Daniel Pitcher Testimonial

Aston graduate promoting gender equality at Sky

Aston Business School graduate Daniel Pitcher is currently enrolled on the Sky UK graduate scheme following completing his BSc (Hons) International Business and Management degree. He describes life working for a major British media and telecommunications conglomerate, and how Aston University helped him get there.

Working at Sky

Daniel Pitcher graduated from Aston University in 2020 with a degree in BSc (Hons) International Business and Management. During his final year, Daniel gained a position on the competitive Sky graduate scheme, where he works as an Assistant Financial Analyst. He is currently on his first rotation of a three-year scheme and will get to experience a variety of roles within the company.

Daniel is having a fantastic time working at Sky, and has achieved many great things in his time there so far.

Women@Sky working group

Notably, he is part of a small group of colleagues making up the Women@Sky working group. This group aims to make meaningful and lasting change in the area of gender equality by improving women’s opportunities within the workplace.

Daniel got involved with Women@Sky when an opportunity arose in October 2020. His role within the group is largely administrative but by being part of the team, Daniel gets a say in shaping the group's calendar of events.

For International Women’s Day the group’s Chief Executive Officer, Dana Strong ran an ‘in conversation’ event regarding her own personal journey. The group also runs networking events for the 2,500 Women@Sky members throughout the company so they can get to know one another and discuss issues faced by women. Daniel feels very lucky to be a part of this progressive movement within the company, describing the experience as “eye-opening”.

Daniel commented

“Before coming to Sky, I hadn’t really been involved with the topic of diversity and inclusion,” Daniel acknowledged. As someone with a number of “privileges in society”, he understands it is his duty to advocate for equality in the workplace and beyond. He added: “I want to be a part of the movement towards gender equality... to help create a more equal world.”

Why Aston Business School?

The focus for Daniel when applying to universities was to gain a good job afterwards, which to him meant not only “a nice salary” but an “enjoyable job where I can learn and grow as an individual”. He looked at universities with high graduate employability, and after visiting the campus, he quickly decided Aston University was the best choice.

Daniel particularly appreciated the flexibility of his degree, as he was able to specialise in finance over the course of the four years. He also believes the inbuilt placement year was “instrumental in securing a position at Sky”. During his placement year, Daniel worked abroad in the Netherlands for Bosch Power Tools.

Daniel loved his time working abroad. He gained valuable experience and insight into the finance sector, became more independent and got to travel during his time there.

Daniel felt well supported by Aston University in securing both his placement and his current role at Sky. He took advantage of the many services provided by the University such as the mock interview service and the CV checking service.

Student life

Daniel says that he “fell in love with the vibrant campus... everything is on your doorstep”. He found studying at Aston University and living in Birmingham to be a “cultural awakening”, and loved getting to meet people from all different walks of life.

Birmingham “is a great city to be a student in and there is always something to do” Daniel said. In his first week at Aston University Daniel joined the hockey club, which he later went on to captain. He got to meet new people, play games against universities across the West Midlands and pushed himself outside of his comfort zone. He also worked as a student ambassador and took part in many fundraising events for charity.