Daniel is wearing a black suit with a white shirt. He has his arms folded and has brown hair and brown facial hair.
Daniel is wearing a black suit with a white shirt. He has his arms folded and has brown hair and brown facial hair.

Future You: Life as an alumni - Daniel

Intro

When you graduate from the University of West London, you automatically become an alumni. You join a whole host of professionals in a wide range of jobs who all started out where you are now!

If the future looks a little daunting, have no fear. Many students have graduated from UWL and gone on to find great jobs and careers. Read on to discover the story of one such graduate, Daniel Nikolla.

Daniel, from Albania, studied Film Production at the University of West London in 2016 after two years at a Higher Education college. He was drawn to UWL by the friendliness of the SU and just the general vibe of Ealing and the St Mary’s Road Campus.

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Daniel arrived with a career in mind, and he knew what he wanted from his time at UWL.

I knew I was going to work in Marketing and film is such a big thing in the industry, so I wanted those skills.”

Arriving for his first day, he was inspired by the wall of famous alumni at the entrance, including Freddie Mercury, Jung Chang and Pete Townshend:

As an international student, you see all these people and you think ‘Wow they've walked in these halls. Why can’t I do what they’ve done?’ It really empowers you!”

Although he joined for the course’s third year, Daniel quickly set about making friends, many of which he is still in touch with today. He remains part of an active Facebook group, but it’s not just reminiscing about the old days!

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Daniel is wearing a grey suit with a black turtleneck underneath. He is stood in front of a large screen and is looking to the left. He has a microphone attached to his lapel and is giving a speech.

I made some good friends. One friend is in the same industry, she’s also gone down the marketing route. So she helps me with stuff, I help her with stuff.”

Towards the end of his year at UWL, Daniel found his first internship in the city by reaching out to past contacts in his network. Following this, he managed to find a job at Hardy Signs in the Midlands which works on signage for large scale events, digital screens, and billboards. Quickly, Daniel found himself appointed Marketing Manager at Hardy Signs, and is continuing to grow his successful career.

A student operating a camera in a film studio

Grateful to be in a job straight out of University, Daniel happily admits that his search for this job was aided by the UWL Careers team:

I met with the careers team and they really helped me to tidy up my CV. As a student you tend to write a lot of words everywhere and they helped me to condense it. Those chats with them have really helped me later on in my career.”

Despite throwing himself into his new career, Daniel was keen to stay connected to his university.

I’ve always known that staying in touch with past colleagues, past institutions, previous places is absolutely number one priority. The first thing I did was email UWL and let them know where I’d ended up. They were very happy for me and encouraged me to stay in contact.”

Daniel is wearing a dark grey suit with a white shirt and matching tie. He has light brown hair and beard. He is standing outside on a busy street.

Since then, Daniel has enjoyed a successful career at Hardy Signs, incorporating the skills he learned at UWL to transition the company into the online space by using videos and dynamic content. He’s won several awards, including being named the Young Professional of the Year for Derbyshire in 2020. All the while, he proudly let them know that he’d come from UWL. His representation of the University even earned him recognition at the 2022 UWL Alumni Awards which aims to celebrate the achievements of our alumni community. Daniel’s success story is well within your grasp! He encourages all of you to get out there and start making connections: 

Go and research the right networking groups in your area. Whether that’s film or business or whatever, go find those groups. There you’re going to meet your next boss, your next colleagues, or your next mentor."

Graduates celebrating graduating as they hold their hats.

Having a mentor is so important. Then get associated with professional growth organisations. Finally, develop an online presence for yourself. If you’re a recent graduate you should put your CV online and connect with the decision makers at the companies you want to work at."

Daniel is a great example of how actively engaging in the alumni community at UWL can help you grow a successful career. We’re immensely proud of all our graduates, and we can’t wait to welcome you to the group. Wherever you end up, make sure you stay connected to the University of West London and make the most of all the benefits open to our alumni community. Update your details with my registry to make sure you keep in touch!

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