages of managing ongoing projects in Poland and abroad, including in Canada, Germany, and Finland. She has also taken the opportunity to travel to Turku, Finland, while working for the Finnish branch of Klimat Solec.

Award winner

Working within the renewable energy sector drew Natalia’s attention to the importance of sustainability. And led Natalia to discover Enactus UK. Enactus UK is a programme where teams of students across the UK work together to find innovative solutions to social issues within their local and international communities, working towards achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.

Natalia joined Enactus Derby as an Assistant in the Human Resources department, before being promoted the following year to the Head of Human Resources.

“Volunteering at Enactus is about gaining actual managerial experience and I can say without hesitation that Enactus Derby will be one of the best memories from the university for me!”

Natalia’s commitment to Enactus was recognised in April when she was awarded the award for Team Member of the Year 2022 at the National Expo 2022 in London out of over 3,500 students.

The steps to success

Natalia credits her lecturers at University of Derby for supporting her in her goals, and helping her to acquire the skills needed to succeed. Natalia also received support from our on-site Careers and Employment Service, who helped Natalia find her first internship, as well as providing her with advice regarding her CV and interview preparation.