Leading career growth with an MBA – our graduation story

Heading for Europe – from telecommunications to FMCG

As a global product owner with the Heineken business team, Jasreen Kaur (MBA 2022), from Malaysia, manages digital solutions that are applied across the company wide subsidiaries.  

“I am based in the global headquarters at Heineken, in Amsterdam, and a lot of my day-to-day work is interacting with stakeholders from different countries. One of the most critical learnings from my MBA was how to interact with people across different cultures, a skill I now use every day in my new role.” 

“Alongside this, the learnings from the Strategy core course on the MBA support my work prioritising certain courses of action and strategic thinking at Heineken.” 

Jasreen found her role through networking. She worked with the Careers Team at Cambridge Judge, which involved taking part in case practice sessions and interview practice, which helped build her confidence and prepare for the interviews with Heineken. 

Jasreen moved from working in the telecommunications sector in Cambodia and found herself somewhat unexpectedly in the Fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) sector. “I switched sector and location and had fully intended to use the MBA to switch locations and to work in Europe. I have entered the FMCG sector by chance and I am enjoying the new learnings that it’s giving me.” 

Consulting in Dubai – from a military career in the USA

Former submarine officer in the US Navy, Chase la Rosa (MBA 2022), was looking to do an MBA as a way to transition into defence consulting.  

“For me the MBA at Cambridge Judge was very attractive, as it allowed me to start my post-military career one year earlier, which is not the norm for those studying in the USA where an MBA is a 2-year programme.” 

He continues, “I like the fact that at Cambridge Judge everyone comes here with a relatively different story. I was looking for that diversity and to be part of a larger group of people from all over the world and I found that in Cambridge.” 

Now based in Dubai and Abu Dhabi as an Associate for Kearney, Chase goes back and forth across the region, as an associate working in their defence and security practice.  

“There are lots of new and different things coming out of my role and the diversity at Cambridge Judge is quite special as it does prepare you to talk to people from different backgrounds. Something that I had not had a lot of experience of prior to the MBA.” 

Transitioning from the military to consulting, Chase has made the triple jump in his career,  “I changed my role, my sector and my location. I am one of the triple jump students.” 

“That is exactly why I went to Cambridge, I wanted to try something new, and I found exactly the right balance here. I came to Cambridge looking for academic legitimacy and it gave me exactly what I needed to move forward into a new career path – to change sector, location, everything. I think having the University of Cambridge on my CV was key to that.” 

Jumping from Latin America to a global role in the entertainment industry

Paula Martinez (MBA 2022) from Argentina was working for The Walt Disney Company, prior to the MBA, a role focused on marketing solely in the Latin American market.  

“I am still in the same sector because I really want to stay in the entertainment business, which I am very passionate about. But I changed locations as I relocated to the UK and took on a global position. I have also changed roles and now work as a Global Marketing Operations Manager, for Warner Bros, a new role that I am now eager to explore. “ 

Paula worked closely with the Careers Team at the Business School, to build her skills as she began looking for a new role in the entertainment sector. 

“The main advice I got from the Careers Team at Cambridge Judge Business School was the importance of networking and how to connect with your peers, but also professionals from the industry sector that you wish to go into.” 

For Paula, choosing to do an MBA and applying those new skills in the workplace was about a change of mindset. 

“The MBA reshaped my mindset by providing an understanding in a more holistic way of business strategy and leadership. Some of the skills that have really helped me-which I use in my daily tasks- are negotiation and problem-solving skills.”  She continues, “Because we work with multiple stakeholders, and we are managing such huge operations on a global scale, that really implies constant challenges every day.” 

Paula was also attracted to the diversity and the variety of courses and electives within the MBA programme at Cambridge Judge. “I was looking for a programme that really shows diversity and not just a focus on one sector like finance or consulting. At Cambridge Judge it was much more open, and you can really tailor the courses within the MBA to suit yourself.  

“I picked the MBA Concentration on Culture, Arts and Media Management (CAM). I really wanted to keep learning about and exploring,  and I added in some electives such as Marketing, which has been really useful in my role at Warner Bros.”  

“The Cambridge MBA really validated me as a leader and has shown me what I am capable of and what I can do, it has been an amazing journey.”  

Switching financial sectors in the UK

Hai Bui from Vietnam also found the network at Cambridge to be extremely useful as he stepped into a new role in London, as Corporate Finance Manager for Stanely Capital.  

Specialising in the healthcare and pharmaceutical sector in investments, Hai networked extensively before securing his role in the UK. 

“I extended my network extensively and went to lots of networking events during my MBA year with my classmates. That’s where I met a partner in the firm I am at now.”  

Applying the MBA skills into his role, Hai explains,  “Because I was looking to change industry sectors, I learned about the healthcare sector during the MBA. The Private Equity classes and Venture Capital classes were really applicable to the industry I am currently working in.”  

“I also learned how to properly manage a project in real time and work with clients and a number of stakeholders, for example both the Cambridge Venture Project and the Global Consulting Project were live consulting projects that prepared me for the job I am doing now.”  

Switching industry but staying in the UK, based in London, Hai explains,  “Before the MBA I was working for EY in an accounting finance role, and I took the MBA with an expectation to move industry sectors.” 

He continues, “The MBA has allowed me to really position myself in the private equity industry sector and to specialise in the pharmaceutical and healthcare sector, which I didn’t have any experience of before the MBA. The MBA has been a really valuable tool to enable me to pivot in my career.”