Finn Andrews

Tell us a little about your journey so far

I came to Solent through clearing. I'd missed out on my first-choice university by five marks, but I went to an open day here and sent my application as soon as I got home.

I studied Accountancy and Finance, and my placement year was at Ontic, an aerospace company that supplies Boeing and Airbus. I worked in accounts receivable and management accounting, which gave me a good idea of where I wanted to go. I was also a student ambassador, which helped my confidence and public speaking, and I helped out on the clearing helplines.

Now I'll be joining Boeing on a rotational graduate scheme, with four six-month rotations across different areas of finance. My goal is to be a financial analyst. It is a tough market, but I got the offer after being put on the waiting list.

Why did you choose Solent?

I really liked the city of Southampton and I wanted to go to university. I researched Solent University and the person on the hotline was very helpful, so I applied through clearing. I booked my place at an open day and really liked the energy of the uni, so that made me think ‘it was the place’. I also liked the hands-on learning and their focus on employability.

What do you like best about living and studying in Southampton?

I do like how student-centric the city is with lots of bars, restaurants and clubs, and nice places such as Ocean Village, Westquay and Southampton Common. If you are sporty, there are lots of facilities such as swimming pools too. It’s cheaper to live here than in other cities such as Bath or Bristol.

Why did you choose a degree in accountancy and finance?

I already knew what I was going to do, because at the open days I'd been to, it was between economics or accounting and finance. I chose accounting and finance because of the real-world career links. It's clearly industry driven, so it links to being an accountant or a financial analyst with ACCA, and that means the real-world career goals are right there.

At A-level I really liked economics. It just made sense to me, especially going through COVID and seeing how it affected real world development in the economy. But economics seemed very much pure maths and more theoretical. With accounting and finance, you can go down different routes, like management accounting, or trading with the Bloomberg Suite, which came in my second year and was brilliant. It was more of a career option, and the combination of maths and economics just made sense to me.

Solent also had a placement year option. I really focused on employability, and I knew that would help me distinguish myself.

What was the best thing about your course lecturers?

For me, it was their approachability. The advantage of studying at Solent is that the cohort is small for a university, so it is much easier to get in touch with lecturers when I need advice from them.

What did you do on your placement?

I did my placement year at Ontic, an aerospace company that supplies Boeing and Airbus. It was a finance role, working in accounts receivable, but I also did management accounting, looking at the company's capital expenditure. That meant looking at how much they were spending on airplanes, resin, printers, all around the company. It really gave me a good idea of where I wanted to go, particularly for management accounting.

How did the course prepare you for the workplace?

It prepared me on the content. We were industry standard, so that really helped me get into the workplace... and the coursework has really helped me with the real world.

The modules also gave me hands-on experience. We had a module on trading with the Bloomberg Suite, so you get pure industry experience with those software, which I really enjoyed. It was one of my favourite modules. You meet people and do group tasks, which helped me with confidence.

The careers team really helped me with my applications and interviews, and being a student ambassador helped my confidence in public speaking. Before, I was a bit introverted, but being an ambassador let me become who I am and gave me lots of public speaking, which helped me in meetings at work.

The placement was a really good bridge before I finished university. If I'd gone straight into a job, it would have been a real wake-up call. With a course, you're taught to perfection, this is how it should be, but in the real world, things happen. There's also so much more to learn in the workplace, and some of it was new to me at the time, but I feel fully prepared now to take on my new role.