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By: Communications
The Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) Graduate Outcomes Survey 2024 measures the percentage of graduates in professional work or further study 15 months after graduating, with 81% of UEA’s 2021/22 cohort in this category - we caught up with five of them to talk about their careers so far.
Elise Harrison. BSc Psychology with a Placement Year. Clinical Associate Psychologist for the Norfolk & Suffolk NHS Trust
Elise graduated with a first-class degree in BSc Psychology with a Placement Year in 2022, before completing a Master’s apprenticeship, which was fully funded by the NHS.
Talking about her time at UEA, Elise said:
“Completing my placement year during my undergraduate degree was a real advantage. Until then, I hadn’t had proper hands-on experience, it was through this that I later gained employment. Having that firsthand experience at an undergraduate level boosted my employability.
“All of my professors had relevant clinical and academic experience in clinical psychology. They had vast experience working in the NHS which meant they had direct knowledge of how to put theory into practice and, most importantly, the knowledge to help us do that as well.”
Having made the decision to stay in Norwich, Elise now works full-time as a Clinical Associate Psychologist for Norfolk & Suffolk NHS Trust, delivering psychological informed therapeutic interventions to adults with complex needs using multi-disciplinary approaches.
Elise said:
“I’m now working with patients who I worked with during my placement year, supporting them in their mental health as a professional. I have been able to see their recovery journey and have gained new skills, knowledge and understanding of their difficulties from different perspectives. This is something I hadn’t anticipated as being one of the benefits of staying in Norwich.”
Talking about her motivations to study Psychology, Elise said:
“I always get emotional thinking about it, but it’s the motivation to help people. Everyone deserves help, and a life worth living. Services unfortunately aren’t set up to support everyone, so knowing that my role can help at least some, it’s a good feeling.”
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Rohnjose Saji. MSc Data Science. Insight Analyst with JLL Real Estate
Rohn came to UEA from India in 2021 to continue his studies, having already completed his undergraduate degree in Mathematics, and obtained a Master's degree in Data Science.
Rohn continues to show appreciation for his time at UEA, saying:
“UEA’s environment really pushes us to become something in life. In my personal opinion, that was really helpful. If someone wants to study, if they want to achieve something, UEA is the best place.”
After graduating and applying for more than 1000 jobs, Rohn landed a dream position in Norwich as an insight analysist with JLL, a global real estate services company with offices in 88 countries. Rohn offered his advice to current students entering the job market, saying:
“Start making friends wherever you are. I got a promotion within six months of being in the company and I really believe that all these things happened because I had good connections. Whether it’s someone who works in the kitchen, a cleaner or a co-worker in your department, try and talk to them, show interest in who they are."
Rohn also provided an insightful perspective into the barriers of being an international student, saying:
“Reaching the UK has been difficult. Leaving my family and a familiar life behind is not easy. I had to learn to live alone and be independent in a way I hadn’t needed to before. I took on a part-time job as a carer, alongside my full-time degree, as I hadn’t anticipated such a high conversion rate... however, at my current point in life, I can say proudly that choosing to apply to UEA was one of the best decisions I have ever taken in life.”
Rohn went on to share how he overcame these barriers with the support of UEA. saying:
“If I ever had any doubts, I would email my tutor and they would set up a phone call where we would talk it through. It was really helpful knowing I had the support whenever I needed it.”
Rohn is clear on his ambitions for the future, saying:
“Growing up, I really wanted to be the head of a company. Like the CEO of Google, his name is Sundar Pichai. He’s from India, he grew up in a village area in local schools like me. I really want to be the head of a big company one day, make my parents proud. If I did something like that it would be in the local newspapers in my home.”
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Rosie Almond. BSc Economics, MSc in Experimental Economics, PhD in Behavioural Economic. Behavioural Risk Manager for NatWest
Rosie Almond is both a former student and former staff member at UEA.
After months of indecision during her A-levels about where to go and what to study, Rosie’s academic journey began with an undergraduate degree in BSc Economics at UEA in 2011. Rosie said:
“I came to an applicant’s day at UEA and I was absolutely made up. From that moment, my decision was made, and I was really hoping I would get in... little did I know, that would be the beginning of 10 years at UEA.”
Following her undergraduate degree, Rosie went on to complete an MSc in Experimental Economics and, later, a PhD in Behavioural Economics.
Rosie’s first job, while still studying, was as a Student Ambassador, before going on to become an Assoicate Tutor and Research Associate, for which she said:
“It was a strange but rewarding feeling having my teachers become my colleagues.”
Now working as a Behavioural Risk Manager for NatWest, Rosie said:
“My degrees have helped me uncover what I’m interested in and what my passion is. I have been able to apply my academic research skill set to a number of roles."
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Debasmita Goswami. MSc in International Business Finance and Economics. Business and Enterprise Graduate Programme with Rolls Royce Aerospace
Debasmita graduated with an MSc in International Business Finance and Economics in 2022. When making the decision of where to study her Master’s, Debasmita said:
“Only a few universities offered the course with no prior experience in economics, but UEA is open to everyone, and it had such good ratings.”
Debasmita is currently part of a Business and Enterprise Graduate Programme with Rolls-Royce Aerospace, which is helping her gain experience across different sectors.
Speaking about the support she received at UEA, Debasmita said:
“The facilities at UEA helped me a lot. CareerCentral played a big role in my job, they provided guidance for my CV and opportunities to practice presentations for interviews.
“One of my professors, Dr Jibonayan Raychaudhuri, supported me a lot. He has been my career coach, from my first interaction before being a student at UEA, all the way until now.”
As an international student from India, Debasmita reminisces about the diverse community of UEA, saying:
“Through UEA, I got to meet a lot of people from around the world. I have made friends and life-long connections.”
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Siân Roche. BA(Hons) Politics and Media, MA Broadcast and Digital Journalism. Newsdesk Editor and Newsreader with Bauer Media Group 
Siân completed an undergraduate degree in Politics and Media at UEA before going on to study an MA in Broadcast Journalism, from which she graduated in 2022. When reflecting on her decision to choose UEA, Sian said:
“I attended an open day before applying and felt it gave me a really good idea of what UEA was like as a place to be. Meeting students and lecturers was so helpful, and seeing all the accommodation options also helped me make a much more informed decision.
“UEA was one of the few universities that let me study the course I really wanted to with no compromise! I fell in love with UEA's campus, the surrounding greenery, the people and the city of Norwich and knew it felt like home.”
Siân now works as a Newsdesk Editor and Newsreader for Bauer Media. During her time at UEA she hosted her own show on the University’s radio station ‘LiveWire’ and gained work experience with BBC Radio 2’s Jeremy Vine show and BBC Norfolk.
Speaking about this experience, Siân said:
“My Master’s degree enabled me to get paid work at BBC Radio Norfolk – which was a brilliant thing to have on my CV when applying for jobs post-university."
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