MSc Management & Marketing alum Owen Barnes reflects on his masters experience at CUBS and being recruited by the world’s leading tech firms.
OPINION: Owen Barnes
UCC’s MSc Management and Marketing has had a huge effect upon many students’ upward trajectory in the jobs market. Given the speed of automation and decline of a job for life, specialisation is being seen less as an asset in the modern business organisation.
The MSc in Management and Marketing teaches you the fundamentals of business while equipping you with a variety of skills in different business disciplines such as digital marketing, project management and organisational dynamics.
Research is also continually supported through the market research, research skills and consumer behaviour, all skills that I have used in my current position. Apart from the academic skills learnt in lectures, the MSc in Marketing and Management places great care into developing all of the students into rounded professionals through teachings in presentation, interview skills and CV/cover letter writing.
In addition to the classes, most students considered placement their greatest opportunity to have an immediate impact in a workplace. My own placement with Malwarebytes prepared me for the tech world, and all its esoteric language, complex processes and new ways of thinking.
It has certainly changed my life. In Malwarebytes we had an opportunity to work in Europe’s smartest office in One Albert Quay. Our office was Star Wars themed, plush with expensive office furniture and fancy laptops. Free breakfast and lunch everyday was another benefit. It sure was a treat.
I also worked under the leadership of Jean Chapin, who has become a mentor of mine since leaving Malwarebytes in August. He encouraged me to pursue my research at work as it had an effect on the running of the business. It was an amazing opportunity to learn about and research changes in marketing technology, and it also confirmed my desire to work for one of these companies. And then came Qualtrics…
At Qualtrics I have been working as an Experience Management Consultant which is a fancy term for sales development. In this position I have had to continually utilise my skills learned during my year in UCC and Malwarebytes to guide my business decisions.
Qualtrics is an experience management company which means that they allow firms to measure, predict and analyse their core business experiences, such as their customers, employees, brand and products. It is a totally thrilling concept and the company is about to go onto the stock market.
I gladly rejected Oracle, Facebook and Google for this opportunity to work at Qualtrics. Their growth prospects were mouth-watering! And it all came from one UCC professor saying, “I like Apple, I like them a lot, but go work for the next Apple – that’s way more cool!”