Analyst internship contributes to useful learning in MSc

Spyros Tsilimparis did the MSc in Business Analysis and Consulting and took part in an internship as a part of it. Here, he talks about the programme and the benefits of ‘useful learning’.

I did the MSc in Business Analysis and Consulting. I’ve always been very keen on data analysis and statistics, and this area of business is even more relevant now that data analysis is in every aspect of our life.

Before I chose Strathclyde University as the place to continue with my studies, I had to take into consideration what my final objective was. As I was very interested in working in UK, I was looking for a Masters programme that combined an excellent educational level with teaching based on current practices used by businesses. Apart from the fact that the University of Strathclyde Business School has an excellent reputation, the January internship and the dissertation project have given me the opportunity to gain a very good understanding of the working environment, whilst building a more competitive CV.

I can say with great confidence that the overall experience was extremely productive and informative as I gained a lot of skills and had the opportunity to meet a lot of new and interesting people.

The programme is composed of two semesters. The first semester is composed of core modules and in the second semester there are a variety of electives to choose from. This allows you to choose modules which are aligned with your interests. I really enjoyed the interaction with all of my colleagues during the group assignments and the projects that the lecturers assigned to us were very interesting case studies.

My January internship was with Scottish Water, a privately owned organisation that is responsible for treating all the water flow across Scotland. I worked in the Business Analytics department on a task which was part of a bigger project, analysing the effects of the weather on pipes in order to help plan future investment-needs related to the pipe infrastructure and became more familiar with SCRUM Agile and R Studio in the process.

The feedback from my internship was very positive and I kept in contact with my supervisor there.

After completing my dissertation, I chose to seek an analyst position using the skills and expertise I earned during my internship at Scottish Water. It was unquestionably the greatest foundation for any analyst role on the market, and the network I formed proved to be quite valuable in my career pursuits, as former coworkers volunteered to put me in contact with the recruiters of their firms so that we might work together again.

In the last several months, I have joined Barclays in Glasgow as a framework execution analyst, and the expertise this Master's degree gave me has already made me an asset to my team. My Master’s degree taught me a lot, such as how to operate in a fast-paced environment and produce the best results and improved my critical and analytical thinking.

About Spyros Tsilimparis

Spyros Tsilimparis did the MSc in Business Analysis and Consulting at Strathclyde Business School, graduating in 2021. He is now a framework execution analyst with Barclays.