Resourceful graduate defies pessimists

Nicola Bamford defied media scare stories about graduate unemployment when she gained a place on a competitive graduate job scheme on the day she got her final exam results. "That was a good day," says Nicola. "I actually got the job before I knew the result of my degree!" She graduates today (Friday 23 July, at 3.30pm) with a 2:1 in English Language and Linguistics. As well as studying full-time at Sussex, the 22-year-old was also one of just 27 students to land a place this year on a challenging leadership training programme, Learning to Lead, organised by the University's Careers and Employability Centre. She explains: "The course was really intense but really good. My group got to work with Phil Jones [Managing Director of Brighton-based digital media firm Wired Sussex], which was really interesting. We had to present a policy idea to a panel of experts, who were pretty scary - the guys in my group even got pulled up for having their ties too short." Professor Michael Farthing, Vice-Chancellor of the University, presented Nicola with her certificate on 16 June.