• Tell us a bit about yourself

I am a person of dualities. A dual citizen – I’m originally from Turkey, but have spent more than a decade in Belgium in my professional career. An engineer with operations at heart, that has worked in the automotive industry in purchasing roles that is equipped both commercial and technical skills. Now I have moved to Switzerland in a short break before I continue with professional life.

• What first attracted you to Warwick Business School?

Studying an MBA was always a dream for me since my bachelors degree. Initially I wanted to begin directly after my undergraduate degree, but at the time I decided I would need work experience before I could fully comprehend the teachings. What I wanted was a flexible online course, and, through my research, Warwick stood out among other business schools with its reputation and course content.

• Why did you ultimately choose Warwick Business School for your MBA?

I chose Warwick for its strong reputation among top business schools and the flexibility of the online programme, which allows me to follow at my own pace.

• What elements of the programme do you value the most and why?

For me, the most important elements are the modules and the cohort. As a person with an engineering background I wanted to experience different fields that will supplement me on my careers. The modules in Warwick, especially the electives in the new fields of sustainability and energy transformation, cover emerging technologies that will be beneficial for me. The cohort is also very important for me because to really understand the applications of what we learn, it is paramount to listen to different experiences. The Global Online MBA cohort at Warwick is vast and with very good quality, so you learn new things every day from a diversified experience pool.  

• What is it like studying for an MBA?

It is like rediscovering yourself and your daily job in each class, helping you to  reflect on how you could have approached problems in a different way. For example, our first module was on organisational behaviour and, as I was taking the course, I was applying reframing techniques to think about how I could avoid and solve the conflicts that I was having with suppliers.

• What kind of support have you received from the careers team? How has it helped you?

Leadership sessions with the support of personality assessment have guided me on choosing the next steps in my career.

I just enrolled but the Careers Team already supported me with many subjects. Through the personality assessment, I was able to appraise my strengths to leverage and areas that I need to work on to develop myself. In addition, I am in a transitional stage in my career and the Careers Team is supporting me on setting my next steps.

• What did you hope to get out of our programme? What have you actually got so far?

I hope to grow my vision and understand how top-level decisions are made and deployed throughout the company. The strategic advantage and organisational management give me insights on the top level.

• How do you find the work/life balance?

It is challenging and needs good management of the time. Especially in the first and second modules,  I was in a very challenging time in work with handing over my responsibilities to a new member in my previous job. It required good planning throughout the week to balance the work pressure and study time. However, in the end the excitement for the new knowledge drives me to create the extra time.

• Do you have any advice for anyone currently thinking about studying for an MBA?

If they are hungry for new knowledge and like to challenge their comfort zone, I would say to them to not hesitate. It is a challenging but exciting and rewarding journey.