How a UK Master's propelled a young marketer into jobs at TikTok and Amazon

“Honestly, I don’t think I would have got the job at TikTok if it wasn’t for Warwick,” says Temi Shosanya. 

The 25-year-old, who was born in Nigeria but moved to London at the age of three, admits it was a difficult conversation when she told her parents she no longer wanted to be a lawyer - despite doing a degree in law - and wanted to pursue marketing instead. 

That calculation led her to Warwick Business School to study for an MSc Business with Marketing, and within months of graduating, Temi had a dream job at TikTok followed by a role at Amazon before turning 25. 

“I really, really, really enjoyed marketing,” says Temi, of East London. “The course was very academic - because I love being academic - but it was also creative. 

“Warwick really built the foundation of who I am professionally. It helped me understand why I loved marketing; the creativity, the strategy, and the thinking behind it.” 

And it wasn’t just the course material that helped Temi. With three interviews and TikTok UK taking on just two marketing graduates, the many practice interviews she did on the Master’s course were key. Students are helped by the School's dedicated MSc CareersPlus and Employer Relations team.

“I don’t think I would have done as well as I did in my interviews without Warwick,” says Temi. “We literally all did interview prep together. Everyone was so collaborative. We did mock interviews together, swapped questions, and worked on things together. 

“Plus, one of my favourite campaigns we studied was CocaCola’s ‘share a coke’. I talked about that in my TikTok application video. I only knew it in that depth because of Warwick.” 

Temi was placed in TikTok’s music, entertainment and gaming portfolio, which saw her play an integral part in the UK launch of Taylor Swift’s album The Tortured Poets Department across the app. 

Her role included devising the UK strategy, then aligning it with the US team, all while navigating licensing and creative restrictions.  

“It was my first chance to be head of a campaign and execute it completely,” she says. “I came up with the strategy, worked with the design team, told them what I wanted and where the ‘call to action’ should be. Because we made the video inhouse, the budget was mainly ad spend.” 

The experience taught her how to balance creativity with commercial discipline. 

“It showed me that marketing isn’t just ideas - it’s numbers, data, forecasting, negotiating budgets. You have to justify everything,” says Temi.  

The success of the Taylor Swift campaign, she says, gave her confidence that she could operate at a high level. Temi says TikTok shaped her as a marketer.  

“I learned how to strategise and create campaigns; develop the brief, define the budget, and estimate views and click-throughs,” she says. “You’d plan it all, put it into a doc, send it to upper management and wait for approval - you really had to prove your campaign would be beneficial. 

“TikTok taught me to think strategically and creatively at the same time. It gave me the skills and the belief to push myself.” 

Unfortunately, politics intervened. The talk of TikTok being banned in the US had a chilling effect as the company restructured in preparation.  

“People were being made redundant,” she says. “My team was affected. I’d just been promoted, and suddenly half my team was gone. I didn’t want to wait and hope for the best, so I started looking.” 

Thus, Temi moved from an emerging tech power to a technology titan in Amazon. This time it meant even more interviews before landing a Marketing Specialist role in Amazon’s Grocery Partnerships team.  

How careers preparation at Warwick paid off at Amazon

“I had to do an assessment, then three interviews, and then a day with four interviews back-to-back,” she says. “It was very nerve-wracking. I was on holiday in Milan and spent most of the time in my hotel room preparing.”  

She initially lost out on a role with Amazon Fresh due to not being able to speak French, but her CV was sent to another manager and after one more interview she finally got the job, working on launches and expansions across Europe and North America. 

“Whenever a grocery chain wants to come onto Amazon, they’d go through our team,” she says. “I worked on building the store fronts like the Morrisons page on Amazon, for example. The process could take six months - I became proficient in Photoshop and Figma.” 

Her Amazon role was a one-year fixed-term contract, ending in October. She is currently helping her parents’ care company while exploring her next move.  

“I want to go back into tech,” she says. “But I want to take my time and find a role where I can stay longer than two years.” 

Looking back, she places WBS at the centre of her story.  

“Warwick is where my love for marketing really bloomed,” she says. “It let me be creative and academic at the same time. I learned about budgets, strategy, campaigns and more. It gave me knowledge, confidence, and people around me who pushed me. 

“To get to into companies like TikTok and Amazon it really helps to find a community like I had at Warwick — people who’ll prep with you, challenge you, and cheer you on.” 

Discover more Change Makers who realised their potential with Warwick Business School.