May 20, 2013, by Business School Postgraduate Careers
Jaguar Land Rover – Thought Evoquing
By Beth Cooper
On a wet and miserable May evening, Nottingham University Business School hosted Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) to talk about opportunities within purchasing. I would say it was no ordinary careers presentation but in many ways it was a great example of how such opportunities embraced whilst at university can lead in all different kinds of directions.
Alumni
The session was run by two alumni of the University of Nottingham, who studied here thirty years’ apart. Not only did we learn about what it was like to be a new graduate starting in industry but we also saw the progress of one person’s career since they first joined what was then Rover. Neither work in a recruitment role but had come back to the Business School to share their enthusiasm for who they were working for and knowing that Nottingham University students would be great hires for JLR. Their passion shone through.
Learning point – if people have a connection with you, they are likely to want to do more to help.
Exam Preparation
They didn’t just talk about opportunities to work with JLR, they gave an insight into what it is like to work in a multinational organisation, touching on many aspects of a business students’ curriculum. We learnt about their company strategy as they adapt to life under Tata rather than their previous experience with Ford. They told us about how they use game theory in a practical context as part of their procurement process, taking it outside the classroom and into business success. We found out about how they manage their supply chain to make sure they can deliver quality products on time when they do not manufacture any of their own parts, with thousands going into every model. A personal highlight was watching the marketing videos for the cars; looking at the images they chose and seeing James Bond actor Daniel Craig is never a bad thing. All this gave practical application of the theories learnt over the course of the last nine months.
Learning point – the more exposure you can gain to people making business decisions on a daily basis, the easier the learning process becomes as everything falls into place.
Career Opportunities
Although the theme was purchasing, their passion was JLR. This passed on to those students in attendance who found that JLR was able to offer opportunities in a breadth of areas, in line with the company’s expansion plans. The strong way in which the students presented themselves meant that they were able to give themselves a head-start in impressing the organisation, opening doors that they may not have done otherwise.
Learning point – even if the topic may not seem of interest at the outset, it is worth attending to get exposure and perhaps discover a personal passion that you never knew existed.
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