Bayes Business School - City University London

Ultimately, the aim of the EMBA for me, was to take my career to the next level. So, the Careers and Professional Development Team put me in touch with a careers coach. I worked with her for a few months and she helped me to change my mindset in terms of how I was looking for work and how I could penetrate a different industry where I had not worked before.

The EMBA at Cass enabled me to take my first step – a double jump – to a new function and industry. I pursued an opportunity that opened up through my MBA network and moved into the tech start up world as a technology consultant and group CTO for an accelerator/incubator backed by a corporate VC.

Thanks to my experience at Cass, I’m really looking forward to continuing to work with accelerators and incubators and move further into the corporate venture capital side of things.

My classmates were diverse, energetic and expressive. During lectures it was refreshing to have input from different students, which depicts their interpretation of a given subject based on their unique professional and cultural backgrounds. I was surprised by the level of maturity of some students despite their young age.

The learning experience was truly invigorating. Even though I was in sales management for five years after being an engineer and having access to such contrasting worlds, the MBA gave yet another learning perspective that reinstated the importance of seeing the big picture. Classes were taught in two different ways. There was the more traditional method with faculty covering the content through slides and examples, and then leaving it up to us to complete learning in an autonomous way. The other method was in a more interactive manner where we were pushed to be creative and reason from scratch, generating ideas and brainstorming. This was refreshing, and I found that each style was used appropriately depending on the area subject.

Having grown up in a large city such as Bogota and having lived in smaller towns, I definitely enjoyed living in a big metropolis such as London. Previously, I lived in Paris for five years and even though it’s a city with a plethora of experiences to offer, I found London had so much more to offer. The school’s location definitely has its advantages over schools that are not located in London.

The Cass MBA programme enabled me to gain confidence on entrepreneurial matters. I was too scared to fail, but now I understand that investors will not take you seriously after it’s your third or fourth failure. It also taught me the intrinsic meaning of many concepts that are commonly used in business but whose true importance is sometimes overlooked. In parallel, it made me understand how complementary subjects such as organizational behavior, human resources and ethics are key in achieving success. Again, these are known stances, but I felt I did not give them enough importance. Overall, having thorough experience in the corporate world, it was of great value interacting with other successful individuals outside of the corporate world and sharing best practices.

As well as the fantastic networking opportunities, the MBA certainly broadens your horizons. The international electives were a personal highlight for me. They enable you to develop a very holistic view of what’s going on in the current global market. I gained some consulting experience in Iceland. I also went to San Francisco to explore Silicon Valley, which gave me a great sense of what true entrepreneurialism looks like. Finally, I got to visit China. I was fascinated by its rising economy, so it was great to experience it first hand and get a feel for the place.

You learn a lot of soft skills from Bayes. The great thing about the professional development skills training is that it keeps you up to date with current practices. I came from a sales background in negotiations, so the negotiation training gave me a great insight into current developments.

The MBA at Bayes has given me solid foundation, and helped me build the knowledge and confidence to pursue my goals. My expectations were met – I built up a great network and developed my entrepreneurial skills. In fact, we set-up and launched Waggel, our pet insurance business, immediately after finishing the full-time MBA programme. It’s gaining good traction already. Everything I set out to do when I joined Bayes, the MBA has helped me achieve.

The EMBA is a challenging course of study on top of a full-time job. The time between each EMBA weekend flies by and there is a wealth of information for you to grasp. However, the lecturers are engaging and as experts in their fields are able to simplify concepts and make it accessible to someone such as myself, from a non-traditional background. The best part is being able to apply what I have learned immediately at work because of how practical the concepts are.

Before I joined the Cass Executive MBA, I was working at a global media agency and I was at a point in my career where I had gained a decent amount of experience, but had not specialised in a particular area. The media industry requires a very flexible mind-set and skillset to deal with any new situation; more and more the importance is on soft skills as technologies are evolving on a daily basis.

When looking for a programme, location was very important to my family and me and I was looking for a school with a diverse offering where I could meet people from all industries and different backgrounds. I wanted to understand what was happening in other sectors and what challenges they were facing.

The intellectual challenge of returning to education was very refreshing compared to the concerns of the corporate world, but the time requirement cannot be underestimated. I wanted to get the most out of the programme but this meant that most of my evenings and weekends were spent at the school. The support and understanding from family was indispensable. Although, due to the time pressures, I found myself being more efficient at work. The Executive MBA experience showed me how much more capable I am when under pressure.

Working with the professional development team supported me in developing my soft skills, which were transferable into my work such as team management, leadership and understanding team member’s motivations. I was also able to develop my presentation and negotiation skills that helped to boost my confidence.

All of the modules contributed to building a rounded view of business. In the second year, I chose electives that added to my long-term professional goals such as management and strategy. I also took the time to take electives which I found interesting, even if they were very different to my profession, such as private equity and investment management.

Even though I’m not a finance professional, the Executive MBA showed me how the thinking, approaches, frameworks used in finance and other sectors can be transferred to my profession. I actually applied strategy and investment management frameworks in my company which was also a good intellectual challenge. The elective “Managing Professional Services Firms” was a stand out due to applying the learnings from law firms, consultancies and auditors to the media industry. It allowed me to understand how my company and industry is managed from a different perspective.

I used the Business Mastery Project to raise my profile within the company by addressing a corporate challenge on securing more clients. I was able to interview and have facetime with very senior members of the company and establish strong relationships. Without the BMP, it would have taken me much more time and I don’t believe I would have established as solid connections.

The Cass Executive MBA helped me understand that my career is my responsibility. Before I was naïve and did not have a clear plan of my goals or have to achieve them. Since finishing I feel that I`m in control with a plan on how to reach my goals. I have moved company and I`m now heading a department of 20+ people, reporting to the global board and am a respected member of the management team – none of which could have been achieved without the confidence I gained at Cass.

I looked at a lot of different schools. Most reputable schools in the US only offer two-year programmes. However, I didn’t want to take two years away from work. So, I started looking abroad. What I appreciated about the Business School was the fact that the MBA is condensed into one year. In addition, the layout of the core classes and focus on the explorer mindset really allows you to take control of your learning experience. I knew straight away that this was where I wanted to be.

Having spent several years in the workplace, I had been out of the study environment for a while. For me, it required a completely different mindset, and I dedicated myself fully to the learning experience.

I particularly enjoyed the strategy module as it frames things in a new light. It is something that has stayed with me – from problem solving to evaluations, even today, I’m thinking about things and approaching them in a way that I had not done before.

The electives give you the opportunity to dig a bit deeper into the things that you’re really interested in, which for me was the marketing and management modules.

The Business Mastery Project (BMP) helps you explore interesting avenues and take away a really unique piece of research that you can then translate to your career. My BMP focused on creating metrics for internal communications, which has absolutely helped my career path, as it is an approach that is rarely used in my industry.

The Careers Team really help you to navigate your career. They helped me to put together a meaningful CV, provided mock interview sessions and provided invaluable advice and guidance on how I should approach getting the kind of roles I wanted.

Immediately after I finished, I moved back to the US. I had always kept in touch with American Airlines during the process of the MBA and post-MBA. They were looking to start rebuilding some positions, so, I had the opportunity to take a brand-new role with them. I’m now Global Leadership Communications Manager, responsible for communicating with frontline leaders across the network.

The MBA had a big impact on my career progression. It enabled me to secure a more senior, global role at a higher level and higher salary. It was the most incredible experience. Personally and professionally, I think it was the best decision I have ever made.

The trek delivered a rich and rewarding experience on many levels – having a love for the outdoors myself it was a great way to connect with the forests of northern Vietnam, while meeting a enthusiastic and thoroughly interesting group of current Cass students and alumni.

Our guides, Dr Rodrigo Jordan and Gabriel Becker, both have a passion for the mountains. Their calm and controlled manner made the group feel at ease and safe under their direction. Having the opportunity to interact with seasoned mountaineers and leadership experts was invaluable and allowed us to observe how they operated and managed the team environment, quickly building trust and a respect for their knowledge and expertise. Having good kit and being prepared for the weather and sleeping conditions was certainly an area many of us took away from the experience…

Through a combination of pre-activity engagement exercises, and after action reviews, key learnings were consciously embedded via the experiential leadership model. Group reflection such as “What are we trying to achieve?’, ‘What are the team’s strengths?”, “What could we improve as a team?” “Would you be part of this team again?” solidified group learning while focussing us on a shared vision and goal – to reach the summit of Mt Fansipan!

The teaching at Bayes encourages you to think deeply about how a business can be improved. This principle never leaves you – it’s a theme running through the programme and, over time, it becomes second nature.

Today, I tell everyone who cares to listen that you cannot experience the Cass MBA and come out of it the same person. Back in the day, I used to see restaurants, websites, buildings… but now I see businesses. I am thinking about their profitability, whether their revenue is seasonal and weighing up a host of other considerations.

My MBA experience revolutionised the way I think. But even though Cass may transform the way you think about business, you will never feel pressure to be anything but yourself. I had tried several times to switch industries before my MBA but had no luck. Afterwards, however, I knew I had the knowledge, skills and confidence to make the change, and I am now the Business-to-Business Lead for Unilever Nigeria.

My time at Bayes was rich in learning, diversity and friendships – it was definitely one of the best years of my life.

Looking back, the two years were an emotional, challenging, inspirational and rewarding journey. I learnt to test myself, and discovered that you don’t know what you are capable of until you put yourself through it. It’s a cliché but true. At one point, around the time of the Business Mastery Project, I had so much going on professionally that I seriously considered deferring for a year. However, one of my professors encouraged me to push on, which I did, achieving a distinction for my Business Mastery Project.

Ultimately, the programme has given me the confidence to set up by myself. Now, I run my own business consultancy and have established a financial advice practice, called DVC Wealth Management. Through my consultancy work, I’ve been made CEO for the Aleto Foundation, working with students and helping them to move into leadership positions.

Having achieved an EMBA has given me an enormous amount professionally and personally. I worked with some wonderful people and made life-long friends. What’s more, I received a BEM Medal in the New Year’s Honours list, and later discovered the person who recommended me was a classmate on the programme.

The Executive MBA will give you the tools to do whatever you set out to do – for me it’s been life changing.

The Executive MBA accelerated my career progression rapidly. Initially it enabled me to secure a position as Sustainability Manager at Landsec before I had even officially started the programme.

The fact I was enrolled on to the Executive MBA at Bayes Business School attracted their attention and helped to open doors.

Over the four years since graduation, I worked my way up to Sustainability Director in my previous company then made the move to asset management.

Today I am Head of ESG at Aviva Investors, and I’m responsible for overseeing sustainable investment for a £50bn real assets platform.

The Executive MBA was pivotal to achieving this as to get into financial services you really need CFA or MBA. But it also gave me the frameworks and perspective I needed.

Frameworks are useful short cuts which you pick up throughout the MBA which help you think about solving problems, and you gain perspective through the sheer breadth of the course content.

There is no way I would have been even invited to an interview at Aviva Investors without the MBA but once I was through the door it gave me the confidence and qualities I needed to secure the role.

I’ve never looked back since and am very happy in financial services, so I’ll always be grateful to Bayes for the quality of the course and the staff which helped me to get to where I am today.

The personal development workshops that I attended were extremely beneficial. For example, I followed a workshop about interview styles and techniques and how to promote myself and feel confident. Also, I had a personal coach assigned to me, which was great. It led to a more in-depth conversation about me as a person and what I wanted to achieve, and that gave me a lot of confidence about my abilities and the direction I wanted to take.

In the last few months of the programme, I interviewed around twenty Cass alumni as part of my research for the Business Mastery Project. It was an amazing opportunity to network with HR experts and allowed me to demonstrate my understanding of the industry. One of the alum I interviewed, subsequently offered me a HR role in a tech company located nearby to the Cass campus. I worked there for a year and gained invaluable experience before going back to the Netherlands. When I look back at it now, I realise it was the stepping stone to my new career path in HR.

Before I pursued the Modular Executive MBA (MEMBA), I lived in Sweden and worked in the telecommunications industry. I originally joined Siemens Enterprise Communications as a consultant and had progressed to head up the Swedish service function. Due to my own aspirations and career goals I wanted a wider role that would set a starting point for my international career. I managed to secure an internal transfer, relocation to London and the opportunity to undertake an Executive MBA.

When it came to narrowing down my choices, I knew that I had to maintain my work responsibilities while studying. I was intrigued by Cass’ Modular approach, being taught part time over a long weekend once month, as this worked well for me from a work, as well as personal, perspective. Cass’ international profile, high global rankings and academic standards were also deciding factors.

I did not know what to expect when returning to the academic tenure, after being in a professional work life for many years. Even though I was well prepared for the intensity and long hours, it was how quickly we bonded as a cohort that made the transition easier and created some great memories.

The key academic learnings from the programme were acquired through lessons, assignments and group exercises. However, my greatest learnings came from the cohort as we continually challenged each other for personal self-development and further self-insights. This growth can only be attained by experiencing a supportive and collaborative environment. When it came to implementing the academic learnings, we leveraged each other’s skills which made the total Executive MBA experience even better.

My academic ambitions, as well as expectations, were set very high when I enrolled in the Modular Executive MBA. Astute faculty, who are a mix of knowledgeable industry experts and high-profile professors did not let me down. I feel Cass has a good mix of practical and theoretical bodies which creates the foundation for excelled learning and real-life applications of thought theories.

The modules I appreciated the most were in finance and strategy; areas we were pushed to explore further during our international consultancy week in Vietnam and the elective in China. The international experiences also created opportunities to be exposed to new cultures, different business values and ways of conducting business. It was truly enlightening and good preparation for becoming a more global citizen and for an international career path.

The MEMBA, first and foremost, provided me with a solid knowledge base to build on. It also gave me the confidence to pursue my next career goals and has actually led me onto new roles and opportunities. Today I head up our service function in UK/I as well as Business Operations and Transformation and am part of the global Atos CCS leadership team.

My own personal development is something I reflect upon regularly; the MEMBA gave me the needed insights, tools and the opportunity to grow as a leader, to gain a profound knowledge base and capability to excel even further. This is only the start of the journey.

Overall, the programme was first rate. I’d recommend Cass to anybody looking to pursue an MBA – both from the quality of the teaching to the experiences that I was able to have by spending a year in London and its close proximity to Europe. The ability to take the train to Paris while you’re studying is also not to be taken for granted! I got to travel, meet some exciting people, and forge really meaningful and deep friendships during my time at Cass. As a holistic experience, it was one of the best years of my life.

Without the programme, the door would never have been opened for me to make my career jump. I was hired directly by Equiteq at the end of the programme. I am now Managing Director and have moved back to the USA with our current CEO to set up our New York office, which we are now growing. My professional success is directly attributed to my decision to attend Cass and my ability to make the most of that opportunity.

For my Business Mastery Project, I worked with a fund manager and we established a good personal relationship. He introduced me to many important and exclusive conferences in London. These are not usually open to students – only company representatives in the investment area – so it was a unique and particularly valuable experience.

It was through the excellent networking opportunities at Cass and its central London location that I was able to secure my new role – situated right next to the campus. I am now working at FTI Consulting London, as a consultant within the economics and financial consultancy department, in a specialised area of financial services. Also, I was fortunate the company arranged a Tier 2 visa to allow me to stay in London.

I strongly feel the programme empowered me to fulfil my goal and move into financial consultancy with a firm in a different in a country.

Before I joined the Cass Full-time MBA programme, I was working as a research analyst in Oxford. My partner and I had decided to move back to London for personal reasons and I had to consider my next career step carefully. During my time as a research analyst, I had become very interested in companies’ strategies, particularly regarding international expansion. I wanted to learn more about strategy and business as a whole, therefore an MBA seemed like the best choice.

I’d heard nothing but good things about Cass. Several of my ex-colleagues had been there and had hugely benefited from the experience. I also liked that it was a one-year programme, located in the centre of London and that strategy was the school’s strength. I decided to attend a recruitment event and was impressed by how welcoming the staff were, the expertise of the faculty and the size of the facilities.

During the programme, I particularly enjoyed the strategy module, where I learnt the foundations of strategy and used this to discuss global companies in more detail. I was able to put this new knowledge into practice during the Strategy project, where my group and I advised an external company.

Organisational Behaviour was another module which provoked a lot of discussion – it focused on how firms create culture at work, different types of leadership styles etc. It was interesting to hear my cohort’s experiences, particularly regarding differences between countries and industries. I am now very aware of culture at work and it was a major factor in accepting my post-MBA job.

The Achieving Your Potential weekend, a leadership course at Sandhurst, was hugely challenging but a great learning experience. It taught me that everyone has a slightly different leadership style and how to make the most of your own natural attributes. We also did presentation courses and even the cohort’s most reluctant public speakers were presenting confidently by the end of the year, as there were plenty of opportunities to practice.

I had always wanted to travel to Cuba and when the MBA offered a week-long elective there, I jumped at the opportunity. I had access to places and speakers that otherwise would have been impossible to arrange – this included the Ministry of Tourism, journalists, ex-diplomats, entrepreneurs and a private tour of a cigar factory. I examined the country through the lens of sustainability and how the boom of the tourism industry was affecting the social and environmental situation. It was an unforgettable week in a fascinating country.

The Careers and Professional Development team played an important part in preparing me for interviews and supporting my job applications. Practice interviews and the subsequent feedback straight afterwards were particularly useful – better to make mistakes in a practice interview than the real thing!

I have since got a job through the Cass network at a Global Media Group as a Data Manager. We sit within the Strategy Development Team, so I am able to further build on my strategy knowledge. I also often draw upon the leadership skills developed during the MBA as I currently manage two people.

I made some friends for life during the MBA and those of us based in London try to meet up every month or so. A large group of us recently flew out to Greece for an MBA friend’s wedding and it was great to catch up with everyone.

The MBA has made me think about business in a more analytical way and I am able to see how the different components of a company interact to grow business. Not only that, it has made me think differently as a consumer too.

The quality of the teaching was first class. One of the things that appealed to me at Cass was the fact you spend a lot of time working as part of a team. There are very few jobs where you work solely as an individual. So, working with lots of different people – dealing with different team dynamics and skill sets – and bringing them all together for a project, was probably one of the greatest things I learned from my time there.

The international electives were really valuable. I went to Chile at the end of my first year, consulting for a local company. It’s a great way to apply the theory in a real-life situation, where you pull together everything you’ve learned in your first year to fulfil a project in a fairly short space of time.

The Dubai elective was also fantastic. I got to spend time with the International Cricket Council (ICC) and meet so many senior executives at major companies. It was fascinating to find out more about the region and listen to business leaders talk about their companies and strategies.

I did my Business Mastery Project (BMP) at fund management company, Innvotec, on the energy storage market as part of the due diligence for a start-up, alongside three other MBA peers Claire Angus, Nawaf Droubi, and Sumedh Lalge.

However, the BMP became a stepping stone to the next stage of my career. Due to my passion for female entrepreneurs and the gender investment gap, Innvotec were working on a project which was related to both topics and so I was invited to convert my BMP into a full-time role.

This year, Innvotec has welcomed its second MBA cohort with Full-time MBA student Purvee Hetamsaria with a BMP on ESG and Full-time MBA student Jorge Atton with a BMP on deal and data flow.

I am now a Senior Associate Fund Manager, working on a fund creation project that aims to change the venture capital landscape in the UK. The fund will be targeting female-led and female-focussed scale up businesses.

The MBA helped me through the process of changing career, enabled me to upskill and transfer skill sets into a different ecosystem and helped me to fulfil my career ambitions.

During the EMBA you reflect a lot and think about where your career is going to go. After the first year, I looked for assurances from my employer on how my role could evolve. I realised that it wasn’t going to happen. So, I reached out to the Careers and Professional Development Team. They helped me look at where I might take my career. They also put me in touch with a coach who helped me look at how I might approach a career change.

As a direct result of the EMBA, within six months of meeting the team and the coach, I secured a new role at JLL, a global real estate professional services company. The day after I handed in my dissertation, I started my new job! I’m now an Associate Director and lead the Occupier Cost Management team.

I’ve got so much out of the EMBA. It’s given me a new career and access to alumni and contacts that have become lifelong friends. I have no regrets, it was by far the best career decision I’ve made in my life.

My advice to fellow MBA students is that it’s okay to be confused. It’s okay to not know what you want to do. I had many moments of clarity while I figured out what industry and job role I wanted to pursue. Eventually, things will fall into place. Dr Paolo Aversa offered me excellent advice: an MBA is a tasting menu which gives you a flavour of so many different practices and industries. When you join your industry, you are able to enjoy the full dish.

I have so many fond memories from the programme. I made friends for life and cherish those relationships. All the travels we did on our international electives and the Achieving Your Potential Week at Sandhurst Military Academy were incredibly valuable experiences.

When I started my Executive MBA, I was working as a Creative Director for a design and advertising agency in London. However, my working and studying schedules weren’t aligning so I decided to freelance for a few months. Soon after I decided to start my own business and the timing was perfect as I could apply the theories learnt in class to the reality of building a business from scratch.

I love and thrive in most academic environments and I believe that it is important to stay active by learning and challenging yourself. When deciding upon Cass, I saw that they provided everything I needed from both a facility and faculty perspective. As my background was in creativity and design, I also wanted to attend a school with its strengths in finance and business so that I could round out my skill set.

Another deciding factor was being the recipient of the Cass Dean’s Scholarship. This not only helped me financially, but also strengthened my already positive impression of Cass. They understood the value of somebody with a unique profile and industry experience could bring to the cohort. I am deeply grateful that Cass gave me the opportunity to undertake the Executive MBA.

While the core modules allowed me to learn skills in areas I had no previous experience such as finance, I knew those modules would not dictate my career path. As I had recently started my own business, the entrepreneurship electives influenced me the most. In particular, I enjoyed New Venture Creation and being able to hear entrepreneurial guest speakers share their challenges and successes.

My International Consultancy project was for a creative agency in my hometown of Buenos Aires. It could not have been a better match as I could relate to their issues and doubts, many of which I had thought about prior to starting the EMBA. During the project, I was able to apply the theory directly to the agency and it helped me to crystalise the knowledge gained in class.

I used my Business Mastery Project as an opportunity to create a business plan for a real project, which my company was trying to launch. It forced me to consider certain elements that I had not previously addressed. While we did not end up launching, having an opportunity to combine business theories and building a solid plan with world-leading faculty was an amazing experience.

By virtue of being at Cass, I was able to expand my professional network substantially. After graduation, I had close business contacts and prospective clients at firms ranging from pharmaceuticals to finance. I tapped into a handful of these contacts for my business ventures which has added value to my experience at Cass.

I recently started my own design and creative communications consultancy, Finally. Last year, I wrote and launched a book about how to turn ideas into reality, be it starting up a new venture or moving forward with change, called “Enough Talk! Just Do”.

The Executive MBA gave me a lot of confidence, business acumen and focus. Especially for someone that knew very little about business, it made me realise that I can do whatever I put my mind to.

When you come back to school after years of working, you need to learn and relearn skills that will be crucial for your career. For me, that was learning more about the digital landscape today. I studied the concentration in Innovation and Entrepreneurship in my MBA.

I learned many new ways of thinking or doing things. I particularly enjoyed the Organisational Behaviour module. The theory was quite new for me and Professor Laura Empson is an excellent lecturer.

The Strategy module gave me some great insights; I was incredibly inspired by Federico Minolli, the former CEO of Ducatti, who drove the transformation of the company from a motorbike manufacturer to an entertainment company using an ambitious ‘human touch’ management approach.

In my role as CEO today, I always keep in mind the HR lectures of Professor Nick Bacon. He taught us how high commitment management outperforms any other management technique.

The international elective in San Francisco was absolutely out of this world— the vibe there is unbelievable. We met the COO of Imperfect Produce and listened to a keynote from the incubator/accelerator Vault, an early investor in Oculus which was acquired by Facebook. I made some great career contacts through these modules and I’ve kept in touch with all of them.

The Full-time programme taught me where my priorities and strengths lie. During our professional development week at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, our leadership was relentlessly tested. On another module, our professional coach Nadia Marchant reinforced the concept that you will perform best when you are doing what energises you. This was a clear “aha!” moment for me. I was doing well in consulting, but it was not energising me. I have always had a pointed interest in digital. I love how fast everything moves in this field. We no longer talk about digital disruption because digital is so integral to our day-to-day environment.

It was a funny moment to look back at what I wrote in my application for Cass. I had a clear idea of what I wanted, which was to launch my own firm. Instead of launching a consulting firm as I had planned, I launched HYPER CRUNCH, which is a next-gen marketing platform that combines social media, online reviews & email marketing to help businesses build meaningful digital presences.

I used the Business Mastery Project to write a business plan for HYPER CRUNCH. Doing so helped me think outside the box, plan my next steps and figure out whether my platform idea was scalable or not. On paper, it’s much easier to see what’s lacking and to refine your product.

As someone who comes from consulting, I was quite risk averse. While launching, scaling up and getting new clients, I was also applying for jobs as a back-up plan. Throughout this process, the Careers and Professional Development team was expertly coaching me and teaching me to tailor my applications. I was offered the role of Head of Digital for a French consulting firm reporting to the CEO in September after handing in my Business Mastery Project but decided to go ahead and launch my venture instead. The bet was a winning one because almost a year after, we serve clients in seven countries, 20+ industries and are looking to scale to seven more countries this upcoming year.

Cass was a fantastic experience. Studying an MBA in a thriving environment opened my eyes and my mind to so many things. Studying the Full-time MBA at Cass is one of the best decisions of my career and my life.

The learning experience was refreshing. If you have no previous experience of a particular subject, it isn’t a problem. Everything is presented in an easy-to-understand and practical way – I still apply a lot of the learning in my work today.

During the programme, I completed a number of electives around innovation and entrepreneurship, as well as digital strategy. Cass presented the opportunity to experience the business environment in Silicon Valley, South Africa and China. The Silicon Valley elective, in particular, was very valuable, as I learnt more about digital business models, a piece of knowledge that I am applying in my current role.

The International Consultancy week in Vietnam at the end of the first year provided a chance to get to know my group better and discover their different learning styles and approaches to problem solving. There was also the opportunity to explore different career paths. Even though I didn’t pursue them all, I now know what is out there.
My Business Mastery Project was related to my current job at Star Channel and served as a showcase of my learning to my employer, which helped secure my promotion within the organisation.

After completing the Modular EMBA, I was offered a more executive role, as Director of Online Media at Star Channel in Athens. I really enjoy my new position, as I am responsible for developing strategy as well as directing the daily operations.

Looking back now, I know that the move to Greece and advancement in my career was directly because of the Cass Modular EMBA.

The EMBA was very demanding on top of work, particularly as I combined the first year of the programme with a new role, relocating my home and my first child arriving!

You need to develop really strong routines and keep on top of the work, particularly as you head towards exam times when you need to clear away the coursework to focus on the exams.

The balance of work also varied between modules, depending on the level of teamwork involved in the module. This can’t be underestimated – the challenge of quickly forming a team of strong characters, with no natural hierarchy and all working around demanding careers and home lives.

However, it was also among the most rewarding elements of the EMBA, when those teams came together to deliver a great output and learn from each other.

I chose a Business Mastery Project (BMP) based on post-merger integration. I had worked in mergers and acquisition as a strategy consultant and had been involved in post-merger integration in industry, so I wanted to broaden out this experience.

I was very fortunate to be supervised by a professor who combined deep practitioner experience from his career in investment banking with a reputation as a leading academic in this field.

It was a valuable opportunity to dive deeper into a subject and I have returned to the BMP several times as a guide when developing merger and acquisition projects since completing the EMBA.

I didn’t give much focus to the Professional Development offer when I was selecting Bayes for my EMBA, but it turned out to be one of the most valuable elements of the programme.

I would strongly encourage you to make the most of this offer and listen to the feedback of your cohort and others about which workshops are most useful.

For me, the negotiation skills workshop was excellent, offering a structured environment to develop and practice skills, and a set of practical tools that I still reference when preparing for important negotiations.
The EMBA gave me a springboard to take the next step in my career as I moved into a general management role during the programme and took on a profit and loss owning role immediately after completing the EMBA.

While I stayed within the same industry and with the same company, it helped me to achieve the career transition of moving from a ‘HQ’ strategy role into leading a business.

Prior to my MBA I oversaw design and production operations at BCBG Max Azria, a contemporary womenswear company in Los Angeles. I knew I wanted to do an MBA as I was interested in moving into a strategic role. Cass’s strong emphasis on strategy with multiple modules and projects was key in helping me achieve that goal.

The Cass Full-time MBA programme appealed to me for several reasons. I initially began looking at MBAs in the UK because the schools offered one-year programmes, as opposed to two-year programmes, which is the standard in the US. What drew me to Cass was that it offered a solid generalist curriculum with a diverse range of electives to choose. They also had an impressive list of international elective opportunities.

The MBA programme began with induction week that did a great job preparing me for the busy year ahead. The Careers and Professional Development team were active from day one, getting me to start thinking about what I wanted to do after the MBA and what steps to start taking to achieve it. I really appreciated the emphasis on career planning at the beginning of the MBA because the year goes by extremely fast.

I had the opportunity to attend the Israel and Palestine international elective and it was the highlight of my MBA. The focus was on innovation and entrepreneurship in the region and I was able to meet with entrepreneurs, VC’s and accelerator programs. I was able to have meaningful discussions with people that I would not been able to if I had travelled there on my own.

The Careers and Professional Development team are an important asset to take advantage of during the MBA. They offer a range of workshops over the duration of the programme, ranging from CV reviews and practice interviews to public speaking and networking strategies. They provide a wealth of resources both in person and online that you continue to have access to after graduation.

My cohort of just over seventy people were incredibly diverse, both in terms of nationalities represented and industries people had previously worked in. I had the opportunity to work closely with many of my classmates through our group projects and I developed relationships that greatly strengthened my professional network. Since graduating, they have been an incredible resource and I have been able to discuss business and career subjects among peers.

My Business Mastery Project was key in helping me achieve the MBA ‘triple jump’ into a new city, industry and job function. I worked with a digital media company to understand how business models were evolving in the industry. I had the opportunity to combine what I had learnt across the MBA and apply it in real life. I was able to secure a job at the company based on the work I completed for my BMP.

Technology continues to change how industries operate and you must take a broader view to allow yourself to think strategically about being more agile and take advantage of change. The Cass MBA is designed to help you tackle these kinds of challenges and prepare you for an ever-evolving business environment.

am a Fellow of the Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce and also part of their Social Entrepreneurs network. They hosted an event at Cass one evening and as I walked through the doors of Cass Business School I was swept away by the energy, dynamism and enthusiasm of everyone there. I had already started to research MBA courses at the best business schools and therefore knew of the excellent reputation that Cass had. It was at that moment that I knew I wanted to join Cass and be part of this outstanding institution.

I am a chartered secretary by profession and a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Secretaries & Administrators. For around a decade, I worked in numerous roles in a broad range of industries, from food retail to broadcast media. I started my own business in 2000, managing and communicating employee share plans, having spotted a gap in the market. I sold that business in 2006 and am privileged to have been with UBS for the past eight years, having held various roles in both London and New York. I was promoted shortly after completing the Executive MBA and am currently Head of Wealth Planning and Sales Management UK.

The experience at Cass far exceeded anything I could have expected.The most memorable elements of my Cass experience were the richness of the teaching, the closeness of the connection I built with my cohort and others at the business school and the adrenaline of completing group assignments. You are operating alongside other like-minded individuals who are all enthusiastic and want to get the most from the course, so there is a shared ambition and drive.

I selected the Modular Executive MBA for two main reasons. The first was a practical one, given I was already working long hours and travelled internationally for business, the weekends were more feasible. The second being that I believed that the Modular option would give me a greater opportunity to get to know my cohort better and also to meet people from other countries. I was extremely pleased to have chosen this option, as both the practicalities and ability to build stronger relationships held true.

Being able to study over a long weekend per month gave me the flexibility to work full-time yet acquire new business skills, knowledge and expertise . Many of my peers commuted from Europe and even further afield, I felt the diversity of the cohort really added to my learning and the overall experience.

The international dimension was particularly important in my decision to do an MBA and during the programme I visited China, Vietnam and Las Vegas. These trips were vastly different; China was an International Symposium where we heard from business leaders and professionals about conducting business in China, during our Vietnam visit we worked on a consultancy basis with a start-up business in Hanoi and in Las Vegas we conducted a strategic marketing review of a major hotel and leisure business. The commonality of the trips was the ability to put some of what we had learnt in our existing careers and in the lecture rooms at Cass, into practice. The opportunity to meet and work with such a varied group of amazing people, from the high-quality lecturers, to the business people we met on International trips and of course, my fellow MEMBAs. It was hard work, took great commitment and sacrifice, but if I had to do it again – without a doubt, I would.

Before the EMBA, I used to experience classic ‘female imposter’ syndrome, always worrying that I was not good enough. Now, after going through the programme, I know I’m good enough and it gave me the confidence I needed.

When I finished the programme, I felt a huge sense of achievement. It fundamentally challenges me at all levels, but it was worth it. Without it, I would not be where I am now.

I was headhunted for a corporate strategy role within five months of graduating. I doubt I would have made it through the interview process without the knowledge I gained through the EMBA. Now, I’m a Corporate Strategy Manager at Schroders. Professionally, that was exactly the jump that I needed and wanted to make.

I experienced such personal growth during my time at Cass and gained a huge sense of achievement and confidence. If you can accomplish the EMBA, you can accomplish anything!

I worked a lot with the Careers and Professional Development team. They gave support and guidance to help me progress on my journey and find my way. It was exactly the kind of nurturing I needed. They provided a number of mock interview sessions, which were particularly useful, forcing me out of my comfort zone.

The amount of hands-on time and face-to-face contact you get at Cass is not something you find in many business schools – it really sets the school apart.

The programme has had an enormous impact on me professionally, I’ve shifted industry and function. I’m now a Director/Head of Business Development at Tribe First, a marketing agency dedicated to crowdfunding.

The MBA has been crucial in my journey, I’ve come out of it with a completely different outlook and set of skills. I’d highly recommend it – and have recommended it – to anyone wanting to undertake an MBA in order to facilitate a career change.

At the start, I simply saw the MBA as an academic exercise. But as I progressed, my view expanded massively. Just being part of the programme and working with people from different professions and sectors helped me broaden the scope of what was possible for me in terms of career options. Before I started I was thinking of moving into a global commercial strategy role for a big pharma company, but then I found myself considering alternative routes. I’m now a product manager at EY Consulting. I help clients in the life sciences sector manage and navigate large-scale transformations in relation to the design and growth of digital products and solutions. Because of the MBA I’ve been able to go to a huge corporate and now I’m on the verge of a new chapter, moving from EY’s London office to the one in Dubai.

What advice would you give to others thinking of doing an MBA?
I’m a big believer in you get back what you put in. That wasn’t obvious to me at the start, but the course gives you so many opportunities to immerse yourself. I’d say get to know your cohort, your Course Director and your lecturers. The network I’ve built up thanks to the MBA continues to be valuable, especially with my upcoming relocation to Dubai, and I’ve made a great group of friends. And make sure you go to the networking events!