'In our cohort of 35 students we had over 15 nationalities represented, each with a different story to tell. Having studied engineering in New Zealand, it made me realise how homogenous my previous peer group was. When completing group projects (a strong focus of the MBA programme), I found myself learning as much from my peers, as from the course content. This solidified my belief that diverse perspectives and skill sets can ultimately result in more innovative solutions to business challenges.

Another standout aspect includes the building of a diverse network. Despite graduating only 6 months ago, I’m amazed by how far and varied the roles of my peers are as they re-enter the workforce. It is this network, I believe, that will be helpful in the future when wanting to gain a broader perspective on business challenges and career opportunities.

Lastly, the mentorship provided by the experienced faculty whose insights enriched my understanding and approach to business challenges was very useful.

In my current job, I can now integrate the skills acquired during my MBA with my prior industrial engineering experience. By leveraging data analytics, emerging technologies, and strategic insights, I help organizations optimise their asset performance, reduce operational costs, and improve overall efficiency. Seeing positive outcomes of our recommendations help clients is a really rewarding part of the role. Whether it is enhancing asset reliability, implementing predictive maintenance strategies or reducing energy consumption.

My advice for current students who want to work in consulting is to not only focus on business fundamentals such as finance, strategy and operations management. But also take chances to speak publicly or to a small group, and use extracurricular activities as an opportunity to lead or manage people. Attend networking events and observe what is compelling and not so compelling about a speaker. What a lot of students overlook is the importance of developing communication and teamwork skills. I’m always surprised by how many incredibly intelligent people there are in consulting, who can’t communicate or convey their message well. As the world becomes more digitised, it is these soft skills that are going to be more important in the future.'