Francesca Iorio - BSc (Hons) Economics
Where are you from and which course did you choose to study?
My name is Francesca Iorio and I am an international student from Italy. I have recently graduated in Economics with Finance from LSBU with 1st Class Honours. I moved to London in 2019 from Italy after completing my final year in high school. I've always been interested in London, in its multicultural aspects, and I wanted to try to live here and see what this city could give me. During my gap year in London I started looking at various universities and economic courses, since I've always had an interest in this subject and London boosted this curiosity.
The best thing about LSBU was....
The best thing about my experience at LSBU was meeting the valuable people I have shared my journey with, but also the lecturers and seminar tutors that provided me with the support I needed. During my second year at University, I learned about different placement opportunities in Finance. I applied for a placement opportunity with the NHS, and I was able to get a role in one of the Trusts. During the process, I had great support from the LSBU placement team, regarding building my CV and practicing for the interview.
Where was your placement year?
I was appointed to the role of Financial Management Trainee in the Finance Department of an NHS trust. During my placement, I was able to further develop my communication skills, my time management and prioritisation skills, analytical skills as well as ownership of responsibility and budgetary control. This placement has been of vital importance for my career as it allowed me to develop professionally and get my next roles as Management Accountant first and, ultimately, my Finance Manager role.
What advice would you give to people thinking about studying at LSBU?
The advice I would give to people thinking of studying at LSBU would be to make use of all the resources available, and take part in the events organised By LSBU. This will allow them to enrich their academic journey and make new connections.