Business and Economic Forecasting MSc: After you graduate

"After completing my studies at Kingston, I obtained a position as a research economist with the Maryland Department of Housing and Community Development, in the Washington DC metropolitan area. During my tenure I provided high ranking government officials with in-depth analysis of the Agency's financial activities as well as on-going economic conditions for the Maryland, its neighbouring States and the nation. The economic analysis in housing I facilitated was a key element for the State of Maryland's policy making process.

"I recently joined the team of Alvarez & Marsal, a global professional services firm, as a senior associate in the Transfer Pricing practice within the International Tax group. The Transfer Pricing Analysis Group works with client companies to identify intercompany pricing issues and to develop and validate policies that assist clients in complying with international tax regulations. Client companies are generally large and mid-cap multinational firms with business activities in a variety of industries and countries.

"These projects involve extensive gathering of factual information and financial data on companies in various industries, understanding of our clients' industries and developing Transfer Pricing models representative to our client needs.

"The skills that I obtained at Kingston University during my MSc studies provided me with the upper hand amongst other candidates. The module on Business Forecasting exposed me to several different industry sectors, a knowledge that has now become vital at Alvarez & Marsal.

"I chose to study the MSc programme in Business and Economic Forecasting at Kingston University for three main reasons: academics, location, and diversity.

• Academics - The MBEF offered a wide-range foundation in addition to technical mastery of theory and quantitative methods not easily found at other universities.
• Location - Kingston University is located in a charming river town and it is conveniently situated near London.
• Diversity - Kingston University is very diverse. People from all different backgrounds and cultures can only enrich your learning experience in the UK.

"The environment for postgraduate students fosters a successful learning experience given the constant support from the faculty. The Graduate Centre was an excellent resource, providing a more mature environment in which you could have study group sessions in your own seminar room. Aside from the academic life, student life at Kingston had plenty to offer, from night life, shopping, cultural events and sporting activities."

"I had graduated from the Mathematics Department of Athens University having gained a solid mathematical background, including strong statistical and analytical skills. As a result of the Business and Economic Forecasting MSc programme, I became proficient with the use of specific statistical and analytical software and acquired a good knowledge of the markets principles of operation. Through various challenging projects, my communication and presentation skills were greatly enhanced.

"As soon as I had finished the Business and Economic Forecasting MSc, Kingston University offered me a job as part-time lecturer in economics, mathematics and statistics.

"Then, after completing my national service in Greece, I worked as a marketing research analyst in Initiative Consulting. My responsibilities included database management, statistical data modeling, econometric analysis, market evaluation and report writing. Having the required experience, I joined Accenture as a marketing science analyst. At the moment, I work at Hippocratio General Hospital in Athens, Greece as a consultant.

"The use of forecasting is widespread and growing. Firms will rely heavily on employees with a background in statistics to forecast sales, analyse business conditions, help to solve management problems to maximize profits, and make recommendations to their clients.

"In addition, consulting firms increasingly will offer sophisticated services to other businesses. Governmental departments need forecasting for policy making decisions. Presenting economic and statistical concepts in a meaningful way is particularly important for someone whose research is directed toward making policies for an organisation.

"The Business and Economic Forecasting MSc is a very unique programme. It is a blend of statistics, modeling techniques, forecasting and business skills, which gives more options for a career path. The exclusive skill set that I achieved through the Business and Economic Forecasting MSc put me in a position where I had multiple job offers. I would highly recommend this programme to everyone."

"After leaving Kingston, I worked as revenue and business information analyst for Serco Docklands, the current franchise operator of the Docklands Light Railway. Here I applied a lot of the stats learnt in my MSc course in order to analyse and forecast passenger traffic and the resulting revenue.

"Subsequently, in May 2004, I was offered a position at KPMG within the Information Risk Management Department as a financial and data analyst. My role in KPMG varies a lot, depending on each client and the specific requirement. I have no doubt that the Business and Economic Forecasting MSc course has [supplied] the wide range of skills [needed] to provide practical and pragmatic solutions to solve clients' issues.

"Since working at KPMG, I have acquired extensive experience working on complex financial and data models across a range of industries and countries. Some of the projects which I have been involved in include building a financial model for a major transportation group, working on a pricing migration project for a major food wholesale retailer, and reviewing the post-implementation process of a new solvency system for Lloyds of London.

"All of these projects involve some kind of data analysis and even the application of statistics. Data and the structural representation or modelling of such data is a fundamental element in decision making for our clients. We help clients manage their data modelling requirements (from defining the data strategy to implementing the technical solutions necessary to collating and structure the data), map the data flows, and generate the required outputs for meaningful and effective decision-making."