Juliet Stephenson - BA (Hons) International Business Management

Juliet Stephenson grew up in Dijon, in France, but with a British father and the envious talent of being multi-lingual, wanted to join a university across the Channel to enhance her career opportunities and offer a greater understanding of what she could do, and where.

“I applied to universities through UCAS during my last year at secondary school and was offered a conditional place at four Scottish universities, one of which was RGU.

“Initially RGU was not my first choice, but during my visits I realised that RGU’s International Business Management course was the only one I’d applied to that offered me both the opportunity to study abroad and take part in a year-long placement. I also liked the city and university.

“Since I wanted to work in a multinational company in my career, this combination of work experience opportunities and international partnerships ended up with me putting RGU at the top of my list.”

With that, Juliet landed in Aberdeen and enrolled at Aberdeen Business School to undertake a BA (Hons) degree in International Business Management (IBM). As already referenced, one huge bonus to this course for students is the ability to not only enjoy industry placement, but to also spend time away studying at one of several of RGU’s partnered universities.

“Being able to study abroad in South Korea during a worldwide pandemic and spending a year in London for my placement in an IT company have to be the highlights of my time at RGU. My study abroad period in South Korea was the best four-and-a-half months of my life discovering a new culture and country as well as becoming even more independent and growing personally.

“I was one of the few students who were able to study abroad despite the restrictions of the pandemic and got to see up close how South Korea combated the virus so successfully in the first year of the Covid outbreak. 14 days in strict quarantine was challenging, but being able to move around freely and experience the unique country was a dream come true for me.”

Not just settling for experience, Juliet also excelled academically and credits the course makeup and university support system for ensuring she remained on target throughout.

“The teaching methods are well conceived with the idea of applying lecture materials in tutorials which then prepare and help us for the coursework and exams assigned to each module. I never felt unprepared or lost in any of the modules I studied.

“I used the careers support services in my last year to make sure I was in the right direction to find my first job after graduating and the staff were very helpful in giving me advice and reassuring me in my ways of applying to job and researching job offers.”

“In first year, I also participated in the trampoline sport club at RGU which helped me meet new people.”

Reflecting on her time in Aberdeen, Juliet is very positive and can only find one small criticism of the Granite City…

“I am extremely proud and happy about what I’ve achieved at RGU. Receiving a first class degree as well as getting an A grade on my thesis are my biggest achievements.

“I will be moving to Reading near London to start a graduate job in project management but my time in Scotland, more precisely in Aberdeen, has been great - I just prefer to move to a warmer climate for a while at least!”