As March marks the last full month I have left of university, I thought it would make an ideal place to start and wrap up my final-year university experience. Although we are still (thankfully) a little while off the 11th May when my last assignment is due in, I know that 2 months will fly by and I will soon be faced with the “what are you going to do now?!” questions from friends and family.

For those who are new here, you may not know that I am on a sandwich-degree, which means that I studied for 2 years at uni, took a year out to work in industry, and have now returned for my final year. I understand that sandwich courses are different at every uni, but fortunately for me, there were no fees for me in my 3rd/ placement year, but I still had the opportunity to use the uni’s resources should I have needed them. If you are keen to do a placement during your time at uni, it’s definitely worth comparing between uni’s to see if they’ll have the cheek to charge you during the year you’re not there.


Unlike my first and second year, for my final year I made the decision to commute by train to university. It’s been an adjustment living back at home whilst also going to uni (it feels like I’m in Sixth Form again) but it’s so much nicer not having to worry about bills and rodents! In September, I started term with the expectation that final year was going to be a struggle, not least because I’d spent a year away from academia and away from academic writing. That, in itself, was probably the biggest challenge in Semester 1. Thankfully, now I’m 7 weeks into Semester 2 (my last full semester), I’m just about back in the groove of everything.

Semester 1 of my final year consisted of 8 hours of contact time, a 3-hour seminar and 1 hour lecture studying for Marketing Strategy , (a 1-hour lecture and a 2-hour seminar for Emerging Themes and 1 hour of contact time for Dissertation (a 1-hour lecture).

My Emerging Themes module was one that was new to my course for 2019/20, which brought about its challenges with what the module leader required and what was expected of you for the 2000 word assignment. What I did enjoy about the module, however, was that you could pick an emerging theme of your choice, which gave me the opportunity to talk about a topic I am passionate about - influencer marketing. I really enjoyed researching into how influencer marketing is emerging within the travel sector and the opportunities that it can provide for brands, as well as the problems both influencers and brands can face, and ended up getting a first for my assignment.

My strategic marketing & management module was 100% exam and involved using Grenade nutrition as a case study and then writing a full marketing plan in the 3 hour exam. I found this module enjoyable to learn the content and strategies, but researching the brand in preparation for the exam took much longer than I’d anticipated. Exams are definitely not my strongpoint, and the time we were allowed in the exam was quite tight, so I really didn’t know how the results would turn out but I was proactive with my January revision to make plans and do exam style questions ahead of the exam, which paid off and I was overjoyed when I got a first for it.

For my second semester, I’ve continued with my dissertation module (the work has well and truly started now!) and I’ve started to study my Contemporary Advertising module and One Planet Business Module.

With only 2 months to go until I am unleashed into the working world , I have started to slowly add to my workwear wardrobe in anticipation for a graduate role and more imminently, for possible interviews. As the job hunt begins, I've found that Lily Lulu has a great range of blazers that would be perfect for an interview, or dressed down with jeans for a night out.

Are you on the hunt for a graduate job? What's your favourite workwear staple?

*Lily Lulu gifted the blazer featured in today's blog post. This does not affect my opinion of the product or brand*