University of Sunderland

Sinead McHugh

MPharm graduate Sinead McHugh from Silgo in rural Ireland believes the University’s international reputation and first class facilities gave her the ideal springboard to start her career.

Studying at Sunderland has set me up for a lifelong career. From the very start the course was geared towards life in the workplace, with the right balance of expert tuition, knowledge and experience.

The course really lived up to its international reputation and gave me the ideal springboard to start my career. The staff and lecturers were all really friendly and approachable which helped me settle in immediately and get the most out of my studies.

The facilities at Sunderland are first class. The University even has its own mock pharmacy where we could train for life in the real world and build our confidence, learning skills that could be seamlessly transferred to the workplace.

It is clear that the programmes at Sunderland are designed with career prospects in mind and my time at the University of Sunderland also led to me making contact with my current employer, South Tyneside District Hospital.

I worked there during my postgraduate training year and after graduating I spent time working as a locum pharmacist before returning to the hospital where I now work as a pharmacist.

Coming to Sunderland from Sligo in rural Ireland, was quite a change of culture for me, but I was made so welcome from the start.

I knew of Sunderland because of the football team and the Irish connection and from my research I found out that the pharmacy department at the University was highly regarded across the world.

University life really helped me to mature. I had just left school and found myself living in a city in another country, but I made some great friends and threw myself into university life at Sunderland.

It is a very friendly place and you are made to feel very welcome. There is also a beautiful coastline and fantastic countryside on the doorstep to enjoy. When I graduated, staying in the North East seemed like the natural thing to do and while I still go home to visit I can see myself settling here in the long-term.

I thoroughly enjoyed my time at the University of Sunderland and it really did exceed my expectations. I have made many lifelong friends and also my programme led me to get a job that I love doing, with a career path stretching ahead of me.”

Amun Khan

BSc (Hons) Healthcare Sciences student Amun Khan took the route of Physiological Science: Audiology. She is currently working at The James Cook University Hospital, part of South Tees NHS Foundation Trust.

I chose to study at the University of Sunderland as there are a wide variety of courses to choose from. The campus looked very appealing and when I visited the open day there were a lot of people available to help.

The best aspects of my course were the different ways of learning and having staff who were already in the profession teaching what they had specialised in.

I would definitely recommend the University as there are many ways to access help whenever it’s needed. The staff are very polite and there to answer any of your questions. The transport for the University is very reliable and you can always get where you need to be.

The University is a great place to learn as well as socialise. There is always something going on that you can get involved in and there is always someone available to help when you are stuck. The library is a great place for independent learning and you can always access the information you require through the friendly support staff.

I have been able to maintain a role within the hospital helping patients overcome their problems through various ways. I work with a great group of people who I have been with since my student days, they are always there to lend a hand. I am also looking to expand my skills whether that’s by specialising in a certain area or helping future students.

Overall, my experience at Sunderland has been great. I have a lot of good memories and maybe some not so good; like deadlines and sleepless nights but that’s all part and parcel of being at university. It is a great campus whether that be the City Campus or St Peter’s campus and I have met some great people who I will definitely stay in touch with that have helped me throughout my four years here.”

Adam Ferrari

Adam Ferrari worked with Sun FM before studying for his masters at Sunderland, he now works for Masterchef as a runner/researcher.

I’m currently working on my second series of Masterchef and I started as a runner for the Home Economics Team (who basically sort out all the food, all the recipes and all the cooking equipment involved in the show). Now I’m a runner/researcher for the Contestant Team, which involves making sure all the contestants are in the right place at the right time and wearing the right clothes. It sounds pretty easy, but when you’ve got 30-odd people cooking at once whilst ten contestants want to start serving plates of food it all becomes a bit of a blur! The filming days tend to be the mad ones, but on days when we’re not filming there’s still lots to do, like arranging equipment for contestants to borrow and updating recipes and any other information that’s useful for the edit.

The way I ended up on Masterchef was all rather random! I’d worked on this program for Sky for just one day and then a month later I was called up about working on Masterchef by this woman I had worked with. That tends to be how you go from job to job in this industry. Everyone works on a freelance basis, going from contract to contract and you end up being connected to a lot of different people who’ve all worked in the same circles. I’ve worked on quite a few food shows like Ramsay’s Best Restaurant and Great British Menu but I’ve also spent time working on a few factual entertainment shows like James May’s Toy Stories, BBC Three’s Working Girls and Channel 4’s Kirstie’s Home Made Home. So I think it’s safe to say I’ve been pretty busy since graduating in 2010!

I think degrees are generally good for setting you up for your career, but with Media Production, you have to really put in the effort to get what you want out of it. The course at Sunderland was really great and taught me a great deal, but I think if I hadn’t come out of it ready to get out there and do what I wanted to do then I wouldn’t have found my feet as well as I have done. I got a lot out of my course and I’m still enjoying the benefits now, like having a National RTS award for the short film we made for our dissertation. In the long run, though, you need to recover from your three-year hangover and get focused on your goals and where you want to be or you’ll end up giving up on what you’ve worked those three years for.

I used to do lots of radio work before coming to Uni such as Sun FM, as well as while I was there, but it didn’t take long to be tempted by the dark side (TV & Film). I wouldn’t say it directly helped me in the work that I’m doing now, because it’s entirely different from the TV world. But it definitely built my personal skills and my understanding of the kind of people that work in the industry. So it wasn’t a waste of time, that’s for sure!”

Tom Husmann

Business and Management is an outstanding course at the University of Sunderland where students can implement their theory and knowledge in a practical environment (e.g. workshops and seminars). What I especially like is that students get the opportunity to choose their own route in which to specialise, whether it be Marketing, Human Resources, Finance, or Enterprise Management.

In addition to this, there are many other opportunities available to students such as learning new languages, representing the student body as a Student Rep, taking part in societies (e.g. Business Society), Business Competitions (e.g. IBM), or working for 12 months on a Industrial Work Placement.

I am from Germany and after I finished school with “Abitur” (equivalent to British A Levels), I decided to spend a year in New Zealand as a volunteer. New Zealand gave me the chance to think about my future and I came to the conclusion that I did not want to go back to Germany for my study, I wanted to broaden my horizons again. Therefore, Sunderland was the best opportunity for me to do so. For me, it´s the city of “sun” with a beautiful sea side and an amazing campus located by the river.

“Give a bowl of rice to a man and you will feed him for a day. Teach him how to grow his own rice and you will save his life.”

– Confucius

I strongly recommend studying at the University of Sunderland, not only because it equips you with the right skills to survive in the competitive job market, it also gives you the “seeds” to be an outstanding and highly employable individual.”

Adam King

Adam graduated from Fashion Product and Promotion with a first class honours degree, and now works as a menswear designer for River Island in London.

I chose to study at the University of Sunderland because I wanted to study near home, so I was happy to learn of Sunderland offering a good fashion-based course at BA level. I studied Fashion at Newcastle College prior to studying at Sunderland and chose to go to university to further my knowledge, earn my degree, and gain experience to get me into the fast-paced and competitive fashion industry. I would recommend the University to other students, especially those who know they want a career in fashion, but aren’t positive which route they’d like to take. It’s great to be able to do what you want to do on Fashion Product and Promotion. The course offers the ability to come at fashion from any angle – design, product, manufacturing, promotion, photography, illustration and more. It’s very important that you work hard. Take every opportunity that presents itself. It’s not handed to you on a plate, but if you’re hungry to learn and put the work in, it really does pay off. Since graduating in 2014, I have gone on to work as a menswear designer for a Newcastle-based fashion brand focused on the growing athleisure trend. I now work as a menswear designer for River Island in London. I work across Outerwear, Denim, and Casual Bottoms departments, designing products and ranges to go into stores across the country. Studying at the University of Sunderland was an eye-opening experience, with lots of exciting projects, which propelled me into my career as a fashion designer.”