Happy New Year from Durham University Business School Alumni Relations Team.

Happy New Year and welcome to the Winter 2013 edition of the Durham University Business School Alumni Network e-newsletter!

You may be aware that the School, following approval from University Senate, has been re-named Durham University Business School. This slight, but significant, name change comes as a result of an extensive brand re-positioning exercise undertaken within the School, in consultation with our internal and external stakeholders. We believe that it represents an important step in better reflecting the value and significance of the calibre and heritage of our School as part of the world-leading Durham University.

We are also still moving forward with the on-going redevelopment of the Business School site at Mill Hill Lane which is on target for completion in September 2013. To keep up to date with the site developments check out the latest time lapse video here.

In this edition of the DUBS alumni e-newsletter we are covering a range of topics aimed at assisting you in your career, whatever stage you may be, from improving your skills as a leader and manager to gaining an insight into some of the biggest multinational companies and sectors. In our regular features section we have highlighted a number of jobs currently advertised on the DUBS Alumni Network Jobs Board. We have also included a selection of the forthcoming events planned for 2013, including the International D8 Masterclasses and the Leading Edge Careers Workshops schedule. We hope the Careers Gateway and Knowledge Portal offered as part of the DUBS Alumni Network benefits package are useful and, as always, we welcome your feedback.

We look forward to meeting you in the coming months during our trips to Delhi, Mumbai, Frankfurt, Geneva, Sri Lanka and Moscow and would like to wish you and your family a happy, healthy and prosperous 2013.

The Alumni Relations Team

Check out the DUBS Online Skills Index for tips on improving your Leadership & Management skills.

Looking to Improve Your Leadership and Management Skills?

Ever wondered how to hone your ‘Effective Delegation’ skills or how to improve on your skills when ‘Giving Corrective Feedback’?

The DUBS Online Skills Index is a virtual ‘room’ which allows registered DUBS Alumni Network members access to a wide range of quick, practical and pragmatic learning and business tools. It features tips and advice on a range of topics, broken down into bite size sections intended to boost your effectiveness and capability as leaders, managers and individual contributors.

As well as an extensive category of leadership and management tips the index also includes categories on ‘Personal Effectiveness’, ‘Team Working’, ‘Communications’, ‘Change, Motivation & Talent Development’, ‘Organisational Diagnostic Tools’ and ‘Working Effectively Across Cultures’.

The Online Skills Index is available to access free of charge here.

Ever wanted an insight into multi-national companies such CNN, Sony & Honda?

One of the most important things when planning a career is to research the options that are available in the market. As a graduate it is not always easy to gather this information and choices are often made with very little insight into the true nature of different jobs.

This online service offers a series of interviews with company directors, executives, businessmen/women and asks them to explain their jobs and day-to-day activities in exactly 10 minutes. Featured executives include Deborah Rayner- Managing Editor of CNN, Martin Moll- Head of Marketing at Honda (UK) and Andy Gregory- Head of Supply Chain Management at Vodafone. 

Access to these videos is available here.

Webinars to help you in your career whether you are just starting out or looking to move up the career ladder.

DUBS Alumni Network Webinar Series 2013

We are delighted to announce that we have a brand new series of exciting and interactive webinars to help you in your career. We have teamed up with leading career development and career planning company Position Ignition to produce the 2013 webinar series featuring topical career issues and challenges.

A recording of the first webinar of the series, ‘Selling Yourself with Confidence’, is available to watch on the alumni website. The next live webinar is themed on the topic ‘Networking for Success’ with this, and the rest of the scheduled webinars, listed below:

Tuesday 12 February 2013- Networking for Success
Tuesday 19 March 2013- Getting into Senior Roles
Tuesday 30 April 2013- Developing a Career Plan
Wednesday 15 May 2013- Becoming a Great Manager and Leader
Thursday 13 June 2013- Building Influencing & Persuasive Skills

For more information or to sign up to one of these workshops click here.

To view any of these resources you must be a registered DUBS Alumni Network member, if you have not yet registered please request your member ID from the Alumni Relations Team then visit the DUBS Alumni Network website to register.

New LinkedIn and Facebook Groups!

DUBS Alumni Network has now created several sub-groups of our main ‘Durham University Business School Alumni Network' LinkedIn group aimed at specific groups of students. These groups are ‘Durham MBA', ‘Executive MBA 2012-14', ‘MBA Class of 2012/13', ‘DUBS China', 'DUBS Alumni USA', 'DUBS Alumni India' and ‘DUBS London' all of which are closed groups and can only be accessed by those who have studied or are studying at Durham and fall into the specific group categories. These groups are a great opportunity to network with alumni and discuss relevant topics affecting you. To join these groups please click the relevant link above.

We have also created a new Facebook page which we encourage all students and alumni to join named ‘DUBS Alumni Network’ and a Twitter page '@DUBSAlumni'.

Benefit from the expertise and knowledge of a full time Durham MBA student.

Could your business benefit from our expertise?

MBA consultancy projects help organisations address issues within their business that their own staff may lack either the time or the specialist expertise to tackle. They are a cost-effective way of bringing in expertise on a consultancy basis to help address a specific business issue.

What are the benefits to my organisation?

• Professional, high quality consultancy and research provided at minimal cost (only out of pocket expenses to be provided)
• Individuals working for you who have an international perspective and have gained learning from leading academics and practitioners
• Tangible results, typically a project report and presentation, within a short timescale
• Impartial input drawn from the latest thinking, theory and practice
• Opportunity to observe potential future recruits

The 8-12 week consultancy project (June to September) forms the concluding part of the Full Time Durham MBA programme. Organisations are involved in defining the remit of the consultancy exercise and they are able to select the student whose experience and skills best reflect their requirements.

For more information contact the Corporate Relations Team.