Graduate is a “super example”

Nicola Bamford

A student from Littleborough has defied scare stories about graduate unemployment by gaining a place on a competitive graduate job scheme.

Nicola Bamford, a former A-level student at Hopwood Hall College, learned that she had landed a job with e-learning company Kineo on the day she got her final exam results.

Miss Bamford, 22, who earned a 2:1 degree in English Language and Linguistics at the University of Sussex, said: “That was a good day. I actually got the job before I knew the result of my degree!”

In addition to studying full-time at Sussex, Miss Bamford was one of just 27 students to gain a place on a challenging leadership training programme, ‘Learning to Lead’, organised by the University’s Careers and Employability Centre and run alongside her degree.

Speaking about the programme, she said: "The course was really intense but really good. We had to present a policy idea to a panel of experts, who were pretty scary - the guys in my group even got pulled up for having their ties too short."

After facing a gruelling recruitment process involving a lengthy application, a four-hour written test, a presentation and a 40-minute interview, Miss Bamford was offered a job with Kineo.

She starts work this September at their Brighton office and is excited about getting down to work. "I found out about Kineo's graduate scheme when they presented at the University's careers centre,” said Miss Bamford. “I'm really excited, and it's such a relief that I've already got something lined up.”

Miss Bamford completed her A-levels at Hopwood Hall in 2007 and her former personal tutor is pleased to see her doing so well. “I feel almost as proud as her mum must,” said Pam Singleton. “She's a super example for others to follow, as although it wasn't always easy for her, she never let anything stand in her way.”