Accounting and Finance BA(Hons): Links with business and industry

You have the opportunity to do an industrial placement as part of this course. The benefits of this include:

• enabling you to add work experience to your CV – this will give you an edge on the competition when you look for a job and help you to make better informed career choices;
• helping your final year academic studies – statistics indicate that somebody who has done a placement gets, on average, better results in their final year;
• developing your professional skills; and
• providing you with a salary, so potentially reducing debt in the middle of your degree.

Each year a number of students receive some form of permanent job offer from their placement employer. 

The Placement Office has a wealth of industrial contacts and exists solely to help you get the best possible placement position. It enjoys an excellent relationship with a wide range of organisations, from global multinationals to small cutting-edge enterprises and the public sector. These links serve to ensure that the calibre of Kingston graduates is recognised by potential employer. Organisations that supported the placement programme include:

• Toyota;
• The Walt Disney Company;
• British Airways;
• Fiat; 
• BUPA;
• Marks and Spencer;
• Sun Microsystems;
• British Gas;
• PricewaterhouseCoopers;
• Proctor and Gamble;
• Commerzbank;
• Lloyds TSB;
• BT;
• Volkswagen;
• Reuters; and
• IBM; to name but a few.

The Strategic Management module benefits from a series of guest lecturers, all at senior management positions in prestigious organisations. They cover every aspect of business at a strategic level. So not only will you meet people renowned for their business expertise, but you'll also gain from their professional advice.

Guest lecturers have included:

• Patrick Harris, director of thoughtengine and former director of creativity for Orange Group;
• Stephen Barrow, head of global HR strategy and resourcing, HSBC Holdings plc;
• Eckart Schwarz, vice president, international clinical development and medical affairs, GlaxoSmithKline;
• Sally Coulden, head of clinical operations, GlaxoSmithKline;
• Fons van der Ham, director education sector Sony business Europe, Sony; and
• Graham Josephs, director personnel and development, Historic Royal Palaces.

You have the option of taking an Entrepreneurship module in Year 2, which involves forming your own company and trading as a business. This will enable you to:

• demonstrate your initiative and business skills to prospective employers; and
• establish an invaluable launch pad if you wish to work for yourself in the long-term.