Francesca Andrews graduated from BA (Hons) History in 2012 and now works as a Learning and Development Advisor for the National Composites Centre in Bristol.
I went travelling after graduating as I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do with my degree. After travelling, I joined a recruitment company as I realised that my experience of arguing a point in history essays equated to knowing how to sell something well. I’ve now moved from a recruitment role to a learning and development role. I oversee our apprenticeships and graduate scheme. I enjoyed bringing people in to a company but I find developing their careers once they are here, even more rewarding.
It’s exciting being able to influence and shape a whole training programme. It doesn’t seem very long ago that I graduated and now I’m managing a graduate scheme.
If you find a company that invests in developing their staff, you’ve found a good one. It’s much easier to figure out what you want to do with an employer who supports development.
I found that the course content for history degrees didn’t differ too much between universities. This meant location was key for me. I wanted to make sure I was living somewhere I loved for three years. I fell in love with Plymouth during an open day, so much so it was my only choice on UCAS!
Plymouth is a fantastic place to live with lots to do and see. Freshers’ week will always be a favourite. From moving in to Radnor Halls, meeting tons of new people and joining societies, it was a whirlwind of a week but prepared me for life as a student.
Plymouth understand that it’s not just your overall grade that helps you gain a job after graduating. They offer lots of support in terms of finding work experience and using LinkedIn.
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With the benefit of hindsight, I would think about careers earlier on. I didn’t really know what was available to me as a history graduate so I should have attended more career fairs and researched what past alumni have gone on to do (this is really easy to do on LinkedIn!). If you have a general idea then get as much work experience as you can.
It’s often said that the best way to see the future is to understand the past. History with Plymouth helps you do just that, while gaining the professional skills you’ll need throughout your career. Exploring five centuries of human history, you’ll encounter political intrigue, cultural transformation, war, sex and revolution across the globe. Take the lead in your research projects and choose areas of study from our flexible range of modules, creating a tailor-made degree.
You’ll graduate with the problem-solving and analytical abilities that will give you the edge in the world of work.
