I managed to catch up with her whilst she was over from Dubai for ‘The Warwick Week’, an intense seven days of lectures, case studies, group work, exam practice, networking and socialising. “It has been so interesting being in groups with people from all over the world, for example learning about the turmoil in Egypt from an Egyptian point-of-view and the economic views of someone from Greece… a real insight into what is happening around the world.”
Kate decided to do an MBA as “UAE is developing at such a fast rate and there are so many opportunities that you can move up the ladder quite quickly. I felt that if I was going to be moving at such a fast rate, career-wise, that I wanted added skills to solidify my experience”.
It was a struggle at first to fit coursework around a full-time job but Kate has built it into her routine. “I do a couple of hours regularly throughout the week so it’s not all left for the weekend. That means studying for a couple of hours before work and grabbing an hour in my lunchbreak!”
Warwick provide a guideline as to where you should be throughout the year; for Kate it is therefore all about “self-pacing as assignments are optional” but you need to “apply the knowledge and constantly seek feedback” throughout the year.
Kate found out about Warwick after looking into the rankings for distance learning programmes and Warwick ranked in the top five. She embarked on her MBA as she “really wanted to build on business skills, business environments and global practices”. Warwick has a ‘MYWBS’ which is an interactive forum and there are regular sessions on individual topics or more general interviews, “there is a constant source of things to interact with”.
Kate plans to remain in Dubai for another couple of years but doesn’t want to feel tied down to one country. As a freelance consultant she is constantly networking, and her network is rather expansive having lived in Australia, Canada, London and Dubai.
The last thing Kate told me was that she is actually due to give birth this December. Crucially the baby is due six days after her final exams! But she says that one of the great things about her MBA is the flexibility it offers, should the baby arrive early “it is not too much of an issue as I can sit them next May!”
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