I graduated from UL in 2006 with a degree in Business Studies with French (Accounting & Finance) and am currently working as a trainee chartered accountant with Deloitte & Touche in Cork.  I chose to study at UL mainly due to the fact that it would allow me to both study abroad for a semester and also to complete a Co-Operative Education work placement.  

The BBS degree is extremely well structured.  For the first two years, I had the opportunity to study a wide variety of subjects including Accounting, Economics, Law, Marketing and IT before choosing to specialise in Accounting & Finance for my final two years.  I also studied French each semester.  The French course was extremely practical and focused mainly on improving our oral and written fluency combined with lectures about French culture and society.  All of my lecturers and tutors over the course of the four years were extremely helpful and approachable.

One of the highlights of my four years had to be my experience of the Erasmus programme.  I was lucky enough to spend a semester studying at a university in Montpellier, a beautiful city situated in the south of France.  This gave me the opportunity to experience French culture first hand and to become fluent in the language.  I also met people from all over the world including Finland, Italy, Colombia and Brazil.  It's an experience which I would thoroughly recommend.  Students who are not studying a language can also avail of the Erasmus programme by studying in a college in Prague or Athens which offers courses through English.

Another highlight was the Co-Operative Education placement which I completed in the Audit Department in KPMG, Dublin.  I had always been interested in the accountancy area and the eight months which I spent in KPMG allowed me to experience the day to day work of a trainee accountant.  This was of great benefit to me during final year when deciding what career path to follow.  The placement was a great learning experience for me and all students who worked with KPMG received excellent training in the areas of presentation skills, time management and teamwork.  I think that the Co-Operative Education placement is one of the main things that sets UL graduates apart from other graduates on the jobs market.