What made you choose MSc DMM?
Digital Marketing is the future of Marketing – Having come from an industry background I can say this from my own personal and professional experience. It has become the quintessential skill for every current day marketeer to possess. Over the last 10 years marketing practices have accelerated rapidly in this field as the development of software has made traditionally done manual-marketing practices either easier with the click of a single button or completely redundant. I’ve always been passionate about the subject of Marketing over any other & have dedicated several years of my career and working experiences doing traditional marketing in various formats. Since I have a Bachelor’s Degree with a specialization in ‘Marketing’ & had a relevant number of years of work experience in the field of marketing; this specific choice of a Master’s Degree in “Digital Marketing” felt like the most perfectly aligned with my areas of career focus and interest.
What has been your experience of the classes?
My experience of the classes has been phenomenal – primarily because of the course content and the logical sequencing of the main modules planned over the 3 semesters. At the very beginning from an outside perspective, they seem to be 3 entirely unrelated terms with a wide-ranging variety of subjects. However, as the first semester is wrapped up and the second one takes over there gradually seems to be an inter-woven series of dots that connect concepts/ theories and ideas that has been made virtually with the content between both. There is a well-planned and logical sequencing of the various course modules, and the main topics build upon/ support each other to get into further depths of the core subject matter. The Business School also brings in outside Industry Experts in the form of guest. The best part about those coming to conduct these sessions are that many of them were alumni and ex-students of the University or even more specifically from this specific course of MSc DMM. This offers a clear perspective to the class-cohort about the possibilities for a career choice and proof of the potential for employment in a certain area of academic interest. My favourite part of the course content was the third Semester wherein we are required to work on a dissertation or specialisation; this allowed a rare opportunity to take all the theories & concepts learned in the first and second semester and apply the same into actual practice with complete flexibility and creativity: working on an actual live website, creating a brand/ logo, conducting Search Engine Optimization, making a content strategy, marketing the website via various digital channels etc, and then using Google Analytics and various tools to evaluate the progress. This “Digital Transformation Project” has got to be the highlight of the entire MSc DMM Course.
What has been your experience of the general environment and support offered by Strathclyde Business School?
Overall, my experience with the general environment and support extended by the Strathclyde Business School has been exceptional and professional. The Strathclyde Business School building is extremely well organized and centrally located in a campus that has so many other different departments spread out over such a large campus. The Marketing support staff are extremely proactive and helpful in offering solutions or simply responding to verbal queries or prompts. There are additional departments that act as a boost to the SBS team, namely the Careers Team. There are dedicated faculty members who are specifically assigned to work with the SBS students’ needs for assistance with their CV screening, career counselling and guidance.
How does the course fit into your long-term aspirations/ career plans?
Strathclyde Business School has triple accreditation with AACSB, EQUIS & the AMBA. It is also ranked as the best in Scotland at the 1st position for “Marketing” as a subject ranking and 15th across all the UK in the Complete University Guide 2024. With a Marketing department that is over 50 years old it was clearly the best choice for me. Professionally, I have over 18 years of work experience across Marketing, Sales & Business Development in different geographies. I have built my entire career working in various areas of Marketing – now, having one of the oldest Marketing Departments and best brands in the business backing my credentials, I can continue to pursue new projects seamlessly across multiple industries applying the learnings from this course in conjunction with the past experiences from my earlier jobs. This DMM course has been a crucial addition to my resume. The course aligns perfectly into my long-term aspirations/ career progression plans.
What is it like to be a student at Strathclyde and in Glasgow?
People Make Glasgow is the Glasgow motto and you will agree the moment you touchdown here. Glasgow city is world famous for being the friendliest city. It is an honest fact, and you will feel that on day one. Not just from the strangers smiling or greeting you in the streets but also from completely unknown people constantly reaching out to help new arrivals/ tourists/ students or even strangers in the streets. Being a student at Strathclyde feels a lot like being in the best place at the best time. The University of Strathclyde has a massive presence in the heart of Glasgow’s vibrant City Centre. It’s extremely well connected for public transport. No matter where you may choose to live, the University of Strathclyde is always within well-connected reach of public transport options. It has been a privilege and an honour to have been a student at Strathclyde in Glasgow city.
What advice would you give to prospective students?
Only a few simple pointers of advice from my experience to prospective students: research your choice of course before you sign up based on your own areas of interest, skill and will. Don’t sign up for a course just because of peer pressure or because it is trending on social media. Choose what you are personally interested in or passionate about and explore your own potential grow. Keep an open mind. Listen-Learn-Practice-Perfect. Work hard on your chosen course modules; there is a reason they have been carefully designed by experts after years of tweaking and feedback on improvements. Course modules are intense; not designed to make your short-term life difficult but instead to help you make your long-term life easier. Every single subject in your course has been precisely planned to prepare you for the real world of work out there in your future choice of career. Even if you may not understand it at this point in your life - it is done with a long-term focus and approach to prepare you for the corporate sectors or the world in general. In an age of Chat-GPT & so many AI shortcuts and finding all your MCQ test answers ready on Google please consider the fact that you might get your answers to an open book test, but you will also most likely be completely blank in any future interview where you are later asked to prove or demonstrate the same skill-sets that are claimed as achieved on your CV. Trust the process that has been designed by those academicians that have been through the process and constantly seek to improve it. The more you put in – the more you will take out at the end.
