Celebrating the success of the Year in Business Graduates - class of 2025

It was a real pleasure to support the Graduation Ceremonies for Royal Holloway’s Business School students on Tuesday 22nd July. I particularly enjoyed speaking with our Year in Business (YIB) students about their university journey, placement experiences, and plans for the future, and in many cases, meeting their proud families too. 

 It was a very special ceremony in the University's Windsor Building: a long line of Year in Business students processed in front of the Provost and Pro Vice Chancellor, the Dean of the School of Business, academic staff, friends and family to receive their certificates. The event also featured several heartfelt speeches, including an inspiring address by the Student Orator. 

Special congratulations goes to Dillon McEvilly, who was awarded the Year in Business Prize for achieving the highest overall academic record amongst YIB students. Dillon completed a successful placement with the NHS and has already returned there to begin his graduate career. It was lovely to catch up with him and hear how much he gained from the experience. 

 

We are immensely proud of all our Year in Business graduates. Securing a placement can be a demanding process requiring true resilience, and for many, the placement year itself brings new challenges. We’re glad to have supported them along the way and are always inspired by their growth and achievements. 

Many of our final-year YIBs give back by volunteering as YIB Mentors, sharing their insights and supporting students preparing for their own placement journeys. Their contributions to workshops and events are incredibly valuable and appreciated. 

 Looking ahead, some of our graduates are continuing their studies, while others are returning to the companies where they completed their placements, including Cooper Parry, Cooper Vision, Enterprise Mobility, NHS, Samsung and Simmons & Simmons. Many more have used their placement experience to secure roles with prestigious employers such as Emirates, Ferrero, Finbourne Technology, Ivy Rock Partners and PwC. Congratulations to all our graduates! 

If I didn’t get a chance to catch up with you after the ceremony, please do stay in touch. The Year in Business team would love to hear where your placements have taken you — your stories are a source of inspiration for the next generation of students and we hope to welcome you back to the Business School at future events.

My Placement Year at Deloitte: A Behind-the-Scenes Look at Audit and Assurance

This is a guest post from Royal Holloway student Amal Aitbenmoussa who is studying BSc Management with Accounting and has just completed a placement year with Deloitte. Amal writes:

Spending a year on placement at Deloitte in the Audit and Assurance department has been one of the most rewarding experiences of my academic and professional journey so far. Not only did I gain hands-on experience in one of the world’s leading professional services firms, but I also developed a wide range of skills that will stay with me throughout my career.

What Does an Auditor Actually Do?

Before starting my placement, I had a basic idea of what audit involved — checking company accounts and making sure everything adds up. But once I got started, I quickly realised there’s much more to it.

My role as an audit placement student involved working as part of a team to review and test the financial statements of a wide range of clients — from small startups to global corporations. A big part of my job was speaking directly with clients to request documentation, understand how their business works, and clarify any unusual transactions. Communication was key, whether I was emailing finance teams or joining meetings to discuss audit findings.

I also spent a lot of time using Deloitte’s digital tools and software to analyse financial data, check for inconsistencies, and document our findings. Every audit is different, so each project brought something new: whether that was learning about a different industry or navigating new financial systems.

 
What I Learned

Over the year, I picked up an incredible mix of skills that I know will stick with me for life. I became a lot more confident communicating with clients and teammates: something that now feels like second nature. I also mastered the art of balancing multiple tasks under pressure learned to spot tiny errors with laser focus, and got really comfortable solving problems when things didn’t go quite as expected. Let’s not forget the teamwork: working with such supportive and fun people made even the busiest days enjoyable, and showed me just how important collaboration is in a professional setting.

Final Thoughts

If you're considering a placement year and want to challenge yourself in a dynamic, fast-paced environment, I’d highly recommend Audit and Assurance at Deloitte. It’s more than just number-crunching: it’s about understanding businesses, building relationships, and making a real impact.

If you have any questions, please feel free to connect with me on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/amal-aitbenmoussa-459662252

Read Amal's previous blog article with details of her top tips for applying: https://yearinbusiness.blogspot.com/2024/11/my-audit-and-assurance-placement-at.html

Best of luck to those of you hoping to secure an industrial placement. Remember to be yourself!!

Amal Aitbenmoussa (Industrial Placement at Deloitte)

April Call Back afternoon at Royal Holloway

 It was great to see our placement students on April 7th at our 2nd Call Back afternoon of the year. We have over 70 business students out on placement, our largest cohort to date, and we were delighted that the majority of these had managed to secure time off from their placement companies to attend our workshops - one even came in from Scotland. The sun was shining at Royal Holloway and Dr Kerrie Howard, the Year in Business Director, and myself, were impressed to hear of what our students have been achieving on placement.

Students who attended were undertaking a range of Business, Marketing, Finance/ Accounting, Sales, HR and Project Management placements. The companies they represented included Ascot Wealth Management, AzkoNobel, Bayer, Boeing, Cancer Research, Elida Gibbs, Enterprise Mobility, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Hilton, Honda, L’Oreal, Network Rail, NHS, Pernod Ricard, SAP, Siemens, SLB, The Walt Disney Company, TJX, Unilever, Volkswagen, Wyndham Hotel group and many, many more including several local companies.

Most of these students have now been with their placement organisations for nine months or more and are clearly gaining huge benefits from the placement experience in terms of the projects they are getting involved in and skills they are developing. This includes getting into the routine of the working day which will certainly help on their return to University in the Autumn - no late nights or mornings lazing about in bed for these students on workdays. Students have been undertaking real and interesting work with quite a lot of responsibility from day one and the need to juggle different priorities.

The afternoon included a discussion on the challenges students had faced on placement and 2 interactive workshops on the Academic assessment they have to complete as part of their placement. Students must produce a personal development portfolio which illustrates how they have developed competencies while on placement and a poster, which links their experience on placement to a Management theory they studied during their first 2 years at University.

The competency workshop was led by Career Consultant Jo Edmondson. Thinking about competencies the students have mastered, or found difficult on placement, and articulating these via the STAR format, has the additional advantage of being useful for students when applying for their Graduate positions. Often being able to articulate the difficult things which have been mastered can make for some of the best examples for discussion in interview. The poster workshop, led by Dr Kerrie Howard, gave the students the chance to discuss draft examples and recommend how to improve these both in terms of content and visual appearance.

A massive thank you to all the students for attending and we look forward to seeing you all at our Reintegration meeting in the Autumn term when returning for the final year. Enjoy the remainder of your placements!

Year in Business Speed Recruitment event

Last week a number of companies, both large and small, joined our Speed Recruitment event in the Business school at Royal Holloway. 2nd year business students had the opportunity to find out more about placements at companies including Aldi, BMW, Cancer Research, Canon, ECOVIS Wingrave Yeats, Enterprise Mobility, Honda, NHS Ashford St Peters, PiXL, Rouse Partners, RSM, Stanhope-Seta, SEO London. We are grateful to all the company representatives their time and for the students on placement who shared their experiences. It was a horrible wet evening outside, but a great buzz and engagement inside the Moore foyer.

The Executive Dean of the School, Professor Christos Tsinopoulos introduced the evening and chatted to students and employers alike. Students had the opportunity to move around company stands (ideally when the bell rang!) and talk to different companies about the range of placements available and see if there was a suitable match. Students heard about numerous positions including Accountancy/ Finance, Business support, HR, Management trainee, Marketing, Sales. They could also speak to a representative from Careers as well as a Student Union Representative discussing the option of a Sabbatical position as a placement.

It was good to see the 2^nd year students' enthusiasm to secure a placement and the companies gave positive feedback about the students’ engagement levels and the quality of the questions asked.

It was particularly pleasing to welcome back recent Graduate Matthew Lappin who joined the RSM table – Matthew completed a successful tax placement at RSM during his Royal Holloway Accounting degree and returned to the company last Autumn.

Final year YIB Mentor Akshita was offered a Campus Ambassador position during her Final year after a successful placement, She joined recruiter Paul Hanrahan and the Enterprise Mobility table to talk to YIBs about the 2025/26 openings.

The Ecovis Marketing manager was joined by both the current and previous placement students, Madeleine Stonehouse and Grace Ashton.

We were also delighted to be joined by other current students:  Vivienne Luu (marketing placement at Canon), Penny Kaur (merchandising placement student at Cancer Research), Snigdhorup Rudra (Business placement at Honda), Tahir Wadud (HR placement at NHS), Maaz Raja (Business placement at SEO London), Damini Naguindra and Ileana Taylor- Burns (former and future placement students at BMW), Patricia Mara ( former Event/ Customer Service placement student at PiXL)

The evening concluded with pizza and more conversation. In previous years, a number of our students went onto secure placements on the back of attending similar events. We look forward to hearing how they get on this year!     

If any other companies are interested in advertising placements to our business students please contact MN-YIB@rhul.ac.uk. Students undertake paid placements of between 9 – 12 months and are available to start work anytime between June – September 2025. There is more information about our programme on our website: https://www.royalholloway.ac.uk/research-and-teaching/departments-and-schools/business-and-management/your-future-career/placements/

My Audit and Assurance placement at Deloitte - Top tips for applying

This is a guest post from Year in Business BSc Management with Accounting student, Amal Aitbenmoussa, who is currently undertaking an Audit and Assurance placement at Deloitte and offers her tips for students interested in applying for professional placement roles.

Hey Everyone! My name is Amal Aitbenmoussa and I started working for Deloitte in Audit and Assurance this September. I’m here to share some top tips for anyone looking to secure a placement at the big 4 or any professional services firm. Whether you’re interested in consulting, finance, accounting, or any other professional role, these tips and tricks will help you stand out in your applications!

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Typical Recruitment Process

Most firms follow a structured application process that may include:

• Online Application & CV Screening
• Aptitude Tests (such as numerical and verbal reasoning)
• Digital Interviews (combining competency and scenario questions)
• Assessment Centre (including group exercises, case studies, and a final interview)

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Tips for Acing the Application Process

1. Build an Impressive CV: Make It Stand Out!
• Clean Structure: Bold your name, use clear headings, and separate sections (e.g., Education, Experience, Skills).
• Highlight Relevant Skills: Focus on skills essential for the role, like Excel proficiency, analytical thinking, teamwork, etc.
• Quantify Achievements: Numbers add impact—use them to showcase accomplishments (e.g., “boosted customer satisfaction by 15%”).
• Include Relevant Courses: Mention key modules (e.g., Financial Reporting, Business Analytics) to show your academic preparation                                                                             
2. Write a Strong Cover Letter
• Why the Company?: Mention specific projects, values, or initiatives that inspire you.
• Why the Role?: Refer to keywords from the job description and align them with your skills.
• Why You?: Share an example of relevant experience that highlights your fit.
• Bonus: Add a LinkedIn link in the header to make your profile easily accessible.                         
3. Be Authentic
• Don’t try to be someone you’re not—most companies value genuine, unique perspectives.
• Be confident in your strengths and open about areas you’re working to improve.                           
4. Prepare for Aptitude Tests
• Practice common tests like numerical and verbal reasoning; resources like SHL or JobTestPrep can help.
• Familiarise yourself with the test format to boost your speed and accuracy.                                    
5. Master the Assessment Centre
• Group Exercise: Stay collaborative; listen, contribute, and consider taking a role like “timekeeper” if you’re nervous.
• Case Study: Focus on analysing information, proposing solutions, and clear communication.
• Interview: Reflect on experiences that demonstrate key skills. Prepare a few insightful questions to ask the interviewer.                                                                                                        
6. Build Relevant Experience & Network like a PRO
• Virtual Work Simulations: Forage and similar platforms offer free simulations that give you hands-on experience (I found this really useful).
• Attend Networking Events: Look for virtual events, insight days, and recruitment fairs on sites like TargetJobs or LinkedIn.                                                                                                      
7. Stay Organised
• Use a Calendar: Mark interview dates, deadlines, and set reminders to check your emails regularly.
• Check Spam: Application emails sometimes go to spam—don’t miss important updates!

 BONUS TIP: Always have a couple of questions that you would like to ask after your interview. This is the perfect opportunity to find out more about the company/organisation, and it shows the interviewer your interest in finding out more!

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Final Thoughts

Applying to the big 4 can be intense and seem a bit daunting, but staying prepared, organised, and authentic will make the process smoother.

 Remember, showing up as your true self is the best way to stand out. BEST OF LUCK—and feel free to reach out if you have any questions about the application process on Linkden!

 www.linkedin.com/in/amal-aitbenmoussa-459662252