My name is Giovanni and I am currently a BA (Hons) Business Purchasing and Supply Chain Management student at the University of Greenwich. My experience with education doesn't follow societal norms and in fact, I never considered further education whilst in High School. When I finished my High School I decided to move from Italy to the UK to become more comfortable with English language and find my ideal career path.
Why did you choose this course at the University of Greenwich?
Over the years I've had many different job roles including; handing out pizza samples for a pizzeria in Covent Garden, working as a cloakroom attendant, to finally becoming an operations manager for a small gelato company.
In this role, I discovered my passion for the operational side of the business and proceeded to do an internship in procurement for one of the biggest hotel chains in Europe. During this time I decided this was a career path I wanted to pursue.
Whilst working within this field I started to realise that, although getting a degree had not seemed necessary until recently, more and more companies now prefer to hire and promote qualified professionals. Therefore, I felt that completing a degree at university would enable me to still be competitive in the job market in 10 years' time.
What are the three best things about your course?
The University of Greenwich offers a plethora of business modules ranging from general business including; marketing, entrepreneurship, and project management to very specific and specialised courses such as Business Purchasing and Supply Chain Management.
I found this ideal for people like myself who already have an idea of their career path after University.
Global supply chains have been impacted greatly as an effect of the COVID-19 pandemic. Organisations have had to deal with a reduced supply of goods, unavailability of suppliers, and various logistic disruptions. It is now more than ever that businesses are focusing on the flexibility and resilience of their supply chain networks.
This course gives student's theoretical support on how to manage changes as well as present real-life case studies to illustrate those theories and build critical thinking skills.
I feel it is important to mention an additional highlight of this course was the annual trip. In our first year, we visited DHL and Sainsbury's distribution centers. Last year we had planned to visit Amazon's; however, due to the newness of the global situation, it was cancelled for the safety of students and staff.
I found it extremely beneficial as a student to go on such trips as it enabled me to see concepts and processes applied in real-life situations, as well as, giving me the opportunity to meet with professionals in the field and ask any questions.
What do you think makes Greenwich stand out?
The reason I chose the University of Greenwich over others offering similar courses, is because of its student and teaching staff diversity.
At Greenwich, you have the opportunity to meet and work with people from all over the world, with different backgrounds and cultures which I think is a great life experience for all careers.
This University perfectly represents its city, London, one of the most ethnically diverse cities worldwide.
Furthermore, it is absolutely imperative to mention the beauty of the campus itself as with such views, even 9am Monday lectures are easy to attend!
How are you finding blended learning?
This year the University has taken a blended learning approach for its teaching. All lectures are pre-recorded and made available online one or two days prior to scheduled lectures. Tutorials, on the other hand, are delivered live, one week in person in class and the following one online using Microsoft teams.
Whilst I am still adjusting to being in class with social distancing rules and various PPE, I can already see the benefits of the online approach.
Some of the benefits I have noticed so far are:
- Being able to pause the lecture whenever I want in case I need to take notes;
- Re-watch lectures multiple times to refer back to whilst studying;
- Save money on transport;
- Easier connection to teaching staff through direct messages on Microsoft Teams;
Also, the blended approach will be useful in future job interviews when I am asked questions such as 'tell me about a time when things didn't go as expected' and I will be able to explain how I have mastered skills such as the ability to adapt and my experience using different technologies.
What are your plans for the future?
Depending on how the global situation evolves, I will decide on whether to continue my studies with a Masters degree in Logistics and Supply Chain Management at the University of Greenwich, or apply for a position in the supply chain or buying department of a company in the UK.
Many companies offer really good graduate programs, one among the many which I will definitely apply for is the Buying Graduate Management program at Lidl.
What advice would you give to people thinking about applying to Greenwich and current students?
To future and current students I would like to say, don't worry if you are still unsure about what you want to do in life, you are not the only one. The best thing to do is to try as many things as possible as only by doing so, you will be able to really understand what you like and what your passions are.
