Westminster Business School Blog Young Leaders Interview Series: Diana Dumitrascu

Young Leaders Interview Series: Diana Dumitrascu

April 14, 2014
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Can you please tell a bit about yourself: What are you studying?

My name is Diana Dumitrascu and I will soon be graduating, finishing my BA Business Management – Finance and financial services. I grew up in Romania and about 6 years ago I moved to London, together with my family. I have enjoyed my student life at university and been through many good and bad experiences. I have always been studying and working. I had my first job at the age of 17 and started as a sales assistant at Farmfoods. I had many jobs afterwards, from waitressing to retail guest services at Madame Tussauds.

Last year, I have done my placement with NHS and I am very grateful for choosing to do this. I do say NHS, however the company for which I worked for – Bromley Healthcare CIC- is a social enterprise and is a limited company, however it is still part of NHS. As an employee, the company brings you only the benefits of working in a public sector and a private company. It is a great business and very interesting to be part of and see how it is operating, especially from the financial point of view.

Why did you decide to do a job placement?

I decided to do a job placement, because I know that it is very hard to find a job once you graduate. Furthermore, I wanted to build up on my skills for my future career. Another reason for choosing to do a placement was because I was still a bit uncertain if I wanted to follow a career in Finance or Accountancy. Back in Romania, I have finished my high school studies for Accountancy, however when I came here and enrolled to university I chose a Finance degree because at that time I found it much more interesting and challenging.
I have then chosen to apply to NHS because I wanted to find out about the public health sectors, see how it’s running – both financial and non-financial aspects.

What were the main challenges?

There were not many challenges that I could not handle. I was already used to working, since I have always been working part-time and studying at the same time. Maybe it has been a bit difficult to get used to the terms and the financial systems that were used – but I have overcome this very easily because I had a previous student from our university showing me what to do, as well as my manager and work colleague were very open to questions and to help me understand.
A challenging period has been 6 months after I started. I was just returning from Christmas holidays and a new member of our team was due to start. When I arrived at work, I found that both my manager and my other colleague were sick and couldn’t make it – they have been sick for the entire week. It was only 3 of us in the finance team, including me. It has been a bit manic that week, because I have been on my own; I had to cover month end closing, as well as all my queries from my 2 weeks annual leave and keep the new girl busy. However I did well, and my manager and colleague, upon their return have nominated me for Star of the Month award for which I am very proud.

What did you benefit the most?

I had, have and will have numerous benefits from doing my placement. I had benefits because it helped me choose my future career path – accountancy.
I still have benefits because once my placement has finished the company has offered me a part-time position and I have been working with them 2 days a week.
And I will still benefit from this placement because they have offered me a full time position once I graduate, as well as they will provide financial support in order for me to get fully qualified as an accountant through the ACCA course. I just love my job and probably there are not many students who enjoy their job once they graduate – and don’t get me wrong, I don’t love it only for the financial benefits, that as well, but I just love the working environment, I like that my manager and my other colleagues (my team grew from 3 when I started to 5 people now 🙂 ) are very friendly and ready to help (my manager consider us like her ‘kids’ – she likes to know that we are doing well).

What advice would you give to current students who are planning to do job placement?

You have to be determined.

Don’t give up on finding a placement. I know it is very hard, because I have done over 30 placement applications before I got mine and I know how long each application takes. I am fully recommending a job placement because the benefits of doing one are endless.

What students could do for “employabillity” while they are studying?

I would recommend finding a part-time job, a paid one would be great, however volunteering helps as well. The university has its own job vacancies search tool which you can use and it is quite helpful, not to mention the career development department who can help you with your job applications, CV, covering letter, interviews and many more others.
I think my greatest “employability feature” was my previous work experience. And here I have to mention Westminster Business Consultants, a junior enterprise which has its office at our Cavendish campus, and is a company run only by students and it gives you great opportunities. I have worked with them for 2 years prior to my placement; I have started as a Business Consultant and after a year I have worked as a Finance Manager. I would definitely recommend this as it gives you a great start in your future career.
Another recommendation is the IT courses that our university runs and provides you with certificates once you complete them. These are really good to polish your IT skills, as well as showing them on your CV – it looks great for the employers.

What are your plans for the next five years?

In the next five years I will most definitely stick to my current job, looking to advance in my career. Obviously in five years time I will also finish my ACCA qualification and become a qualified accountant and then I will see what life holds for me.