Graduate landed dream job before finishing her degree

One Social Studies graduate is elated after securing a custom-made role in the sector she has longed to work in, all before completing her course.

Jemima Owusu from Milton Keynes handed in the final work for her MA in Youth and Community Leadership in the summer and will officially graduate early next year.

After applying for a role in that field with Hertfordshire County Council while still studying, she successfully passed the interview and found herself with the job of her dreams.

She said: “I did not expect to get a job so soon and especially one that is absolutely the sort of role I saw myself having when I started the course. To get the job just a few weeks before I finished the course is even more of a surprise.

“I interviewed for another job – more of a support role – and I applied on a bit of a whim, not expecting to get that. It was quite an involved and intense process, but the Council saw the potential in me, the topics I had learned about at the University and the placements I had and ended up giving me a different role as a trainee youth worker, with supervision of course.

“It’s a bit overwhelming they went to this effort just for me but such a very nice feeling. My family are incredibly happy that I’m working somewhere as prestigious as a county council.”

“The role involves developing and delivering sessions that support young people in many aspects of their lives, such as sexual health, those who are from LGBTQ+ groups, young parents, even helping them to build their self-esteem.”

Jemima credits her time at UON as being the key to securing her dream job, from the hands-on guidance and expertise of her lecturers to the opportunities the course afforded her. She adds: “The role at the council is so diverse, my work literally differs from one week to the next. What I needed to deliver on this was a course that covered the whole range of working with young people and communities.

“The MA contains a wide-ranging set of modules and placements that exposed me to finding my niche and speciality; the perfect foundation for the job I have now.”

Find out more about the MA in Youth and Community Leadership at University of Northampton.