First semester as part-time student in Imperial College!

So excited to be selected as a student content creator for the Imperial College Business School marketing team for 2020/21! The below blog will also be available on the School's student blog. :) 

I started my MSc Strategic Marketing online programme with Imperial College Business School in Sep and I can’t believe how fast time has flew!  I am already finishing my 1st semester while it felt like yesterday when I went to London to collect my student card! 

The MSc Strategic Marketing programme has actually been available for 10 years and I was really excited to join this programme given it is one of the best marketing master programme in the world. I was thrilled to find out that starting from this year this programme can also be done online in part-time mode so I can continue with my personal engagements as well as pursue the master at the same time. 

In this first semester, we studied Strategic Marketing Management, Consumer Behaviour and Digital Marketing. Most of the study materials are posted on The Hub. There is a huge variety of materials such as videos, research journals, as well as activities where we can learn from each other within the peer group.This is how The Hub looks like: 

 

We also have life classes once every week, one in morning session and another in the afternoon session so students from different time zones can join whichever one that fits their schedule. All of the learning materials are very up-to-date and practical. For instance, some concepts were taught and applied in the current market situation impacted by Covid-19.

This is what a live class looks like.

 

My favourite subject is Consumer Behaviour because classes are very interactive even though it is an online programme. We always get timely feedback and we can learn a lot in exercises such as Image Tile where each student upload a real-life business example of concept taught by the professor. 

Meanwhile we were also assigned to different syndicated group for group work. In my group we have 6 people coming from different nationality, namely American, British, Belgian, Chinese, German and Singaporean. The group work that we had to do were really interesting as well! For Strategic Marketing Management, we worked together on a marketing plan video to launch a new product, while for digital marketing, we were to analyse the digital marketing strategy of an actual business. Not only could I apply what I learnt in real business situations, it was also a great opportunity to learn how to work in a virtual team effectively especially when all of us are from very different background.

While studying for the master, I also work as a student ambassador in the Imperial Enterprise Lab. The E-Lab provides plenty of support, ranging from idea surgery to mentoring services, to students and alumni who are interested in starting their own business. They also organize different regular events such as the How To … Talk series as well as annual programmes like Venture Catalyst Challenge to provide workshops, expertise support and funding to students to make their business ideas come true.

As a student ambassador, I support preparation of social media content and other marketing materials such as the newsletter as well as news articles going up onto the website. This allows me to put into practice what I have learnt in my marketing courses and it is hands-on experience that would help me to find a marketing job in the future.

On the side, I am also talking Spanish classes in Spain and I have just completed DELE C1 professional level. 

One of the things I like the most about this part-time online master programme is that I manage schoolwork quite well with my other engagement given the flexibility it provides. I really looking forward to what is coming next and working with other people from different nationalities in the next semester.

Lots of Love,

Cherrie