James Bowker
Agile Delivery Manager at Capital One
University and the course I studied mattered to me hugely.
Not only did it give me the opportunity to display that I can work at something over a 4 year period, showing progression in my knowledge of business and management, but it also hugely helped my ability to converse with different people from different backgrounds. Whether that be on collaborative pieces of coursework or conversing with senior lecturers, these skills are imperative in the business world.
These are the skills that I am so pleased to have taken away from my degree. The ability to communicate with and influence senior stakeholders, the ability to analyse data and convey this in a compelling way and also the appreciation of everything that has to be considered and managed during large scale projects.
Post 16 Education: AS Level English Combined, A Levels Geography, History, Maths
Higher Education: BSc (Hons) Management Sciences
Why did you choose to study business?
Management Sciences was a great varied course that allowed me to understand different areas of business management, statistics and real-life case studies with businesses.
The huge variety in modules meant I could tailor my degree with what I wanted to study and be flexible with coursework and examinations as well.
For James, Management Science was “A highly adaptable, broad based course that sets up for any job in a wide variety of businesses and varying levels of management. It is particularly good at increasing your ability to communicate both verbally and written in a strong influential tone and ultimately gives you a great grounding for any career you want to take.”
James’ experience as a student
Studying at university was an incredible experience.
It is highly independent and you need a level of self-motivation and determination to get the best results but it is incredibly rewarding. The whole Loughborough experience for me were some of the four best years of my life and I will look back at them with the fondest of memories.
James’ Career
I now work at Capital One UK having graduated in July 2017.
I joined Capital One on the operations graduate scheme but now work in Tech as an Agile Delivery Manager. I applied for a number of different graduate schemes during my final year and interviewed at 4-5 organisations and Capital One felt the best scheme for me, as it was a varied 2 year graduate scheme that would allow me to understand my skills and competencies in the working world.
James' advice
Biggest advice is don’t purely choose your university based on the course, university is a life changing experience that encompasses all parts of your life. Your course is very important, yes, but the extra-curricular opportunities and the everything you do alongside your degree give you so much more to talk about in interviews with employers.
Your ability to manage your time dedicating to your degree and other stuff will set you apart from the crowd.
Loughborough University offers undergraduate degrees in the following areas:
Accounting and Financial Management, Finance and Management, Business Analytics, International Business, Management, Marketing and Management, Economics, Business Economics and Finance, Economics and Management.
All Loughborough’s degrees offer the opportunity to include a professional placement as an integral part of the degree.
Please note: Degrees and their titles change over time. Some graduates may have studied degrees that have evolved and changed in response to changes in demand from employers.