Leadership, learning and development – your MBA year beyond academics

Special Interest Groups  

Formed and run by MBA and MFin students, special interest groups – or SIGs – are an integral part of the Cambridge Judge experience. They offer a chance to network and share ideas around a particular area. Current examples range from Finance and Entrepreneurship to Sustainability and Social Impact. Many SIGs arrange their own conferences and talks and offer opportunities to take on key leadership roles. 

Students who engage with, or lead and organise a special interest group during their time at Cambridge, often experience numerous benefits. These experiences allow them to further develop and apply their leadership and communication skills, which are essential components of the Cambridge MBA programme. 

In November, at the start of the MBA year, the Energy and Environment SIG hosted an inaugural series of talks with external speakers from Roland Berger’s market report team.  

“Initiating the academic year’s agenda, SIG members engaged in discussions and a democratic selection process to determine the primary learning focus, culminating in the choice of Carbon Capture Usage and Storage (CCUS) as the inaugural topic,” explains SIG leader and current student Kenji Niwa. 

Kenji continues, “The event comprised not only a wealth of industry insights through a comprehensive presentation but also an interactive segment that encouraged active participation and robust discussions.” 

In 2023 the newly formed AI special interest group was established, reflecting the future of business intelligence.

Romit Kapoor, became the Chair – “AI was just starting to take off when my MBA year began. Across Cambridge and the wider eco-system, the MBA cohort has had a lot of interaction with founders, with investors and with thought leaders in very exciting spaces like AI. There are so many interesting people across the entire value chain to speak to in Cambridge. Alongside the founders and investors, you also have the technical skill in Cambridge, from researchers to engineers.” 

He continues,  “Becoming the Chair of the AI SIG, really helped me to connect with this wider eco-system.” 

The AI SIG organised a series of events across the industry, which was really helpful for me to understand what the market wants, what I can do to get those skills, and how the Business School can help me to get those skills.” 

For Deeksha Wadhwa (MBA 2022), leading the Fintech SIG was an opportunity to,  “Explore and understand the expectations and backgrounds of the SIG members. I was amazed at the diversity of experiences within the MBA and MFin cohort at the Business School.”  

“Our sessions across my MBA year offered SIG members a glimpse into the everyday of the fintech industry, as well as the opportunity to network with fintech alumni, which resulted in a strong connection going forward.” 

For current student Orobosa Isokpan, from Nigeria, being part of the recent Cambridge Africa Business Network annual conference was ‘an incredibly fulfilling experience’.  

“As part of my MBA year I wanted to be part of this conference. The Africa Network at Cambridge Judge is already a SIG but there used to be an annual conference held each year at the Business School. This hadn’t taken place in person and on site since 2019 and I felt that it was important to bring it back, as a way to support the African students on the MBA.

“The 2024 Africa Conference provided a link between those students from African descent and outside businesses and business leaders in the financial space, those in the entrepreneurial space, as well as other spaces like music and entertainment, across Africa.  

“Overall being part of the organising committee was incredibly challenging,” Orobosa explains, “I know that in my career I’ll be able to wear many hats.  I helped set up many aspects of the event and the overall strategy. So having those skills that I was able to hone during the conference will definitely help me in my future career after my MBA.” 

MBA Competitions  

Doing an MBA offers unique opportunities to join in and take part in global competitions run by businesses, often only for MBA teams from top business schools. From venture competitions to win funding for business ideas to private equity and investment showcases, competitions offer more opportunities to network with fellow MBA students and industry experts in a given sector and in many cases overseas.  

Ting Zhang (MBA 2021) entered the 21st Wharton Buyout Competition with an MBA team. He explains,  “I had private equity experience in real estate but wanted to expand to look at deals in other sectors. The best way to gain this experience was through participating in competitions during my MBA.”

He continues, “It was a good way to gain valuable feedback on our investment logic and see how teams from other schools approached deals.”  

Part of the same MBA team, Michelle Goh said,  “We are happy to be one of the finalist teams in the competition. We got to apply our MBA learnings to a case study, get feedback from the professional judges, and gain insights into how teams in other schools approach the case. The learnings can be readily applied to future competitions and in our future careers.”   

The collaborative nature of the Cambridge MBA provides students with many opportunities to work together in teams. Students interested in specific sectors and with complimentary skills, can easily apply this to competitions that offer opportunities to test out their MBA skills on a global stage. 

Competitions are also a great way to get some practical experience and more in-depth exposure to a sector of interest you wish to pursue in your career.  

“During the first term I did a couple of competitions, and the experience was invaluable. So, I decided to leverage these opportunities throughout the year to broaden networks and explore different fields. The experience contributed to my career exploration,” explains Mayuko Yamaguchi (MBA 2021). 

Student treks  

From day visits to businesses to short trips beyond the UK, treks are firmly back on the menu for our Cambridge MBA students.  

Run by the student body themselves, previous treks have been from Dubai to Japan, from Dublin to Berlin.  

“As has become a Cambridge MBA tradition, this year some of the students from Japan organised a business trek in which they would host a few students to spend a week travelling around their home country.

“The goals of the trek were to learn more about the culture, as well as visit some businesses to see how Japanese business is done,” explains current student and Cambridge Japan Business Club leader, Kenichiro Kaneko (MBA 2023).  

Highlights include some of the meals taken together and experiencing local cuisines and cultures together as a group. Overall, the experience was one that ‘none of them would forget’. 

Kenichiro concludes, “The hospitality shown by not only the businesses we visited, but from the locals, made us feel truly at home and we were excited to explore everything the country had to offer.” 

The wider Cambridge eco-system  

Beyond the Business School community there is also a massive network of clubs and societies and events held across the University of Cambridge community.  

There are more than 400 societies across the wider University of Cambridge eco-system. They range from sports clubs and arts groups to consulting networks and entrepreneurial societies, providing a chance to network with ambitious, likeminded people from across Cambridge. 

Current student, Joanne Tan, from Singapore explains,  “I wanted to broaden my perspectives and learn not just from the business curriculum and network at Cambridge Judge, but also from the wider Cambridge community made of many bright minds. 

“Where else would you get all the world’s leading minds easily gathered in one place for you to gain new perspectives, and where the only likely hurdle here is the distance from your home to the lecture theatre?”