Esele Emiantor, originally from Nigeria came to Manchester to study her Full-time MBA.
In Nigeria she was working in the oil and gas sector as a manager in corporate strategy and finance. She led projects and strategies around different functions in the organisation and facilitated deals in the debt and equity market.
Why the Full-time MBA?
“I wanted to fully immerse myself into the learning experience without any distractions and demands of a full-time job. I thought if I studied full-time it would allow me to take advantage of all the opportunities available on campus. I would be able to network with people from different backgrounds and focus on the consultancy projects.
I knew doing an MBA was a huge commitment and I wanted to be able to give it 100% effort then throw myself back into the real working world.”
Financing the MBA programme
“The MBA requires a significant financial commitment regardless of your country or the business schools, people worldwide are paying heavily for different MBA programmes.
The financial commitment has long term benefits, not just in terms of academics of the programme but also the long-lasting relationships and networking that you acquire from studying an MBA. These benefits make it worthwhile to invest in the right MBA programme.”
Forte Foundation (women in business scholarship)
“I was lucky enough to receive a scholarship as part of the Forte Foundation. This scholarship helped me to cover part of my tuition, which gave me extra funds to support my cost of living whilst studying. I heard about the Forte foundation whilst I was researching and reading through the AMBS website.
“I had applied for the women in business scholarship and then used my application for that towards the Forte foundation application.”
Advice to anyone applying for an MBA
- “Make sure you know exactly what you’re looking to gain from an MBA experience. For example, I wanted to be able to transition from a corporate finance role in Nigeria to the Private equity industry in the UK. I believed the MBA is a universal vehicle that could aid that transition.
- I believed the MBA would take me to the point in my career where I want to be, it would be a good steppingstone to get me into the right market.
- I would recommend doing your research as much as you want to focus on the ranking of the school, be sure to consider the location and the alumni community for your choice school.
- Prepare for the application process
- Know and understand exactly what the school will want from you; take advantage of school resources, read the school website and find the right information”
Live consultancy projects and the MBA
The Full-time MBA programme has three live consultancy projects that run throughout. These projects give our students a hands-on experience working with real clients with a real business issue.
“I really enjoyed the first project experience. The reason I chose the Full-time MBA programme was to have hands on learning from supervisors and other students in the class which is what I am benefiting from now.
Working on these projects, you are sitting shoulder to shoulder with people who are specialists in their industries and can share insights and knowledge, these people were already thriving in their respective fields, and I wanted this learning experience.
The projects I have worked on so far have helped me to better understand the wider context of industry and company specific problems and the route to delivering solutions especially in the current global economic climate. You receive feedback and see the impact of your recommendations which is really important when it comes to MBA learnings”
Favourite part of the programme so far
“The consultancy projects. It is amazing when people from different countries come together to work on a real project for a real client. We had to overcome language barriers, approach to problem-solving and the group dynamics with its impact on progress of the projects.
The bond you create with everyone from working on these projects is an experience I will never forget. I have enjoyed myself, progressed during the process and understand what is expected of me individually and when working with other people in the groups.”
Post-graduation plans
“I want to be where the opportunities are. I want to go into private equity and do what I love to do wherever that might be either in the UK or Nigeria."
