SBS Blog > On the right path with the Strathclyde MBM by Marta Manes

On the right path with the Strathclyde MBM

By Marta Manes - Posted on 4 April 2019

Marta Manes studied for a Masters in Business and Management (MBM) at Strathclyde Business School from 2017-18. Here, she explains how the MBM helped her get on the right career path.

Prior to my Strathclyde studies, my career was not going in the direction I wanted it to and I didn’t see any growth path for me going forward. I thought a degree in Business and Management would help me improve my business acumen and leadership skills and get my career back on the right path.

My previous University qualifications were both quite theoretical and didn’t have a lot of practical application. However, having been exposed to business and management in an academic context from behind the scenes in my job at a business school in Italy, I decided that was the kind of degree course which would give me new tools and abilities and lead me in a new career direction.

While doing my Bachelor studies in Italy many years before, I received an Erasmus scholarship and my destination then was Strathclyde. So, as a ‘sort of’ alumnus, Strathclyde was of course one of the first Universities I looked at when choosing a Masters. I knew about the Financial Times’ rankings and how many great scholars there are in the Strathclyde faculty, and when I read the MBM course outline, I knew I had made my decision.

The MBM programme was very good. It gave me a strong overview of many areas of business and management and made me understand where my strengths lie.

Several lecturers were outstanding and made me passionate about their topics; Marketing Management and Business Operations most of all. They were definite highlights for me. In such a short time, both lecturers had us delve deep into their topics and really understand the basics of both disciplines.

I also really enjoyed how the course challenged me to get out of my comfort zone – I’m naturally quite shy but during the course I learned how to excel at presentations and public speaking, something I would never have thought I’d be able to do comfortably.

The mix of gender and nationality on the programme was great and it gave me so much insight into cultures I’d never really interacted with before. I learned that my way is not always the right way and showed me how different people approach situations and problems in different ways. It also taught me a lot of patience and how to deal with difficult people in group settings – something that will definitely help me in my career.

Since graduating I have been working at Ford Motor Company in London. I have been a Brand Content Specialist and have since moved on to Sales Planning. Both these areas are something I didn’t really know much about before the MBM but the programme helped me understand how interested I was in both areas. Brand Management was my summer school elective while a mix of Marketing Management, Business Operations and Analytic Support for Decision Making opened my eyes to how interested I was in a job like sales planning.

Before the MBM I was struggling to change careers – I am now in a job I really like where I can express my potential, knowing that I have the academic base to understand business as a whole.