Christoph Steffan – European Business Programme

Christoph was awarded the European Business Programme Prize for Best Exam Performance.

'The  BA(Hons) European Business is a great opportunity to gain a wide and deep knowledge of business-related topics. However, the course means more than just learning the necessary models and theories.  It also means being on the move, becoming flexible and making friends all over the globe.

I have gained lots of knowledge, both of theoretical as well as practical nature. In the past four years I've had the opportunity to study and work in various different countries. I appreciated differing cultures and I was able to meet many brilliant and interesting people.

The placement was a great opportunity to apply my theoretical knowledge in practice although the course itself gave me a huge bunch of other opportunities. In Munster I was able to participate in a stock market trading programme, where we tested our theoretical investment strategies.

Sometimes I was required to work really hard but I could always count on my fellow students and great suppport staff and lecturers. This made even the hardest times much fun.

If anyone would ask me to describe the BA (Hons) European Business by using one adjective, the one I would use would be, without any doubt: fun!'

Steffen Priller - BA (Hons) European Business

'After finishing high school in Germany at the age of 19 and having developed a strong interest in economics and business as well as the English language, I decided to study an international business degree.

I did some research on potential courses and I chose the BA (Hons) European Business course for two main reasons: the course was one of the most reputable programmes in Europe, running for more than 20 years, and I could study half the time in Germany and the other half in England.

Portsmouth and Münster both have the reputation of being excellent in terms of the academic studies and the student experience.

I applied for the programme and prepared for my first semester in Münster. At first, I was surprised when I realised how few students had been accepted to the programme. However, the relatively small number of students proved to be one of the programme’s biggest assets - a great camaraderie developed within the group, and we organised parties and social activities. We also celebrated our graduation in summer 2008 when everyone got together in Palma de Mallorca.

The best part of the programme was spending time in other countries. Besides the three semesters in Portsmouth, I spent six months working as an intern for a German company in Singapore. This was a great experience that I would not want to miss - both from the business experience I gained and the cultural experience of living in the Far East. After this I went on to another internship in Frankfurt for Citigroup in the Equity Derivatives Sales department. My boss was a former BA (Hons) European Business student, which made it much easier for me to get the internship. This time was a great experience and established my wish to work in the banking industry.

After having finished my studies, it was extremely hard to find a job in the financial services sector due to the economic situation. I was unable to find any jobs in Germany and the only vacant positions I could find were trainee programmes in the big international banks in London.

The English language skills that I had developed during my stay in Portsmouth proved to be a huge asset during the interviews. And even though the other candidates were mainly from the universities of Oxford, Cambridge and the London School of Economics, and some French 'grande écoles', I got invited to the second round, an assessment centre. The applicants had to work through a case study, present the results of their work and take part in a group discussion. These were all situations which my course had prepared me for and proved to be of a big help. Needless to say, I was delighted when I got accepted on to the Sales and Trading (equities and fixed income as well as commodities) analyst training programme for Citigroup in London.'