Fancy a role working on events for a global firm in a prestigious area in London?
Mattie graduated from OMBS in 2021 and hasn’t looked back since! Here we catch up with him on his career to date, hearing about his career highlights (organising events at prestigious locations such as the V&A Museum), and what he loves about his varied role as an EA and event management lead….
When did you graduate from OMBS?
I graduated in July 2021, with Distinction Honours.
What is your current job role title, company name and sector, and where are you working in terms of location?
I am currently working as an Executive Assistant & EMEA Events Lead at Hakluyt & Company, a global strategic advisory firm located in Mayfair in London.
What are the highlights of your career to date?
Since joining Hakluyt I have been heavily involved with organising various events we put on throughout the year. At the start of 2024 I was thrilled to be promoted to an Events Lead EMEA, taking on more responsibility.
I’ve now had experience running events at amazing venues such as the Tate, The Victoria & Albert Museum and The British Museum. I also played my bagpipes at a client burns supper! This was very exciting for me, and our client was very impressed!
Another highlight is working with one of my colleagues to set up a ‘Scots in the City’ networking event in London. We started this in 2022 and have since run 7 successful events for Scottish professionals living in London.
What do you love most about the EA role and your industry sector?
No two days are the same for me!
I love the excitement of planning, organising, and attending the events I manage. I also love that it’s not just an EA role as there are other interesting areas I get involved with. I make internal company videos from our firm wide offsite events, look after our travel account, update contracts and train new colleagues on our systems.
It’s a very fast-paced environment and you are always keeping busy, which I love and thrive on! At the same time everyone here is very kind and always willing to help.
We are only 200 employees worldwide, but we all know each other very well and have regular catch-ups as a whole company with global offsite meetings.
What skills learnt at OMBS have you found most beneficial to you in your position?
Overall, almost every skill I learned at OMBS has excelled me into the position I am in today!
If I had to pick a few it would certainly be the in-depth Microsoft PowerPoint, Excel and Word training we received, as well as the Personal Development Planning work we did with Andrea.
With my new role as Events Lead EMEA, we use Excel and Word all the time for tracking invites, acceptances, and declines to events. I was very fortunate to have kept a copy of my IT assignment manuals, which I still look over regularly to refresh my brain.
How did studying with OMBS help you feel confident about your early career and getting your first role?
At OMBS we were prepared to enter the workplace from the moment we graduated!
The professional training and scheduled routine we followed throughout our time in Oxford was exceptional. I felt confident heading into the workplace with the vast amount of knowledge we learnt in such a short period of time.
Overall, my grades in school were never that great, probably because I wasn’t doing what I loved. After enrolling with OMBS I was initially worried I wouldn’t keep up with the course. I soon realised I could, and I thrived throughout the course in all areas with help from the wonderful staff that encouraged us every day.
What advice would you give an OMBS student looking to work in London after graduation?
I went straight into a 6-month temp position directly after graduating in June as I knew that to get a job in London they would want me to have some level of work experience in an office environment. This was the best decision I ever made! It allowed me to try out working in different business functions, for example, PA duties, marketing, e-commerce support, and office management.
Having this time to put my OMBS skills into practice was hugely exciting and it gave me time to think about what next steps I wanted to take in the future.
I then applied to various recruitment agencies after my 6-month temp role, and I found the perfect job through Tiger Recruitment here at Hakluyt! The rest is history as they say….
If you’d like to find out more about studying for the Professional Business Diploma, please contact our Director of Admissions.