Janina Emig MA Transnational Studies, 2010

Postgraduate Recruitment Officer (UK)

Hi, I'm Janina Emig and I studied MA Transnational Studies within Modern Languages at the University of Southampton.

I enjoyed the interdisciplinary nature of the course, which enabled me to write a dissertation that was a combination of Modern Languages and Social Sciences, and gave me an opportunity to investigate a topic I had not previously studied. I also loved the diversity of our year group, both in terms of subject background and nationality. It was a really inspiring environment.

I work at the University of Southampton as a Postgraduate Recruitment Officer, focussing on UK prospective students for PGT and PGR courses. I am travelling across the country to attend recruitment fairs, and am also able to develop new recruitment activities. I am working across different faculties, and am able to tell prospective students about my experience as a student here.

 

My advice to new students

I would advise anybody to get involved in extra-curricular activities in the local area. This will help you to get to know the local community, make contacts outside the university, and will help with practical experience in job applications and interviews. My other advice would be to really enjoy the community that Avenue campus has to offer! There is now a student-led part of the Graduate School, with seminars, conferences and socials organised by students, for both postgraduate taught and research students. Whilst the one year masters will be academically challenging, it will also be a year where you will meet fellow students from around the world, so enjoy!

My masters really developed transferable skills that are valuable for my role now. Planning my interviews for my dissertation project, analysing the data and writing my thesis has helped me to write project proposals in my role. Through a recommendation from one of my tutors, I started volunteering for a local charity whilst studying, which has helped me in job interviews as I could talk about extra-curricular activities. Whilst the masters is non-vocational, the experience gained has really helped me gain the job I have now. But more importantly, it was an amazing, challenging and eye-opening year!