Grads come back to campus to inspire Geography and Environmental Science students

A speed dating-style event at the University of Northampton allowed Geography and Environmental Science students to gather top career tips from successful course alumni.

Nine graduates at various stages of their careers came back to campus to pass on advice to current undergraduates during Changing Futures Week – a University wide five-day showcase of industry speakers.

Each graduate took it in turn to chat to small groups of students about their studies, how they landed their role and the sorts of things they do in their day-to-day duties.

Harry Sansom, who completed his Physical Geography course in 2017, provided students with an insight into his role as a land surveyor with Bridgeway Consulting, which carries out surveys on behalf of Network Rail.

He said: “I loved my time at University and the course definitely opened my eyes to what career options there are for those studying Geography.

“There’s a huge breadth of job roles you can go into, as you learn so many transferable skills when you’re a student.

“My course made me appreciate what’s out there and helped me to decide I wanted to go into land surveying, which is something I very much enjoy.”

Geography graduate, Harry Sansom chatting to two students.

Other alumni taking part included 2019 graduates Nina Garner, who works in flood risk management for the Environment Agency; Gabrielle Dyche, who is a planning consultant with MZA Planning; Milton Keynes Council monitoring and information officer, Jenny Head; West Suffolk Council graduate project officer, Caitlin Ward, and Ewan Brown, who works as a Home Office administrative officer.

They were joined by 2018 graduate, Katie Morgan, who is a graduate engineer for Utilitec Services; 2015 graduate and senior consultant for Integrated Transport Planning, Matt Cottam, and Alex Fox, who left university in 2006 and is a customer service & delivery manager for the Met Office.

Dr Faith Tucker, Senior Lecturer in Human Geography, said: “Geography and Environmental Science students develop a wide range of skills during their studies. This event provided a great opportunity for our current students to see how these skills are used in a variety of graduate roles. Students also learnt a lot about recruitment processes, and got advice on how to make successful job applications.”