Networking events were one of the highlights of the Sheffield MBA for me

I wanted to explore choices in my future career path

After having worked in auditing at Deloitte for several years, I decided to pursue the Sheffield MBA so I could explore choices in my future career path. Sheffield has a strong reputation holding high rankings and the city is famous for its beautiful and relaxing environment. This attracted me to apply to complete my MBA in Sheffield.

The culture and the environment in Sheffield are totally different from my hometown in Taiwan. It took me some time to get used to the place, especially the language and how people communicate. I was very glad to find that people in Sheffield are very kind, and the relaxing pace of life and the parks did make me settle and enjoy my time in the city.

Having several years of work experience helped me with my studies

I found that returning to university with several years of work experience was actually very helpful for me to get into the variety of MBA modules. I could draw on my experiences to link the theories with real life. I could understand the issues I faced in my work that I wished to be enhanced. With such clear goals, I could better understand and focus on the course. Meanwhile, it is a very rare chance to have a year of enjoying university life after starting work, so I do value this chance of studying abroad and making many friends from different backgrounds. Also, the support team and the academics from the Management School are very kind in sharing and communicating with us, which makes me feel at home and not alone to face the new way of life.

Networking events were a highlight of the MBA experience

Networking events were one of the highlights of the Sheffield MBA for me. The importance of networking was not highlighted in my life before, but it’s actually a very critical skill in not only work but also private life. Also, as I only focused on Accounting in my undergraduate studies, studying a variety of different subject areas such as strategy, marketing and leadership, which are also very important to managing a company, helped me to explore the way of thinking through solutions and understanding the thoughts of people in different positions. I really appreciated the culture of the School - we were encouraged to share our thoughts and respect each other’s backgrounds and experiences. As this was something I didn't do as much in my undergraduate, it helped me to build confidence in speaking out my thoughts.

My company project was a very interesting experience

For my MBA Individual Challenge, I did a company project which was a very interesting experience. The company I worked with was actually expecting something totally different from what we could do in the beginning, thus the project started with communicating and persuading the company to accept our plan. My topic used the Balanced Scorecard to analyse the company and advise the solution on real issues they were facing. Starting from interviewing and understanding the company, and providing suggestions based on the theories, I believe this project really allowed to go through what we had learnt in the class and link it with the real cases. 

I am now working at PwC Japan

After completing my MBA, I starting working at Kenvue Taiwan, which is independent of the J&J consumer department. After working there for several months, I received an interview from PwC Japan and have now joined their Audit and Assurance department. My role currently involves not only audit, but also team management and client communication. My MBA helped me to strengthen my communication and time management skills, both of which I use regularly in my day to day work.

Looking ahead, I might consider moving to a globalised company in a financial or accounting position. Thanks to the Sheffield MBA I believe I can also consider a position related to company management or a managing role in the future as well. 

My advice for future MBA students

Open your mind and enjoy it! You have nothing to worry about if you follow and rely on the trustworthy team.