Mastering confidence - the MSc Marketing

Emily Lacey is currently an MSc Marketing student and says her Strathclyde experience has given her the confidence for whatever the future holds.

Throughout my teenage years and on every university break, I worked at a showjumping yard. It is a sport I am still deeply passionate about, but after following my yard management dreams after university and realising how much my priorities had shifted during the pandemic, I had to accept that it was not the career path I wanted. It was a hard shift to make and for a few years, I was lost with my career goals. Publishing was always in the back of my mind, but I knew a job as an editor was not something for me and, naïvely, I thought that was the only career path available despite it being such a large industry (after all, I was only 22).

Not sure what exactly to do - probably 50+ job applications, and only a few interviews later - I ended up working for ScotRail. Although my position fell under the communications department, we worked closely with the marketing department to support them with organic content for their campaigns throughout the year. I learned a lot, and very quickly, but ultimately it was never going to be a job I would stay in for an extended period. However, I loved the social media analytics. I got a thrill from tracking performance and growth, making further content decisions off the back of what I saw did well.

By the time I began to think about next steps, I realised how many more opportunities within the publishing industry there were, but I needed a more formal education in marketing. At ScotRail, I learned what kinds of content worked, but I wanted a better understanding of why it worked. I wanted to become strategic in my decisions and learning underpinning theories I could put into practice was how I could do that. This led me to explore further educational options and, ultimately, to the MSc Marketing at Strathclyde.

When looking at postgraduate options, Strathclyde stood out against the rest. Many programmes required previous general business classes (i.e. finance, accounting, HR), which I did not have and had little interest in taking, and others that lacked the rigorous and skills-based learning I was looking for. In the MSc Marketing I could focus solely on marketing - which I knew was my passion and what I wanted to focus on. I have been able to take a wide range of electives; I gained actionable skills I can take into any workplace going forward; and I am writing and researching a topic for my dissertation I am passionate about.

Overall, I have loved my experience here. When I finish my dissertation later this summer, I will come away with not just a strong degree, but great friends too. It has not always been easy, the degree itself is a lot of hard work and of course it can be hard to balance, but it is incredibly rewarding. I know I chose correctly in coming to Strathclyde. Although my post-graduation plans are still up in the air, Strathclyde has given me the ability to go confidently into anything I want, and for that I am grateful.

About Emily Lacey

Emily Lacey is an MSc Marketing student at the University of Strathclyde Business School and is currently working on her dissertation, which focuses on reading engagement within the context of celebrity and influencer book clubs. Originally from the suburbs of Chicago, she has lived in Scotland since 2017, when she moved to undertake an undergraduate degree in English Literature at the University of St Andrews. She is an avid reader who hopes to take the skills learned through her master’s into a career in the publishing industry, encouraging more people to fall in love with reading like she has.