Making the most of your year at WBS

Our Master's students share their top tips on making the most of your year at WBS.

Ruiting Tang, MSc Marketing & Strategy

It is completely normal to have no clue what to do when you enter a new environment completely by yourself. I have come up with my three top tips on how to make the most of your time at WBS and settle into postgraduate life.

1. Get engaged

The most important tip I can give to you is to make sure you engage with all the resources that are available at WBS. The guest speaker events, such as the Marketing Insight series provides you with a great opportunity to gain insight into the industries you are interested and make greater connections with industry professionals. Secondly, you should definitely engage with the WBS CareersPlus team which is a dedicated resource specifically for WBS students. The team offer weekly one-to-one careers coaching appointments where you can receive help with writing your CV and practice your interview techniques. Thirdly I would recommend that you engage with the free language classes available at WBS, the classes are taught in a relaxed way and it provides you with a great opportunity to meet students from other courses, and improve your skillset.

2. Manage your time

My second top tip would be to manage your time wisely as will need to plan for reading time, assignment deadlines, revision and examinations throughout the year whilst also looking and applying for jobs which can be very time-consuming. I would recommend that you create a study schedule and stick to it so that you can plan your time effectively.

3. Step out your comfort zone

My final piece of advice would be to step out of your comfort zone. At WBS there are many incredibly talented students from all over the world who you will be studying alongside, so take this opportunity to enrich your experience by making new friends and learning about new cultures, languages and traditions.

Muskaan Karanwal, MSc Management

I am currently on the verge of finishing my Master's course at WBS, and as I look back on the last year it has been an incredible journey. My ultimate top tip, to begin with, would be to urge all future students coming to WBS to make sure that you attend all your lectures. The lectures are very well constructed to provide a combination of both practical and theoretical knowledge which will be pivotal to your learning. I would also recommend that you come well prepared for all your lectures and complete any pre-reading to make it easier for you to understand each lecture and complete your assignments.

Secondly, I would recommend that you take advantage of the WBS CareersPlus team who offer a range of services relating to job searching and job acquisition.  It is worthwhile booking a one-to-one appointment with the team at the beginning of term so you can be fully prepared when the applications for graduate schemes open in the first term. The team also organise regular seminars and workshops to help you develop your skillset. Another top tip is to attend the careers fairs that the team arrange throughout the year where you will have the opportunity to meet with potential employers and develop your professional network.

My final top tip would be to attend the social trips that WBS organise where you can explore the nearby towns and cities close to campus. You will also have the chance to meet new people outside of your course. WBS is a brilliant place to study that will allow you to develop yourself on both an academic and personal level.

Luke Jeeves, MSc Financial Mathematics 

In this blog post, I will give you some hints and tips on how you can maximise your Master's experience here at WBS. First and foremost, be prepared, in every way you can. Pay attention to any pre-arrival instructions on myWBS that you may have; these are created to make your transition to WBS as smooth as possible. Being prepared is also a mental thing, so make sure you’re ready for an intensive academic year, committing as much time and effort as you can to your studies.

During the first term (September-December), there are a whole host of careers events organised by the WBS CareersPlus team which include talks, seminars, hosted dinners and mock interviews that you can get involved with. These types of events will enable you to network with industry experts and potential employers so make sure you make the most of every opportunity. This term is a very busy time but you will reap the rewards if you can commit extra hours in your evenings to attending these events as they will promote your employability options for life after WBS.

After Christmas, WBS organises many events which students can get involved with, such as trips to London or abroad, balls and celebration evenings. I would definitely encourage you to get involved with these events as they provide a fantastic way to let your hair down after a tough few semesters. There are even non-academic trips in term three to theme parks, museums and chocolate factories.

My top tip on making the most of your year at WBS would be to make sure you arrive with the right attitude. Attitude is everything here at WBS and the old adage most definitely applies; the more you put in, the more you will get out. If you come prepared and willing to give your all to the course and your WBS experience, you will maximise your enjoyment and value from your year here.

Summer Xiao, MSc Business Analytics

The MSc Business Analytics course at WBS is quite intensive and covers many topics. Here are some tips that I think will potentially help you with your study:

Review and study some previous knowledge in statistics and operational research in advance.

Statistical knowledge is crucial and fundamental for many modules in the MSc Business Analytics course. I would recommend that you refresh your knowledge by reviewing your undergraduate statistics course and study some classical theories. By refreshing your knowledge you can potentially make the transition from your previous study to the MSc Business Analytics course much easier and adapt to the new field quickly.

Make the best use of online courses and practice programming more.

Programming is a relatively large proportion of the MSc Business Analytics course and if you want to pursue a career in a quantitative field, such as a data scientist, programming capacities will be tested and highly valued when it comes to applying for a job. I would recommend that you make the best use of all the online resources available to you at WBS. The DataCamp online programming-learning platform is really useful and it is beneficial for you to learn one or two different programming languages. Furthermore, think about what your programming codes and results imply and try to transform them into some business insights.

To learn more about our portfolio of postgraduate courses, please visit our dedicated postgraduate homepage.