Talented Andrea graduates from Career Academy programme with prestigious Grant Fund Award
Thursday 3 June
Andrea Hurley, a graduate from Belfast Metropolitan College, completed the Career Academy programme with tremendous success, landing herself a Career Academies UK, Grant Fund Award. This is the only one to be awarded in Northern Ireland and one of seven throughout the whole of the UK.
Belfast Metropolitan Career Academy Coordinator Elaine Shaw said:
"Andrea embraced the programme with much enthusiasm and willingness to face all challenges head on. She consistently demonstrated initiative, always the first to meet deadlines set for academic work. She demonstrated excellent networking skills at business functions, along with excellent planning, organisational and leadership skills. An outstanding team player who has formed close, loyal relationships with class peers. Andrea worked very well individually and was truly unaware of her employability and academic potential."
Andrea had an excellent internship placement with KPMG with brilliant feedback received and the offer of part-time work post internship. Andrea said:
"I chose the Career Academy programme because it offers a unique opportunity to experience a true working environment in major companies. I did my internship at KPMG, which really opened my eyes to the working world.
Mentor at KPMG Michael Denny said:
"During her internship with KPMG, Andrea was extremely focused on learning as much as she could about working in an accountancy practice. She was keen to contribute as much as possible to the projects she was involved in and everyone who worked with her was extremely positive about her attitude and commitment. I'm delighted that all her hard work has paid off and that she has secured a bursary that will help cover some of her costs during her first year at university."
Chairman of KPMG and member of Belfast Metropolitan College Career Academy Local Advisory Board, John D'Arcy also commented:
"KPMG is pleased to be involved with the Career Academy. As an organisation we are focused on doing what we can to ensure our staff have a fulfilling and successful career; working with the Career Academy means we can also provide this support to the business leaders of the future. In this particularly competitive job environment, the opportunity to get hands-on experience in a business environment is invaluable for these students such as Andrea as it helps them make the right decisions about their future careers."
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