The CareersPlus service has been a game changer for me

Louise Butler discusses her reasons for choosing to study an Executive MBA  at WBS and how the CareersPlus services available on the programme have been a real game changer for her.

2020 was an unprecedented year, with global lockdowns instigating change at significant speed for businesses globally, and individuals having to spend a significant amount of time at home. This gave the opportunity for many to do things they wouldn’t usually have time to do, and also to reflect. For me, it gave me the push to do something I had been contemplating for a while, applying for an Executive MBA.

After much research, I decided to apply for the Executive MBA at Warwick Business School (WBS). It was an easy decision for me. Firstly, the diversity of the candidates appealed to me, I was keen to expand my network and experiences within a variety of different sectors, and with a wide range of different people. The female/male ratio was also important to me, and with approximately 35% of the cohort being women, WBS addressed this need. Secondly, I decided that if I was going to commit my time, energy and finances over the next two years, I wanted to attain an MBA from one of the best international business schools.  Lastly, the interaction I had with WBS at every touch point was second to none and really did stand out against the crowd, giving the impression of a world leading business school very much focused on its candidate experience.

I am seven months into my Executive MBA, and even with the challenges of COVID restrictions, it has been one of the best decisions I have made. I have already learned so much through the formal teaching and been able to apply the frameworks learned to my work. Through my cohort, I have expanded my professional network, and have been able to explore and understand different roles, sectors and insights. 

However, the CareersPlus service has been the game changer for me. It is available as part of the Executive MBA offering, and supports students by providing unlimited access to a careers coach, who can help you to understand what you want to do, and then how to execute that. Alongside access to a careers coach, all Executive MBA candidates are offered three free executive coaching sessions to use how they wish, whether that’s to work on specific problems at work or to support career transition. Alongside careers coaching, the service uses various tools that can support you to find out more about yourself, such as Insights and Myers Briggs psychometric tests, and organises informative webinars which may be about specific careers, such as consulting, or teaching skills such as negotiating your next pay package! I have taken advantage of everything that the CareersPlus service offers, including the executive coaching, and have been able to quite quickly, with the support of my careers coach and my executive coach, understand myself better, the areas I need to develop, where I would like to go next and how I am going to do that. It really has been quite a transformational process, I have felt supported every step of the way.

If you are thinking about applying for the Executive MBA, I would say do it - you won't regret it! However, be aware that it will be challenging, you will spend many weekends and evenings completing your assignments, but it will also be exciting, inspiring and rewarding.

Find out more about our MBA programmes.