Frontrunners

Success stories

Many frontrunners have gone on to to work in specialist areas after graduation which relate directly to their placement experience. Here a just a few examples.

Previous frontrunner secures Graduate job

Recent Psychology Graduate and previous frontrunner Suzanne Long has secured a job in Communications & External Relations. Read on to find out how her frontrunners experience helped her to gain permanent employment after her Degree.

Suzanne Long – Communications & External Relations frontrunner (2008–2011)

"Frontrunners gave me the experience, skills and thus confidence to apply for a professional position at the University. Working within the Communications Office initially as a Frontrunner and then as a Frontrunner plus enabled me to progress in my role and gain increasing levels of responsibility which have all prepared me well for employment. The diverse range of experience that Frontrunners provided gave me a vast range of skills, all of which have been highly useful in my current role. I would recommend Frontrunners to every student as it is the gateway to future graduate employment. "

Hannah Lamb – Feedback Evaluation Frontrunner (2010-2011)

"As part of my frontrunner placement, I was given a range of responsibilities including a project on analysing feedback from Student Support clients. This involved me collecting data, analysing the data and reporting back to Student Support staff on trends and implications of this. I was asked to make recommendations for future feedback mechanisms and opportunities. I felt that I was trusted with real responsibilities and was given valuable opportunities to develop my existing skills.

I was very grateful to be able to be given the opportunity to work in a confidential office environment with such genuinely lovely people, who were dedicated to improving the student experience and made me feel like I was part of their team. The skills and training that I acquired during my placement have proved to be worthy to my career now.

From my frontrunner placement, I was asked to stay on as a full-time member of staff in the Student Support Office. My work has included using the skills I had developed during my frontrunner placement, whilst continuing to build on them, making me far more employable than I would have been without the placement.

I would urge all students to apply for a frontrunners placement. It is a great opportunity to acquire real work experience, whilst being supported by university members of staff, and may open new opportunities to you in the future."

James Walker – Senior Advisor frontrunner (2010-2011)

"Being a Frontrunner has been a great experience. As a result of Frontrunners and the Advice Centre, I have been able to learn a lot of important skills, and these have helped me to secure a fantastic graduate job in Parliament, plus the skills I learnt helped me to negotiate a higher salary. I would recommend the Frontrunners scheme to everyone, it has been invaluable to me.

You learn important skills, meet lots of new people and it can help in a extremely competitive graduate market. Best decision I made at university!"

Luke Whittington – Web Developer frontrunner (2009-2010)

"For my frontrunners placement I had the pleasure of working in Learning and Development (LDev, formerly LTU) as a Web Developer. I studied Computer Science (specialising in Internet Technology) so naturally this went hand in hand with my studies.

I would go as far to say that this placement was the best experience I’d had in a working environment. I now work for a small web development firm; the skills I gained from this placement helped me get the job and gave me the ability to hit the ground running from the start.

After my placement ran out, I was lucky in that LDev offered to extend my contact working for the University itself; showing that the placement doesn’t just give you skills but provides real opportunities to succeed! I’ve also had the pleasure of meeting some genuinely lovely people. There were situations where I was given real responsibility, it wasn’t always easy but it’s definitely worth putting the effort in because the gains vastly outweigh any difficulties I came across."

Matt Bennett – ESTRO Journal Editor frontrunner (2009-2010)

"My frontrunners position was as founding co-editor of Estro, an online multidisciplinary journal run by and for students at Essex. My job, along with two other frontrunners, was to establish the procedures for soliciting authors, reviewers and readers for a student journal, and to publish the first issue of this journal. Within less than a year the team created a database of willing student reviewers to evaluate submissions and received a large number of papers from students from a variety of subjects at a variety of levels in academia.

I am a PhD student in Philosophy, and accordingly this was a very exciting opportunity to get an insight into the operations of academic publishing. The position offered invaluable experience of the basic procedures necessary to run an academic publication, which will undoubtedly prove of great importance as I try to publish my own research in professional journals.

The job has already proved helpful for my career, helping me to land an editorial assistant role with a professional international philosophy journal, Inquiry.

My fellow frontrunners were a pleasure to work with and my supervisor was in equal measure trusting and supportive. I would suggest to prospective frontrunners that the best way to get the most from the job is to be clear with your supervisor about what you expect from the position.

Frontrunners gave me an unparalleled chance to earn my rent money in an engaging and creative role. I would encourage all students to apply for a post."

Lauren Payne – LTU Events Assistant (2008-2009)

"As a Frontrunner for the Learning and Teaching Unit (now LDev) I was given a range of responsibilities that went beyond what I would have expected for a student member of staff. I felt that I was a valued member of the team and my ideas were considered equal to my colleagues.

Being a Frontrunner has influenced my career more than I realised it ever would. Since graduating from the University of Essex and completing my Frontrunners placement I have been offered a European Commission traineeship with the External Action Service. During my telephone interview for this position my supervisor specifically mentioned my work experience with LDev and informed me that it was one of the deciding factors in their decision to select me.

I will always be grateful for the skills I was able to acquire during my Frontrunners placement and for the time I spent working with such lovely people."