Practical project leads to job-ready students

Marc Guldener believes the practical elements of his MSc in Business Analysis Consulting led to job opportunities he wouldn't otherwise have had. Here he shares his insights into the Masters programme.

After finishing my bachelor degree, I decided to take a little break from studying and worked for two years: one and a half years in South Africa and half a year in Germany before beginning my Masters.

My long-term goal was always to have a master’s degree, so almost a year before studying in Glasgow I started to research universities and especially, which course could be the best for me.

After looking at a few universities in the UK I decided that I would try to get in to the University of Strathclyde. Not only was its reputation and ranking as a Business School very good, the programme I chose - MSc In Business Analysis Consulting - was also extremely relevant to the career I was interested in - consulting. What’s more, the course’s format - not only being taught in an academic way but also having real practical experience with businesses - was a deciding factor for me. There were various projects working with businesses within the course and then placements where students worked directly with an employer and this “real-life” experience demonstrated the value of the course.

Many problems addressed by the employer, in my case Aegon UK, were solvable with the knowledge taught by the lecturers. This meant I started to create a certain portfolio of skills that can be used for various situations. Aegon UK hires experts that only stay within the company for a project so my placement targeted the efficiency enhancement of the “on-boarding” process of new employees. The overall goal of the project is to reduce the time they take to be “on the same page” as the other employees. The project turned out to have a bigger scope than expected and therefore I received an offer from Aegon UK to finalise the project and to write my dissertation about it.

The work for Aegon was very interesting as I received direct insight into the company and what a business analyst does daily. Aegon UK is a great company to work for and all the employees were very helpful and treated me as an equal. The work was not very different from what we learned in the course and I think the BAC programme prepares students very well for the job market - the received knowledge is not only targeting one specific industry and is highly transferable.

The course has meant that I could secure a full-time position in a consulting company before even writing my dissertation. My advice for prospective students is, although it will be busy during your studies, if you keep on top of the work it is easier to manage. At the end, it is all worth it and you will wonder where the time went. If I look back to the industry-related knowledge that I had before the course and now, I must say that I learned a lot and feel ready for the job market.

About Marc Guldener

Marc Guldener is a student on the MSc Business Analysis and Consulting programme at Strathclyde Business School. He previously worked in South Africa and Germany before undertaking his studies in Scotland.