Graduate profiles

Medicine, 1984
Consultant in Paediatric Cardiology at Bristol Royal Hospital for Children

The post requires me to look after children from the South West and Wales with heart disease, undertaking cardiac catheterisation, inpatient and outpatient care and echocardiography. I spend time teaching, doing research, and travelling abroad. I’m also a tutor at Oxford: this gives me the opportunity to be able to provide support for the undergraduates of today.

English, 2004
Commissioning Editor for the 4Talent Central website for Channel 4

Before my current role, I worked as a film journalist for two years after graduating from Oxford. I write my own articles, interview people like the writers of Peep Show, and I also commission freelance writers to deliver articles and podcasts. My degree helped me become more organised and pay attention to detail, and also gave me the confidence you need for a media career. I would probably never have been able to travel to places like Moscow and New York to meet film stars and directors if I hadn’t become a journalist.

Mathematical Sciences, 1999
Programme Manager at UBS Investment Bank

I am the Programme Manager for a proprietary modelling library at UBS Investment Bank. While studying at Oxford, I learnt how to manage a busy workload with conflicting priorities. The tutorial system prepared me for working closely with people much more senior than myself.  Combining this with my mathematical grounding has enabled me to take on this challenging career where I am constantly surrounded by a range of interesting and intelligent people.

Experimental Psychology, 1988
Director at TBI Communications Ltd

TBI Communications is a marketing agency, based in Oxford, serving academic and professional publishers and societies. In my role as Director, I manage both the development and growth of our business and  oversee our client work. Studying at Oxford was the perfect foundation for this kind of work. I was taught to always look for big ideas, to challenge the status quo, and to take responsibility for myself – for life – for my own ongoing learning. These skills are the basics of entrepreneurship, and have enabled me to develop and run a successful business.

Jurisprudence, 1999
Commercial Barrister at 3 Verulam Buildings chambers

As a commercial barrister (based in a chambers in Gray’s Inn in London) I spend a lot of time advising upon or arguing legal points, namely points of law rather than questions of fact and evidence. The academic background of those at the commercial Bar (probably more than in the case of commercial solicitors) is therefore of paramount importance, and frankly being taught by and with the best and the brightest makes the Oxford law undergraduate degree the perfect training for what I do.

Geography, 2006
PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP

I am currently in my second year working within the Banking and Capital Markets division of Assurance in Pricewaterhouse Coopers (PwC). Although I have not used my geography knowledge specifically at PwC, my enthusiasm to learn and self-motivation have stood me in good stead. Within my division at PwC you are given a lot of responsibility very quickly and so I have found that my confidence in taking ownership of a piece of work has stemmed from my many weekly geography essays as well as my finals dissertation. Playing sport for my college taught me a lot about team work and my roles within OUSU provided me with great organisational skills.

Classics, 2006
Account Manager at FourCommunications Group

A Classics degree prepares you for a surprising number of different careers, but I never expected to end up in Public Relations. Straight out of university I applied to the graduate scheme at Four Communications, a fast-growing independent PR firm based in London. The variety of work has been astounding and occasionally overwhelming. I really think the flexibility and discipline required in my degree has helped me cope with a year of meeting clients, copywriting, researching and managing a variety of corporate and consumer clients in our London, Bahrain, Dubai and Abu Dhabi offices.

Physics, 2002
DPhil in Particle Physics at Oxford

Since graduating I’ve worked in public sector management, with central government and Transport for London. However, I had an increasing desire to return to physics since it’s such an exciting subject. I applied to courses at three universities and the interviews required me to revise a lot of my undergraduate degree. This was a considerable challenge after almost six years out of university. However I was really pleased to get an offer from Oxford. I’ll be analysing data from the Large Hadron Collider, the new experiment at CERN (European Organization for Nuclear Research). My particular focus will be on a grand unified theory of the four fundamental forces through a study of the creation and decay of very tiny (and not dangerous!) black holes.