Graduate Profiles

Wendy Smith

MA Modern English Language (by Web-Based Distance Learning)
BA Joint Honours English Studies and German

I came to Nottingham in 2004 to start my BA in English Studies and German, expecting to focus predominantly on English Literature as I had at school, and with virtually no concept of what Medieval Studies was. Nonetheless, I decided to give it a try in addition to the core areas of Modern Literature and Language, and quickly discovered a passion for it – and that it was really exploring the language of texts, both modern and medieval, that I enjoyed the most. It was these areas which I chose to specialise in during my second and final years of study, and which led me to what I am doing today.

Having spent my third year studying abroad in Tübingen, south-west Germany, I took a module in English Language Teaching in my final year with a view to returning to Germany after graduation to gain some experience teaching English. I have now been teaching conversation classes, business English and English for specific purposes at a private language school there for over three years, for which the English Studies course at Nottingham, with its focus on applied linguistics and real language as it is used in context, has been excellent preparation. So much so, in fact, that I have chosen to ‘return’ to Nottingham to do an MA in Modern English Language – this time via web-based distance learning, to enable me to combine studying with working, and directly apply what I am learning about language and linguistics.

Since I returned to Germany, I have also found two other part-time jobs at Tübingen University: one proof-reading academic articles written in English for the Economics Department, and the other assisting in the Medieval Studies Department. In the latter, I have had the opportunity to teach several introductory seminars in Old and Middle English, as well as to co-teach the Development of English lectures, which has also involved course planning, designing and marking exams, and grading coursework. This opportunity would not have been open to me without the excellent grounding in Medieval Studies that I received at Nottingham, and has opened my eyes to how rewarding university teaching can be, leading me to consider pursuing a career in academia in the future.

Lyndsay Parry

BA Hons English Studies
Business Management Graduate

I came to The University of Nottingham in 2006 to study English Studies, attracted by the diverse and varied course, beautiful campus and high reputation. I spent my education drifting from one career aspiration to the next and when I reached my final year I knew I wanted to move into employment after graduation but was unsure what in. We were in the depth of the economic recession, unemployment was up and graduate recruitment was down. I decided to try to gain a place on a Graduate Scheme as they offer a great transition from university to work, security and brilliant prospects.

In December 2008, I was offered a place on the Business Management stream of the BT Graduate Scheme. There is often a perception that you need a Business related degree however companies look for graduates from across different subjects. In any degree at The University of Nottingham students learn transferable skills, such as researching, timekeeping and working under pressure. In particular, an English Studies degree develops your writing, analytical and communication skills. These lessons are invaluable in the business world.

In September 2009, I joined one of the world’s largest telecommunications companies. The BT Graduate Scheme has been the ideal stepping stone, providing a wealth of development and training. It is a rotational scheme, meaning that I spend two years moving around different placements. It gives me the opportunity to try different things and gain a firm grounding in the company. There is also an excellent Graduate Community that you share your experiences with.

My current role is in BT Vision, BT’s television offering, in which I develop new projects and concepts. I will soon be moving to another role, which no doubt will be completely different and a new challenge. However, The University of Nottingham has provided me with the toolkit to take on any business role.
 

Dave Howard

BA Hons English Studies

I always wanted to work for BBC News, and I saw studying English as a vital stepping stone towards that goal. I was attracted to Nottingham not just by its beautiful setting and excellent reputation - but also by the (sadly fictional) stories of a 3:1 female to male ratio. I'm ashamed to say I spent much of my time there distracted from studies by the many extra-curricular activities on offer: I wrote for the student magazine 'Impact', I was president of the charity appeal Karnival, and I had a regular show on URN. Nonetheless, I managed to scrape a 2:1, and I learned important lessons about prioritising, coping with pressure, and team-work.

On leaving Nottingham, I managed to get a place on Cardiff University's prestigious postgraduate diploma in broadcast journalism. These courses are not cheap, and it's well worth researching which ones have good reputations - but a decent one will give you practical skills, legal awareness, confidence and contacts for an entry level job in the industry. The application process can be tough too - but the successful applicant will always be someone with a proven track-record of commitment to journalism as well as academic talent.

Years later, I'm a senior journalist at Radio One Newsbeat - and I'm about to deploy to New York for a six-month attachment as Radio One's US reporter. I love it. As a University of Nottingham graduate, you'll almost certainly be eligible for jobs that pay a lot better than mine does (think 'solicitor' or 'management consultant'!) - but you'll struggle to beat what I do for variety, unpredictability and excitement.

Fergal Coghlan

English Studies and Latin

I have embarked on my new journey of performance practice and I can't say how excited I am that theatre and performance will be at the centre of my career and life from now on. The term is well under way now at Drama Studio London, which ended up being my first choice school, on account of its open-minded and very practical approach to acting and to each individual student as an actor. The vocational training is preferable to the one year MA I was considering. I would like to thank Dr Gordon Ramsay for his correspondence and consideration and helping me to see theatre and performance in the light that I do today. The Theory Into Practice module, I believe, was the starting point of the journey which has ultimately led to where I am: the experiences gained on the module and at university, and those which I pursued after graduation have led me to successful applications and auditions this year. I am working hard on my training with regard to fruitful prospects.
 

Laura Lomas

BA (Hons) English Studies
Playwright

I went straight from school to university with a really strong desire to learn and soak up as much as possible. The structure of the course at Nottingham allows you to access and interrogate a wealth of theories and disciplines that not only underpin the way we see literature and art, but also the way we understand ourselves and our own context, both global and local.  

By the time I got to my second year of study, I felt I was really growing intellectually, and personally. The way I thought about and expressed ideas was changing which was an incredibly empowering feeling. I found that I was realising all the time how much I didn't know and I was excited by all there was yet to learn and interrogate.  

I started writing in my first year. The University has always had a strong link with Nottingham Playhouse, and I learned about a writing class that was taking place there in one of my drama lectures. I wrote a short play that was selected to headline the Momentum Young Writers Festival and received a couple of commissions off the back of that. In my second year I was selected as one of 50 national writers for 'the50' a BBC writersroom and Royal Court Theatre initiative in celebration of the Royal Courts 50th Anniversary. Throughout my time at Nottingham my tutors were always incredibly supportive and genuinely interested in my writing and some would even come along to see readings or work in progress I had on. Having that encouragement early on, from tutors I really respected was very important to me when I first started writing. 

With the support of my tutors at Nottingham I was awarded an AHRC research scholarship to study an MPhil in playwriting at Birmingham University, from which I graduated in September. Since then its been really hectic but incredibly exciting. I was selected for the BBC Radio Sparks residential in February and am now developing my first radio play for Radio 3. I've been commissioned by Nottingham Playhouse Roundabout and the De Noske Teartre, Oslo to write a children's play to be produced in both Nottingham and Norway. I've recently been selected for the Paines Plough Future Perfect '09 scheme for which I'm writing a collaborative piece for Lattitude Festival with the other 5 writers on the attachment. And I'm looking forward to the opening of my first full length play Wasteland produced by New Perspectives in a couple of weeks. I'm particularly pleased that the piece will be staged at the Lakeside Art Centre on Nottingham University Campus. I feel a really strong connection with Nottingham and the University and it feels really important that my first play should be performed in such a significant place to me.
 

Ian Kennedy

BA Hons English Studies
Freelance Writer and Radio Producer

I came into my English degree at the University of Nottingham tired and bored of studying English, perversely enough. I was a creative, imaginative type who loved discovering things, being novel and letting my ideas flow, and A-Level, through little fault of my teachers, had seemed deeply formulaic. This wasn't the best attitude to come into my degree with, but within days a few charismatic and sometimes hilarious or eyeopening lectures showed me that things didn't have to be that way this time around.  

The flexible course Nottingham offered at that time let me throw myself into a great many things which I never even knew existed previously, from cognitive theory and sociolinguistics to Anglo-Saxon and stylistics. I found the blend of high-powered theory and real-world discussion deeply stimulating, and feel that my degree really opened up my options and skills, earning myself a first in the end.  

I also used my time at Nottingham forging lasting friendships with many fascinating people, working in student radio (in which I co-led a student soap opera to Best Entertainment Show at the 2003 Radio 1 Student Radio Awards), and writing and starring in a play which earned satisfying reviews at the Edinburgh Fringe. After a period of jobhunting and temporary work, my self-promotion work following the award paid off and I was commissioned to write scripts for the new BBC Asian Network soap opera Silver Street, a really exciting series to be working on which is setting me up for the writing career I always hoped for. Also building on work at Nottingham with URN 1350 I'm now a freelance radio producer, with clients including BBC WM and other work with leading lights like Radio 1 under my belt. As far as I'm concerned, it doesn't get much better than this at 23!  

I'd love the chance to return to Nottingham to study further some day - but all in good time!
 

James Oldring

BA Hons English Studies
Senior Industry Marketing Executive,
British Horseracing Board

I went straight from Nottingham into a graduate scheme run by the British Horseracing Board, which led to me working as the Press and PR Officer for Newmarket Racecourse. After a couple of months working there I was approached by the BHB and they asked if I would consider moving to London to work in their Marketing Department as Sponsorship Executive, with responsibility for safeguarding a ?20m per annum VAT concession from Customs and Excise, amongst other things.  

More recently I was promoted to my current position, which involves me liaising with all stakeholders in the horseracing industry to develop best practices, generate revenue through the creation of sponsorship properties and promote all facets of British Horseracing.  

My experiences at Nottingham have proved invaluable in my career progression. A large part of my time at work is spent negotiating, both textually and verbally, on behalf of my company, and often on behalf of the racing industry as a whole - the command of language afforded to me via my English Studies degree is enormously helpful, if not essential at times.  

Having an English degree has kept my options open in terms of directing my career; there is no set path that an English graduate is expected to follow and so I have found that all doors are still open to me - at the moment. 

As a University, Nottingham offered everything that I was looking for - a beautiful green-field campus, a city renowned for its nightlife, fantastic sporting facilities and an academic reputation to rival almost any other institution.
 

Kate West

BA Hons English Studies
Freelance Film Script Supervisor

My time at Nottingham was a rich and healthily challenging experience. The modular English Studies course was flexible and varied enough to humour my love for film, drama and performance whilst giving me a solid grounding in the more traditional areas of the subject.  

During University vacations I worked hard to get as much experience as I could in the general media and when I graduated I went straight on to a job at the BBC in Birmingham working on lifestyle shows and Asian Network documentaries.  

My next step was to move to Glasgow to work with the BAFTA and EMMY Award-winning director, Norman Stone. I started out as his PA but as it was a small company I got to do everything from organising his film premiere to going on a research trip to Gibraltar, to publicising his work at the Cannes Film Festival - a dream come true!  

I script-supervised on his feature, Man Dancin' and enjoyed it so much that I've now stepped into the freelance world to do it full time. I plan to do this for a couple more years before eventually going on to direct myself. Script supervising involves keeping an eye on the continuity of a film whilst writing notes for the editor, timing footage shot and being on hand if the actors need to go through their lines. The job gives me prime place next to the camera and director so I can watch and analyse techniques and methods being used. I'm always learning. 

Meanwhile I enjoy writing the odd piece for newspapers and publications - most recently the Scottish paper, The Sunday Herald. I also volunteer as a live director and camera operator for a church satellite channel and if I have the time I write short films, which I hope to be able to direct in the not-too-distant future.