Jack Castledine

My Masters was geared to employability from the start, including sessions on honing your resume and online profile. 

The standard of teaching was impeccable and covered the whole spectrum of marketing. And it was a really international course, even more than I expected. I made connections with people from all over the world, Europe, Asia, South America, and I learned so much about other work cultures. This really stood me in good stead in my role at Samsung Electronics UK, where international communication was key. 

I knew from my Masters that I wanted to work in a big conglomerate. I got a place on Samsung's highly competitive Emerging Talent graduate scheme, as a marketing exec and then progressed to be a marketing manager. These roles gave me great experience, which I’ve since built on, working at a sports marketing agency and with Google. 

Now I'm an alumni mentor for the University. My mentee is doing the MA Advertising and Marketing. We talk through things about his course or job applications. I share my experience, act as a sounding board and try to boost his confidence. I think it helps that my experience is fairly recent.

A whole heap of things make Leeds special. The balance of the academic (the prestige and the teaching) with the opportunities through Leeds University Union and the clubs and societies.

I got a part-time job, working with the Lawn Tennis Association to promote and market tennis as a non-elitist sport for 18-25-year-olds. And with the campus so close to the town, there are loads of opportunities in the city for part-time work and internships too.

There's just a host of things which combine to make Leeds a pretty magical place really.