I am originally from Bulgaria but have lived in the UK for 10 years. Currently I am working for Google as an Analytical Lead where I work with the largest retail advertisers in the UK. My job is to help them make the most of their digital media investment with Google through advanced analytics and measurement.
To study an MBA was always in my career plan, I just never knew when it would happen. When I started the MBA journey, I was freelancing and had more time on my hands, so knew this was my time to study. Having studied my undergraduate degree at The University of Manchester it was an easy decision to decide to do my MBA at Alliance Manchester Business School.
Making my MBA choice
Choosing the finance accelerated stream seemed like the natural choice for me. As I am a chartered accountant by trade a lot of the finance course material that you learn on the MBA I had already studied extensively. I felt no need to go through these modules again. To also save on time and the overall cost was a benefit for me. Studying an MBA in a shorter period helped with the work life balance: an 18 month programme was the perfect fit for me.
My career journey
My career started at Deloitte before I made the move to BT and later on to Google. The common theme that runs through from the start of my career as an accountant to now is analytics. At Deloitte I worked in the tax department doing mostly analysis. When I made the switch out of accounting and tax and into finance at BT I was in an analytical role. Even today at Google and in a more marketing role, the common theme remains as data analysis. This has made it easy to jump through sectors.
The MBA experience
Studying the MBA has helped me with my understanding of concepts around business. I had a bit of background from studying my UG course, but it was great to do the MBA with 10 years of experience. To think about the theory in a practical way. I enjoyed making the link between theory and practice which you aren’t able to do when learning the business concepts at UG level. Daily in my job I use research and evidence to back up recommendations to clients which is a skill I honed during my MBA.
The best part of the programme is when we all got together on campus for the workshops for the first time. The energy was at its highest on the course. I also travelled to Hong Kong for one of my modules which was an amazing experience.
To anyone considering an MBA I would say think about what you want to get out of the programme and not just the credentials. Decide whether it is really the right degree for you and what you want to be doing as it is a huge time and cost investment.
