Sean McNally, a final year Accountancy student from Kilmore, Co Armagh has won the coveted title ‘The QUB Apprentice 2012’.
This is the second year of The QUB Apprentice 2012 competition in partnership with Deloitte and Sean was up against stiff competition in the final task with his opponent, Business Management student, Judith Alexander from Markethill where they had to take control of the Simon Community Shop in Botanic for a day, each competing to raise the most profit and tangible donations.
The students managed to raise almost £15,000 for the Simon Community throughout this year’s tasks.
In addition to the coveted title, Sean has the opportunity of a prestigious two-week placement with Deloitte as well as winning £300 worth of vouchers and a cash prize of £3,495 towards his university fees.
Star of the BBC’s ‘The Apprentice’, Jim Eastwood, teamed up with Queen’s Students’ Union to host the final boardroom this week, where he ‘hired’ the lucky winner.
Contestants were short-listed based on a CV application and a 30-second elevator pitch recorded to camera. They then embarked on a series of tasks which put their presentation, team work, creativity and negotiation skills to the test.
Along the way they encountered some of the most experienced business people in Northern Ireland, including Dr Trefor Campbell, former Director of Moy Park; John Blisard, owner of Boojum; Stephen Moore, Group Creative Director AV Browne Group; and Gary Carpenter, Deloitte.