Meet the team

Alex joined BU in 2021, relocating from London where he worked for 15 years in careers and employability-focused roles across the charity and public sectors. Alex started his career in the mental health field, supporting people with mental health conditions to develop their skills and employability, before working for a charity which supports ex-offenders into employment. Following that Alex worked for the NSPCC before moving into the public sector.

From 2016-2021, Alex led the Employment Pathways service at Hackney Council, establishing and managing a range of apprenticeship, traineeship, work placement and other employability programmes. During Alex’s time at Hackney, the Council was named Top Public Sector Employer at the School Leaver Awards for two consecutive years, and Large Employer of the Year for the London region at the National Apprenticeship Awards.

Having worked within three HE careers services in London (Brunel, City & SOAS UoL) for over a decade, Rashida decided to relocate to Bournemouth. Her previous experience spans working widely across careers from placements, managing the careers online information provision, to providing careers advice and guidance through one to one appointments and careers workshops.

Rashida leads the Careers Advisers Team and also works with the Bournemouth University Business School in delivering careers education in the curriculum. She is genuinely passionate about helping individuals reach their full potential. 

Adrian works with the Faculty of Health & Social Sciences in delivering careers education in the curriculum. He holds a BA (Hons) Business and Management degree from the University of Exeter Business School. Following his degree he entered the JPMorgan Banking Operations Graduate Programme.

His early career was centred in the medical sector working in a hospital laboratory and attending a London medical school. More recently he worked with the Connexions careers service and has experience in the charity and social enterprise sector. Adrian enjoys travelling and has taught English language in Europe. He joined Bournemouth University in 2013 in the AskBU Team before transitioning to the Careers & Employability Team in 2015. 

Michelle works with the Faculty of Science & Technology in delivering careers education in the curriculum. Michelle was awarded the Level 6 Diploma in Careers Information, Advice and Guidance in 2020. She joined the Careers Team at Bournemouth University in May 2021 after spending nine years previously, in careers adviser roles, both within the community and the Probation Service.

Michelle's early career started with working in a vocational setting in Hospitality. Using the skills and knowledge acquired in that sector enabled her to progress into the training and education sector, where she delivered Apprenticeships and Advanced Apprenticeships via work-based learning.

Michelle is passionate about encouraging individuals to utilise all the facilities and support services available to them at BU, both during and after their studies. This will enable individuals to finish their time at BU feeling confident about the skills and knowledge they have developed, both through curricular and extracurricular activities, and to use these in the next steps on their career ladder.

Amanda has been working in the Careers and Employability sector for over 14 years. She holds a BSc Psychology and Education along with a Postgraduate Diploma in Careers Guidance.

Amanda joined the Careers Team at Bournemouth University in 2021. She works with the Bournemouth University Business School in delivering careers education in the curriculum.

Before joining the team, Amanda was working for a charity providing careers guidance services into local schools around Dorset. She has experience of working with young people in a variety of settings including colleges, grammar schools, SEN schools and learning centres. Amanda is passionate about supporting individuals and helping them identify their skills and potential.

Jane works with the Faculty of Media & Communications in delivering careers education in the curriculum. After graduating with a BA (Hons) 3D Design Jane worked as a glass designer in the cut crystal industry in the West Midlands and has had her work displayed in Harrods. As a careers adviser Jane is able to bring her knowledge of work in creative industries to help prepare students for work and provide one to one guidance.

Jane moved to Bournemouth to set up and manage a training centre for adults in the creative industries. She has also held various roles within education from schools, colleges and university to help adults and young people achieve their desired career success. Most recently she has achieved the Post Graduate Certificate in Teaching Practice and Fellowship of the Higher Education Association at BU. 

Jade was awarded a BA (Hons) in Library & Information Studies at Loughborough University. She started working at Bournemouth University in March 2001 as Assistant Librarian in the University Library before moving across to the BU Careers & Employability Service in 2004 to specialise as Careers Information Coordinator.

Within the careers team Jade is responsible for the management and dissemination of quality careers information, primarily through the online careers system MyCareerHub, but also via other online BU platforms and social media channels to ensure that students and graduates have access to the most up to date and relevant careers and labour market information.

After graduating with a degree in Graphic Design Robert worked as a designer for several years, before moving to Tokyo for three years working as an English Teacher.

Robert’s idiosyncratic career journey continued on his return to the UK, where he worked in the county’s largest Crown Court, progressing the most serious cases within its 20 courtrooms. He previously worked as an Alumni & Mentoring specialist (recognised by becoming an Associate Fellow of the HEA) before joining BU.

Robert’s current role involves coordinating the careers fairs and Your Career Week. He also works alongside the Placement Coordinators to oversee the university’s jobs platform, MyCareerHub, which advertises 6,000 jobs each year.

Sara joined the Careers Team in 2018 having previously worked in BU Future Student Enquiries Team, where she provided prospective students with support throughout the student journey.

Her role within the Graduate Employment Team is to manage the online jobs portal MyCareerHub, promoting graduate recruitment opportunities, building employer relationships and assisting with the organising of graduate recruitment events and careers fairs.

In 1992 when BU was given University status, Sara worked for the Faculty of HSS for five years as Programme Administrator for the BSc (Hons) Clinical Nursing, Mental Health and Child Health courses, from there she worked for the Bournemouth International Centre gaining a great wealth of events experience in the entertainment sector spanning over 12 years.

Jenna is responsible for the operational management of the Skills Development Programme which includes delivering the core workshop programme for over 2000 BU students. Jenna works with academics, students and industry to ensure that BU graduates stand out from the crowd and are able to articulate the soft transferable skills that they gain at university through extracurricular activities to employers when applying for graduate roles.

A true believer in international study and work opportunities for students, having completed an Erasmus+ study abroad year in Spain as a part of her BA (Hons) Spanish and Linguistics degree. She is passionate about helping students to self-reflect about the experiences they have at university and how these translate into skills they will need for their future employability needs.