In Conversation with Yasmin Akram

Hello everyone, and welcome to the Go Glocal podcast series. My name is Ellen Wang, Faculty International Manager here at Leeds University Business School. I think we can all agree 2020 is the year when everything changed. It was the year when time seems to collapse in on itself, when days were sometimes hard to tell apart. In the meantime, we adapted to the new reality, turning living rooms into offices and bedrooms into classrooms. For many, the morning commute came to be measured in metres, not miles, and international mobility was replaced by virtual exchanges. We also became accustomed to new verbs such as to zoom or to social distance, if we look at higher education sector alone, according to the Office for National Statistics, 53% of the student population reported being dissatisfied with their social experience in autumn term of 2020. Needless to say, that the pandemic has significantly decreased international student mobility opportunities, which is an important part of experiential learning to most, which brings me to this Go Glocal Podcast Series. The word ‘Glocal’ by definition is a reflected or characterised by both local and global considerations. In a sense, I wanted to address the importance of think globally and act locally, especially given the current situation. But in order to address this issue, I would love to hear some voices from our students who lived through the change and have stories to share. So today, I have the pleasure to have Yasmin with me. Welcome, Yasmin. And thank you so much for joining me today.

Yasmin Akram

Hi, Ellen. Thanks for having me. So, I'm Yasmin Akram and I'm a fourth-year international business student here at Leeds University. I recently completed an industrial placement last year in Aldi’s marketing department.

Ellen Wang

That's amazing. Thank you, Yasmin. So, you must be a shock to the system returning to campus for your final year, right?

Yasmin Akram

Yes, definitely Ellen. So, when I was last in Leeds, for my second year, all teaching was in person and we were allowed to go on campus. There was lots of people everywhere. But now everything's obviously all been moved virtually. And all of our learning is practically online.

Ellen Wang

Of course, of course. So, let me ask you, what do you think are the main challenges during the pandemic, and how has it affected you?

Yasmin Akram

So, I think firstly, maintaining a personal brand has been a significant challenge. As a returning fourth year student, one of my main goals this year was to secure a graduate scheme, and the state of the current job market as a result of COVID, and also the removal of physical networking events, made the premise of finding that graduate job hugely daunting! And I know that that was a common opinion amongst all of my peers… in my peer group at especially. And so, in first and second year, I'd actually met so many employers from numerous industries at different company talks, networking events, and careers fairs. However, all of these physical events were just removed. So, this year, we didn't have any of that. And in terms of opportunities, and further networking events, it just appeared that a vast amount of things which were previously out there were retracted. So, for example, I know some of my peers who were meant to be spending time in different companies, they could no longer go into offices, so that wasn't available for them to do. Last year I had completed the Odgers Bendston CEO for a day competition, and got into the final. So, I would have got the day to spend with the CEO. That couldn’t go ahead, and that would have been a great networking opportunity to meet somebody in such a senior position. But obviously, all of the networking opportunities such as this, were put on hold.

Ellen Wang

Absolutely. So, congratulations, first of all on winning the competition. And that must be amazing. And I do hope you have the opportunity to network with the CEO when time comes. And so, I wanted to know has it really affected you on a more personal level at all?

Yasmin Akram

Yeah, so firstly, I'd say in terms of mental health, it's had quite a significant impact. So, my friends and I mostly met on campus within our first and second year. So that was whether we were doing social event with society or whether we were attending huge lectures, often I just went and sat in the business school cafe and did work or interacted with my groups in, in the library. That was something which I found particularly helped me to get group work done. So that was all removed. And it was just moving away from that to being at your desk and sitting on your own all day. And that interaction with peers just moved online. And I think that we really missed that physical element of interaction.

But one big thing, which I think was hugely important for me was motivation. So, I know that when you can be sat at a desk all day, it can be hugely de-motivating. So, I do my university work on my laptop, I do my part time role on my laptop, and I was sat on my laptop searching for you for graduate jobs all day. So, I think that finding a balance and knowing when to switch off is hugely important. Otherwise, you just procrastinate. And I know that I'm really bad for that if I don't give myself breaks. So, when working from home, I tend to go on walks or I do home workouts on my breaks. And I just plan my day so that I've got a really clear schedule and so I've still got some work life balance, because I think that that's one big thing - finding a line to sort of cut off and get away from your desk.

Ellen Wang

Absolutely, I think you've shared some really interesting points here. You mentioned personal branding, networking, and then opportunities, mental health and self-motivation. And at the end of the day we're all social creatures, we all want to be together. And that interaction is really important. So, I'm sure you're sharing on behalf of many students in the same situation. So, given these challenges you've described, I'm interested to know your thoughts on the term, Glocal, which is a well-known term in international business, I believe. So, I want to ask you, how important do you think glocalization is on the individual level? And how can it impact your future career please?

Yasmin Akram

So, for me, I've always found the term of huge importance. I value both my local network and my global. I think that obviously with what's happening at the minute with Coronavirus, we've been very restricted. So, I will only interact with people on a day to day basis, physically, who are local to me. So that's my peers and my housemates who I live with. But on a larger scale than that I've just been conscious throughout this time period to maintain my international network. By utilising platforms such as LinkedIn, to ensure that I've still got those contacts and that I've still got a really diverse network. And I've really enjoyed actually interacting with international students in our seminars. And in addition to that, I've used LinkedIn, it's actually been a godsend to me at the minute because it's allowing me to meet a lot of amazing female expatriates who have helped me and my dissertation research. So, my dissertation is on female expatriates based in the United Arab Emirates, and therefore, it was part of my dissertation to maintain my international network and actually meet virtually with these females and get that research. But as well, it really allowed me on a personal level to understand the importance of networking and maintaining an international network because I learned so much in a such a short space of time, it's actually made me want to do an expatriate assignment myself, and my future career. And as I say, I think that it's so important to obviously, understand the meaning of globalisation, because when I do go into the workplace, I'll undoubtedly be interacting with people across the globe. And therefore, it's so important to maintain an appreciation for different opinions and diverse thoughts.

Ellen Wang

Great, thank you so much. He asked me for sharing your interesting perspective. And it sounds like you have taken full advantage of the current situation. So earlier, you mentioned your final year student. So, tell me what is the plan after your graduation and what is your career aspiration?

Yasmin Akram

So, upon going back to university, one of my biggest aims this year was to secure a graduate job. So as soon as I came back, I was doing my applications and it was a really busy and stressful period. But despite everything being virtual and not going to any physical assessment centres, I managed to take it in my stride and actually managed to secure three graduate schemes. So, I think that I'm really proud of myself given the circumstances and decided to accept Sky's graduate scheme for their business strategy scheme, which is hugely exciting. I'll be doing six month four rotations in different departments, and starting in a commercial domain. And I think that within the next five years, I'd hope to see myself in a brand manager position. And then looking further ahead in my career, a marketing and communications director position is where I'd want to be. And as I mentioned, my dissertation topic was so interesting in learning all about the importance of international assignments and what they can actually do for your career and also how amazing the opportunity is. It's just made me really excited and also interested in expatriation and therefore I think that within the next decade, I would also really like to complete an expatriate assignment.

Ellen Wang

Great, and can I just take this opportunity to say a huge congratulations to you and it's amazing to hear that you have secured three offers. And you've just proved that everything is possible no matter how challenging the situation is. And I look forward to seeing your name appearing on sky’s website as part of their senior management team for sure. So, I think this is a great point to conclude our episode today. And we end it on a very positive note. So, thank you so much for joining me today he has been and sharing your thoughts and your story with us. So, over the next several episodes, I hope to invite more guests from a both students and alumni community to join me and share their experiences in tackling current challenges and their thoughts on ‘Go Glocal’ If you're interested in finding out more about this topic, or would like to get in touch our contact details available in the episode description. Until then, let's go Glocal!