Sophie Ruston

Member of The Dean's List, class of 2020

Sophie’s award applauds her contribution to the student community and her professional achievements. Alongside her place on the Dean’s List, she also won the Chartered Institute of Marketing prize for the best overall performance in marketing.

Becoming a leader

In her first year, Sophie put into practice her enterprise, entrepreneurial and employability skills by taking part in the highly competitive ENACTUS competition ‘The Intern.’ Succeeding at each knock-out round and the assessment day finale, Sophie achieved first place winning positions on two sought-after summer internships: one at ASDA Head Office and one at Enterprise-Rent-A-Car. As a result, Sophie completed a 3-month rotational scheme across ASDA’s business functions including Buying, Commercial Strategy, Product Development and E-commerce.

Keen to remain embedded in her student community during her degree, Sophie held the committee role of Publicity Officer for the Management Society and was elected to President in her final year. As a Management School Student Ambassador too, she shared her experiences with prospective students in open day tours and presentations.

Sophie also took on the role of Lead Student Ambassador for the UK/EU Recruitment team in Student Services, representing the wider University at UCAS events and HE Fairs around the UK.

In her second year Sophie completed a placement year at L’Oréal, where she gained experience in E-Retail, Sales and Business Development, across the different divisions of the business.

Building connections

Taking hold of every opportunity to build her professional network, Sophie made the most of her summer school course at the University of Amsterdam by meeting and interacting with different companies as prospective employers.

In the UK, she joined the University’s City Connections programme visiting London-based businesses and assisted with the London Alumni and placement students’ event, which hosted University alumnus Lord Hogan-Howe.

A responsible citizen

Sophie was passionate about contributing to the University's widening participation initiatives. As part of the Discover Social Sciences Programme she spoke with schoolchildren about what to expect from University life, led visits for students and took part in web chat events. Sophie also worked as a Futures First Ambassador, encouraging Management School students to consider a year in industry and helping with applications.

Outside of the University Sophie volunteered at Breast Cancer Haven for four years, helping to host activities for visitors and becoming the Event Photographer for their annual Blossom Fashion Show.

Next for Sophie

After achieving her degree, Sophie completed an Erasmus+ programme working for 12 weeks at a digital agency in Spain as a Digital Marketing Coordinator, earning a Level 3 qualification and a Spanish CEFR language qualification.

More recently Sophie has gained a graduate role on L’Oréal’s Management Trainee programme in the UK.