Management student insight: Reflections on the first term at WBS

Student bloggers from our range of Management Masters courses share their insights and reflections on their first term at Warwick Business School.

Raghavi Iyengar, MSc Marketing & Strategy

If I had to describe the year in three words, it would be enriching, challenging and intense and if there's one thing I could assure you of, it is that no matter how many blogs you read about the experience, you can never truly encapsulate the Warwick journey. You may be prepared, but never ready because here's the secret - each of us has a rather unique experience with a few common denominators, much like our personalities themselves. Or maybe we go through the same rigorous cycle of academics, friendships, stress and complexities but our diverse perspectives are what complicate matters while highlighting nuances and making them interesting, and therefore a truly global experience.

It's very normal to feel overwhelmed in the beginning for there is much to acclimate yourself to.

What's important is to understand that the uncertainty and nervousness is all part of the journey. You may never get to relive this again because the Warwick journey is sure to enable you to evolve into a wholesome individual, confident to take on the world - an individual who is better equipped to deal with fear. Simply put, things could never get scarier, or more intriguing.

It's clear that each Warwick experience is unique, but here are the important things to remember to keep you going:

• It may look difficult, but you're one of the chosen ones, forces to be reckoned with - you'll get through it.
• Look at it realistically. WBS is all about preparing for the real world. As long as you rely on logic and infuse some creativity, you'll go a long way.
• If you don't always agree with your lecturers, you're exactly where you belong - you're here to challenge and be challenged. Anything less is a waste of your time.
• Pick your battles wisely - there are too many to be won here. Funnily enough, the losses are still rewarding.

It's been a whole term of job applications, group assignments, and exams, of high-soaring emotions and life-changing decisions. The trick at Warwick Business School is not merely looking back at these, but looking to the past and at the present at the same time - the past for valuable lessons, and the future to create rewarding tomorrows.

Jarryd Seh Kin Chen, MSc Management of Information Systems & Digital Innovation

Becoming a postgraduate student at WBS has not been what I expected it to be; it has been challenging and engaging, stretching me outside my comfort zone and allowing me to learn different skills.

The well-structured and high-quality teaching has made the transition from an engineering background to management easy and comfortable. The number of people with different backgrounds and skills means group work will let you expand your horizons and learn a lot about different cultures and yourself. In addition to that, due to the amount of groupwork, you will be able to build strong relationships with your cohort throughout the year.

Additionally, module leaders constantly arrange for industry leaders to teach as part of the module to make classroom learning more engaging and relatable. So far we’ve had the opportunity to learn and network with employees from IBM, QlikView, Rolls Royce and Kodak.

Furthermore, career support such as CV and cover letter checks and interview and assessment centre preparation are given through the careers centre which is handy if you plan to obtain a graduate scheme in the United Kingdom, want to do an external dissertation with an organisation or just want to improve your employability. To further improve my development, I leveraged myAdvantage which is a platform for students to attend workshops such as critical writing, giving effective presentations and using LinkedIn to network, which will give you an ‘advantage’ over peers around the globe.

Lastly, a Warwick Business School winter ball is held every year which helps you meet and collaborate with people from different courses. I recommend attending this ball as meeting people from different courses allows you to put what you learn on your course into a better frame and perspective. 

Muskaan Karanwal, MSc Management

October 1^st 2018 marked the beginning of the autumn term for the Masters in Management. We were welcomed to the university and the department by our Course Director and our administrative head who gave us a brief presentation of what we should expect from our course and the department and vice versa. We were also made familiar with the Director of CareersPlus and our Academic Support Librarian.

During the first week the professors gave us an insight into their respective module structure, including the type of assignments each module had. We were each assigned a personal tutor to ensure that we settled in properly. During the three months of term, the department conducted several training sessions in academic writing skills, CV building skills, plagiarism checks and referencing and networking. 

We were fortunate to be helped by the CareersPlus team with our final CVs and in making us familiar with the UK recruitment process. The team also arranged seminars to meet and interact with several employers such as EY, PwC, HSBC, Google, L’Oréal, P&G and more.

The highlights of the autumn term for me were the Business Simulation exercise that was administered as part of one of our modules, and the brief given to us about our foreign study trip, taking place in June 2019 at one of four locations: Cape Town, Brussels, Rome and Madrid. As part of the Business Simulation exercise we were divided into different groups and ran our own individual businesses formulating our own strategies, at the same time competing with one another.

The department also organised interactive study trips to the Jaguar Land Rover factory, Shakespeare Society, Ricoh Arena and Warwick Castle. Each trip was paid for and had several fun activities and interactive sessions planned for the participants. The department also took the students on a paid trip to the Christmas markets in Birmingham, Nottingham and Bristol. 

The first term at WBS as a MSc Management student has been an amalgamation of learning, development and several emotions. The department delivered what it had promised and helped us overcome any obstacle or difficulty we faced. 

Discover more about our range of Postgraduate Management courses.