Vikki Allan

BA (Hons) Social Science with Management, 2014

What does your current role involve?

My current role as a Service Delivery Manager requires me to look after our suppliers and ensure they are providing the service they should be. This requires a bit of travelling to visit them and making sure they are operating as expected. However, my “hobby” which is basically my second full time job is as a referee. In Scotland I referee men’s and women’s football. Men’s as an assistant in the Lowland, East of Scotland and Juniors leagues then I referee in the Women’s Scottish Premier League, which is the highest league in Scotland. I am also a FIFA Assistant Referee, which means I can run the line in Champions League, World Cup and European Qualifiers as a few examples!

Since leaving Abertay, describe your journey to your current job?

Once I left Abertay I was lucky enough to get a job at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow as an Assistant Venue Logistics Manager. It was a great job and I had to learn a lot of things quickly! I also had front row seats to the Commonwealth Games, which was fantastic. During this I applied for the Operations Graduate scheme at Standard Life Investments and was successful. Since starting at SLI, I've had four placements around the business in over two years, which resulted in a full-time role in our Global Supplier Management Function. I have now been in this role for two years and love it!

Refereeing-wise I continued to work hard after university and was lucky enough to be nominated in 2016 for my FIFA badge representing Scotland. Since then I have travelled to Austria, Albania, Croatia and Northern Ireland refereeing in Champions League, Euro and World Qualifiers. I am excited to see what the future holds in this space!

How did your Abertay degree help you get where you are?

My degree helps me every day in my role, it really relates to business every day - whether that is dealing with/managing suppliers or during a football match and managing stakeholders. It is funny when I am on training courses and a lot of my degree reappears within the theory side; it’s great that I already have that edge.

Who had the most impact on your Abertay experience?

Definitely the people, the students that I met and the lecturers were all great. Charlie Malone was an excellent lecturer and so encouraging. I always look back at the feedback and opportunities he gave me, they are still relevant today in my job and I am grateful for that. Jan Law was also excellent and another one that her ideas and lessons are still relevant today. I loved that she was so passionate about her subject and was great for creating a debate, which has definitely helped me in my role when I need to stand my ground in something I believe in.

Another big aspect I’m grateful for was the Principal's Award. I really appreciated the experiences I gained from that. The mentor I had was excellent and then the chance to have a mock assessment centre and interview was also amazing! I was able to use this experience on my CV and during interviews; they were all impressed I had done that little extra while at university to get ready for the world of work. I highly recommend this to any student looking for that little something extra!

What are your lasting memories of Abertay/Dundee?

Gosh, there are so many to choose from! One of my favourite modules was where I got to go and work with a charity for the year. This experience was fantastic and I was essentially a project manager at a local charity. I then managed to connect this in with the University and run a careers fair in the Union, which we managed to get Microsoft, Police Scotland, Royal Bank of Scotland and many others along. I loved the opportunity to collaborate between the charity and use my connections from my time at Abertay.

Graduation was obviously a lasting memory as well, being with all of my friends and lecturers to celebrate our four years together!

What advice would you give to students?

Grab every opportunity that the University offers you. I think I gained additional skills from taking part in the Principal's Award and the module in fourth year to go volunteer at a charity that others in my year didn’t have. The University genuinely want all of the students to do well, so ask for help when you aren’t sure and work hard!