Business and German

Business

Business will equip you with essential business knowledge, techniques and theories. The course has a strong professional focus and ensures that you gain the insight and skills often sought by employers. The course encompasses a broad range of modules, such as Quantitative Techniques, Accounting, Economics, Marketing, Operations Management, Organisational Behaviour and Strategic Management. There is also emphasis on other skills such as presentation, organisation, communication and IT, which are developed throughout the course. Business will allow you to enjoy extensive and varied career opportunities.

This programme aims to deepen your understanding of how businesses operate and to develop your ability to recognise and analyse the economic, technical, financial, social and organisational parameters within which modern managers make decisions.

German

Germany has played a central role in Europe's history and continues to be a key power in the European Union today. The German language is essential to understand more about the Europe in which we live. Whether for the purpose of business, government or culture, German will ensure that you will benefit from a wealth of opportunity in the graduate job market. German graduates are highly sought after, both to work in Europe and in European Companies based in the UK. Aston's German graduates are extremely proficient in the written and spoken language and are also well developed in analytical, communicational and other transferable skills. By choosing German as a subject in a Combined Honours Degree, you will benefit from a degree with breadth and depth significantly enhancing your career prospects on graduation.

Key benefits

Business

Aston Business School has an excellent reputation for teaching and research. It scored 24/24 in the latest Teaching Quality Assessment and gained a very high grade of 5 for its research. There is a wide range of subjects on offer to complement Business. The course offers an extensive choice of final year options, enabling you to tailor your degree to specific needs and interests. Graduates of Business are entitled to exemptions from a number of the professional accreditation foundation stage exams, including those of the Chartered Institute of Marketing, Institute of Chartered Accountants and The Chartered Institute of Management Accountants. Aston's Business graduates have a strong track record of graduate employment success. This is strongly influenced by Aston's excellent placement opportunities.

Aston Business School is rated as one of the UK's leading Business Schools. It offers a range of general business and management degrees together with more specialist offerings and has one of the largest MSc. programmes in the country. Although Aston University is relatively small, Aston Business School is one of the largest in the UK with around 3000 undergraduate and postgraduate students. Confidence in Aston's success has led to a significant investment programme in recent years and the School offers its own high quality conference and hotel accommodation on its premises close to the centre of Birmingham.

German

Aston is committed to the study of language in context. You will develop near-native proficiency and a high level of communicative skills through an in-depth study of contemporary history, politics, culture and economics of Germany and German-speaking countries. Our programme is taught in German and stresses an understanding of German society and a practical command of the language, emphasising it as a means of communication and mutual understanding in the contemporary world.

Aston's German degrees are nationally recognised as an excellent preparation for a wide range of exciting careers in languages and many other fields. As most classes are taught in German, the study of language is combined with a sophisticated understanding of the German-speaking world. The integrated Year Abroad can be spent in Germany, Austria or German-speaking Switzerland.

Teaching and assessment

You will experience a wide variety of learning and teaching methods, including:

• lectures, tutorials and seminars

• business exercises and case studies

• language (German) exercises and case studies

• group and individual project work

• use of our extensive computing facilities

• corporate investigation and analysis

Students will be assessed in individual modules by end-of-semester (January & May/June) examinations and by assignments conducted and submitted during each session. Each module has its own method of assessment. Assessment methods include written exams, essays, presentations and projects.

Personal development

Business

There is the opportunity to develop professional skills and enhance employability by spending a year in paid employment with an industrial, commercial or public sector organisation. It is therefore strongly recommended that you choose a sandwich programme including a placement. However, it should be noted that a placement is compulsory only for Combined Honours students if they are studying a language as one of their subjects.

The year of paid employment can provide you with experience of the practical problems of management and lay the foundations for your final year of study. It is highly attractive to potential employers and around 30% of students are offered a job upon graduation by their placement year employer.

Aston Business School has excellent links with eight hundred and fifty companies both in the UK and abroad. Around two thousand jobs are advertised to students each year via the Placement Office website. Opportunities are available in a wide range of institutions, from large multi-national blue chip companies to small firms and charities.

The Placement Office will help you to secure a placement by providing information and guidance in a number of ways. It offers workshops on interview techniques, assessment centre tests, writing CVs and completing application forms. Students can also undertake mock interviews.

In the final year, students have the opportunity to specialise in areas of particular interest and relevance to their chosen career path.

The Business programme aims to prepare you for managerial positions and will develop your skills as a problem solver, planner and leader. You will have the opportunity to develop the skills to deploy key resources such as people, time and money efficiently and effectively.

German

The placement year at Aston University has an enviable reputation. This year provides the opportunity to develop professional skills by spending a year in paid employment while developing fluency in German.

While the placement year is compulsory, students have a choice of three options. They can undertake an industrial or professional placement in an established and leading German company. Alternatively students could choose to study at one of our prestigious partner ERASMUS institutions in Germany or Austria. The third option available is to work as an English Teaching Assistant at a German or Austrian school.

The School of Languages and Social Sciences has a full-time placement officer who is dedicated in assisting students finding suitable placements.

Aston has one of the best records for graduate employment in the UK. Aston University ensures that you will gain academic knowledge as well as developing a wide range of skills that are valued by employers. Aston's German graduates offer potential employers strong communication and problem-solving skills and have a proven record of securing lucrative, varied and stimulating positions after completing their studies at Aston University.

Career prospects

Business

Combined Honours Business graduates have a consistently excellent track record in finding graduate jobs in the private and public sectors. Recent graduates have entered the job market in management positions for leading and well-established companies.

Examples include Marketing Officer for the Co-Op bank, Commercial manager for Marks and Spencer, Accountants for KPMG, Price Waterhouse Coopers, Baker Tilly and Deloitte and Touche. More information can be found on graduate destinations from the Aston Careers Service.

German

Britain's increased involvement with the European Union as well as the process of globalisation have led to an ever-increasing demand for top-quality graduates with practical, near-native language skills and an in-depth knowledge of other European countries and their business and communication cultures. They require an expertise in contemporary, social, economic and political issues as well as the ability to work comfortably and competently in a variety of media. As one of our German graduates, you will match these criteria fully. Recent graduates have entered careers in UK and international business/marketing, the languages and communications professions, education, European institutions and research. Career prospects for languages graduates in the UK are proven to be better than those studying IT, Business, Management and Economics degrees.