Hannah Konnovs

BA Business Management and Suffolk Executive MBA, Classes of 2017 and 2022

I chose the University of Suffolk because I wanted a university I could commute to and I got great vibes when I first entered the campus. Upon completing my bachelor’s degree, I knew that if I returned to education, I would only ever consider Suffolk because I had such a positive experience previously. The lecturers in the business school were very supportive, knowledgeable and had real industry experience.

The lecturers are outstanding at this university. They made such a positive impact on my learning experience and I wouldn’t have enjoyed my degrees as much without them.

The careers team at Suffolk are phenomenal. I didn’t engage with them during my undergraduate studies, but once I started my master’s degree I wanted to take advantage of all of the opportunities I missed out on the first time around. I completed a micro placement with them and I believe that it helped boost my confidence and increase my experience, which in turn helped me be successful at my Open University interviews.

My degrees – particularly my business management degree – included many subjects. This meant I gained so much knowledge in different areas and allowed me to improve my skills in anything from business law to HR management to data analysis. In fact, my best assignment score was in my postgraduate accountancy module!

I currently work for the Open University as a placement co-ordinator. I work within the Careers and Employability Services team to provide internships to Open University students (both internal and external opportunities). I initially started working with the OU in their student recruitment and support team but started my current role as a secondment opportunity.

I wouldn’t have gotten this job without my bachelor’s degree and I believe my master’s degree helped me stand out amongst the other applicants, especially as the role was open externally.

After completing my bachelor’s and not knowing where to start my postgraduate career, I realised that my passion lied in the education sector – and specifically in HE. Without attending university, I wouldn’t have found my passion. The University of Suffolk’s demographic fuelled my love of helping students from underrepresented backgrounds in particular.

I believe that both of my degrees helped me be an independent learner, which then translated into being an employee who can work independently. This is particularly useful as my role is largely working from home.