Marketing MA: After you graduate

"My decision to do a Marketing MA was motivated by my unhappiness with my then career path and my conviction that I deserved and could achieve more; I just needed a fresh set of skills and outlook to enable that transformation. Kingston appealed as the lecturers were friendly and commercially connected, the course balanced and varied, and the campus buzzed with a commitment to success.

"In terms of content, staff and fellow students, the Kingston MA delivered so much more value than I had anticipated. One of its intangible strengths was the atmosphere it fostered; the people you learn from and learn alongside are an exceptional and inspiring bunch. In brief, the course gave me a solid grounding in management and strategy, practical exposure to research and investment cases, and an understanding of business process – my thanks to Stavros for taking the sting out of statistics!

"Looking back, I would not change anything about my experiences at Kingston or my choice to study there. Its value in helping me achieve my career goals has been unquestionable and it has given me so, so much. I have left Kingston with a close group of driven and intelligent friends, a passport to a new career, the ability to offer my employer a host of skills, and the confidence to push myself to tackle difficult assignments without breaking stride – how can you put a price-tag on all that?"

"After my first degree in marketing, I felt I needed to strengthen my competitive edge to get into a saturated job market in my home country, Norway. I had always wanted to live in London, so Kingston Business School seemed the perfect place to do my MA.

"What really appealed about the Kingston course was the large number of international students. The diversity in cultural, academic and professional backgrounds resulted in a melting pot of exciting and sometimes strange ideas and opinions, which was a motivational force as I progressed through the year. I met many inspirational and committed people at Kingston, many of whom I have since stayed close friends with.

"The course itself taught me how to put marketing into practice through a strong focus on research and real life case studies. I left with better confidence in my academic background and my ability to do a good job in a marketing environment.

"My decision to do the MA at Kingston is the best decision I have ever made and I am now well on my way to achieving my career goals. I never made it back to Norway to try the job market again, as I thought I would stay here for a while to see where London will take me – so far I'm enjoying every minute!"

"I completed my first degree in Bombay, specialising in electronic and telecommunication engineering. However, the management experience I gained on the course gave me a taste for marketing so on graduation I worked in product development and sales for two years to gain some relevant experience.

"During this time, I researched the best universities at which to take a masters degree in marketing. One of the great things about studying in the UK is that you can gain an MA in just one year. Kingston was one of my favourite universities as it had a prestigious marketing course and, despite being a relatively new university, has a good overall ranking as well. Plus it is in London but outside the busy centre – so although the attractions were close they were not really distractions!

"Before I made my final decision, I got some feedback from current students and met an international advisor from the University who was visiting Bombay. Meeting someone really clarified my decision and made the whole admission process so simple that I didn't apply to any other universities in the end.

"When I arrived at Kingston, I found the course to be well structured with highly experienced tutors. It was very rigorous so I learnt a lot in short amount of time and it definitely kept me on my toes! The students, who came from around 25 different countries, were also very enthusiastic.

"I am now working as a business development manager for the Sibmar Construction Group. As a Knowledge Transfer Partnership position, set up to promote knowledge transfer between SMEs and universities, it is part-funded by the DTI and part-funded by Sibmar.

"My role involves building a business and marketing strategy for the company and carrying out all business development and marketing plans, including setting up a formal marketing department. It is allowing me to try out everything I learnt on my course (marketing strategy, market research, marketing communications, finance etc).

"Now my two-year contact is nearly over, I'm due to use my experience to become a joint partner in a new business set up with Sibmar's managing director."