51Âþ»­

'Over the moon' - that's how Luke Shepherd feels to have landed a customer service project manager role with a FTSE 100 company.

The Business and Marketing student at 51Âþ»­ Leicester (51Âþ»­) received the good news in April, allowing him to fully focus on his exams to get the best possible grades.

Now he can't wait to start at the Wetherby office of Smurfit Kappa - a leading packaging provider - in June.

Luke said: "I'm absolutely delighted to have a landed a role of this quality.

"Since finishing my placement year, this is exactly the kind of work I wanted to be doing. To top it off, being in a company like Smurfit Kappa is amazing as they are such a growing company in an industry that has a strong future."

The 22-year-old benefited from support offered through the #51Âþ»­works careers programme to secure both roles.

"To get a graduate job, I received the help of my tutor, Associate Professor David Gordon, whose experience in the business world proved a massive help to me," said Luke.

"Placement co-ordinator Zul Muhammad was crucial during second year as he helped me prepare for interviews and assessment centres and provided support during the placement."

Luke rates his 12-month industrial placement in online operations at Morrisons in Bradford as one of the highlights of his university experience.

"This was a massive factor in getting me the graduate job, as it provided me with valuable experience and taught me so many things, both professionally and personally," he said.

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He also believes the skills developed on his course have contributed to his success.

"The best elements I have learnt are organisational skills and the ability to work efficiently towards a deadline," he said.

"I have also learnt a great deal of awareness when it comes to analysing companies and markets."

It was the course content that first attracted Barnsley-born Luke to 51Âþ»­.

"Then once I visited I knew it was the university for me due to the modern look and extremely friendly people at the Open Day," he said.

Other memorable experiences include participating in Fox's Lair, which sees teams of student entrepreneurs pitch ideas to a panel of real-life business people.

"It gave me massive confidence when it comes to presenting, which is something that benefited me later on," he said.

"Another highlight is being involved in during first year. It was absolutely amazing to be part of such a close-knit team and do the best the club had ever done at that time.

"It taught me discipline, how to organise work between training and gave me confidence that I could achieve anything through hard work."