My name is Sarah Kippen, I am 34 years old and studied for a career in Business Management. I studied for a BA in Business Management, HND Administration and Information Technology, HNC Administration and Technology.
My interest in Business Administration came from having studied the subject at school; I studied the subject at both standard grade and higher level. I really enjoyed all the different aspects of administration and the important role it played in a business environment, so when I decided to leave school at the end of 5th year, and came across an advert for Skillseeker roles in administration at the College (known as Lauder at the time), I applied and was lucky enough to be offered one of the roles. That’s where my career in administration started; fast forward 17 years and I’m still working at the College!
Since starting employment at the College in 2003, I have studied various courses which have helped enhance my knowledge and skills in business administration. In 2016, after having been in my role as Executive Assistant for 10 years, I felt that it was time for a change and wanted a new challenge. After studying HNC and HND in Administration and Information technology, the natural progression was to move on to a Degree course. After years of studying administration I felt that I had fully exhausted this side of things, and being keen to learn more about the other aspects of a business and to move on to a career in management, I choose to study the BA in Business Management.
I thoroughly enjoyed all aspects of the course. The BA in Business Management covers a wide range of topics with the beauty being that you can relate them to any industry, therefore I was able to relate my learning back to my own organisation. One unit in particular that I enjoyed was the live management project; this involved delving into a management problem that your organisation was facing, working in a team to problem solve using theoretical frameworks and providing the organisation with solutions to develop their business in a more focused way. Working on a real life management project allowed me to put into practice all the knowledge I had gained over the two years and showed me how I can apply this in my own role.
The course has helped me get into this industry as it covers a wide range of topics, it does open up opportunities for you to progress into a variety of business functions, rather than one specific one.
Since completing the BA in Business Management, I have progressed from the role of Planning Co-ordinator to Senior Planning Co-ordinator within the Planning and Performance team within the College which has allowed me to move away from an administration role, focusing more on management reporting, strategic and operational planning, project management, continuous improvement and more.
I would definitely recommend this course to anyone wishing to enhance their knowledge and skills, and progress their career, in business management.
I’m still learning in my current role whereby I support and co-ordinate various key functions and processes within the organisation, therefore keen to further enhance my knowledge and skills in these areas, but I do have an interest in Project Management so would like to explore my career options around this in the future.