Management School's 'Apprentice Challenge' students fast-tracked to assessment centre
The performance of The Management School's team of undergraduates at the recent National Apprentice Challenge was commended by judges. The four were rewarded with places at an assessment centre to further compete for internship opportunities with Sunday Times 500 top employers and small and medium sized enterprises.
Consisting of two tasks, the challenge was designed to encourage them to think critically, be creative, play to one another’s strengths and work as a team.
The first task required the team to create a business plan and run a virtual airline company with online simulation software. They also developed and implemented business strategies that could be used to decide on critical elements such as routes, scheduling, pricing, marketing and HR.
The second task required students to be more creative and work under pressure by having four hours to prepare and pitch innovative concepts for the ‘Next Social Media Platform’ to a panel of entrepreneurs.
The following were part of the successful team:
Abhishek Patel (Business Studies BA)
Joseph Stafford (Economics BSc)
Xiang Li (Economics BSc )
Yuqi Liu (Business Economics BA)
Abhishek had this to say about his experience:
“The experience was amazing and would recommend it to everybody. It taught us key skills such as working in teams under pressure, quick decision making, analytical skills, time management and most of all communication skills. It also gave us the opportunity to network with great people and learn fantastic things from them.”