How my online MBA paved the way for future career success

Since COVID, people’s opinions about the merits of online education have changed. Back when I studied, you would have some people still saying that you have to study in person, but I knew I couldn’t go there myself, so the online MBA was the best option. I trusted the university and they exceeded my expectations. 

I think most students that choose online education, and specifically this programme because of the way that it's structured, are looking for flexibility, price and quality.  

There is structure, in that you know there’s a set schedule for when assignments must be submitted, but there is flexibility within the structure, which is important for people with families and/or work.  

In the online MBA, we have four specialisations and then we have electives, and I personally enjoyed the financial management specialisations, covering investments and financial accounting, and also I took the mergers and acquisitions and financial analysis electives.  

One class was taught by a CFO from a big publicly traded company, and he had a lot of insights from his professional experience, which was really great. It was a class which really changed my perspective. 

I also enjoyed the entrepreneurship specialisation, learning about what’s important when setting up new businesses and building a business plan. This was exciting.  

During my studies and now, I work as a freelance consultant, continuing in the same industry. Professionally, I now feel I have better foundations and feel more confident when facing clients or travelling abroad for work.  

Now I can understand numbers better and have in my mind some strategy models. I can direct my decision-making in a more organised way and communicate in a way that’s easier to understand. 

I attended most, if not all, of the live weekly classes, and the reason for doing this is that almost always there will be breakout groups during the session where you can meet with other students, discuss the topic and then go back to the main room and openly discuss with the whole class. 

Exchanging views with other students and professionals was a really nice experience, and, as you attend more classes, you would get to see the same people and enjoy those conversations more and more.  

Every year, the university has an event for alumni and current students called iConverge. I have made friends all over and hope to attend the event one year and meet them in person.  

There are other ways the university tries to connect both students and faculty. For example, a few weeks back, a faculty member emailed me to say that one of my professors would be attending a conference in my city, so I called a couple of other alumni in Europe, and they flew over. And we all met up, and it was a really nice experience.  

I think the quality of the programme is great, and I guess the most important thing I gained out of this programme was learning how to learn and how to communicate. Besides the quality, I think it's a university that cares that you learn. You learn how to practice effective time management and how to switch from one platform to the other and how to work with people across the world. 

It’s also the quality of the people you meet. I met people that had worked in so many industries, from Amazon to financial services companies. And I’d stress the fact it’s 72 credits as well. You’re not going to do two MBAs in your life, so you may as well do one with a lot of content.