UKBA - Studying in the UK, a Wrong Choice?

For the last 6 weeks, I have been working on various school projects and had sort of forgotten what the end goal was! But today, I was suddenly reminded of the real deal - study here, but be ready to pack your bags soon! Why?

I'm studying in an American University in UK, but I happen to be an Indian! I should have either chosen to go to US and study at the campuses there or I should have made sure I got into a UK university - either of the two might have made things easier - MUCH easier!

But am I sad about my choice? NO!

My experience at Hult London has been amazing - to say the least. Working with real companies for nearly all our class projects has made sure that we can take on any sort of project. But today, I realised that for many of us, non-EU students, working in the UK will be tougher than expected.

For instance, I read this article today, that said 'Genuine Students are Welcome'. The point is, sure you say you're welcoming 'genuine' students, but are you really? One could argue, that since Hult is an American university, I should not be cribbing - I made a choice. But I do know students from UK universities who are facing problems just like me. Why?

When the visa rules were enforced last year, many companies decided to ensure that they only get EU applicants (or at least those allowed to work in UK). This meant, that you cannot even apply for some jobs if you say you're not an EU resident. That's it. Full Stop. End of Matter.

Now that the rules have changed, it should get easier to get a job for international students. The key word here is SHOULD. With restrictions of how long you can work for and how much they have to earn, etc, there are few chances that companies will want to hire them.

That being said, international students have a better chance getting educated and 'employable' in US or Australia because they can at least work there for a few years after studying.

There is nothing wrong with trying to protect the interest of your own citizens - but one should think of the repercussions of doing so. The tough visa rules, clearly reflects in the reduction in the number of applicants to UK universities. UK earns a large part of its revenue from international students. This number dropped last year, and I am sure it will drop further this year - does this benefit UK citizens?

Why would foreign students come to the UK if they know at the end of the day, they are going to have to cope with their loans/finances by getting jobs elsewhere? Wouldn't they rather study 'elsewhere'?

I agree that since I knew the laws were changing, I should have chosen more thoughtfully - so does that mean, my decision to study in the UK was wrong? 

Spring Break!

I have spent half (or more than half) of my spring break just lazing around at home and watching tele! But somehow, that seems to be just what I needed after the madness of Module B. A week from now, I will be in the 3rd module of my program.

It feels like I left Delhi just yesterday! But then it also feels like my Christmas holidays just ended. Although these may be my thoughts now, they were quite different a few days ago! Last week or 10 days back, I was counting the days till my next break! Our last term at Hult was a whirlwind! But as usual, we survived! Like Kelly Clarkson's song, 'What doesn't kill you makes you stronger!', well, the term just prepared me for the madness I have coming up in Module E!

So coming back to my spring break - I have been watching tele! Cooking shows, travel shows, animal planet, you name it, I'm watching it! So basically I have in a way been expanding my knowledge about things... Sort of...

I watched a movie during this time, called 'Grown Ups', some of you may have heard of it. Well the bottomline of the movie is that kids today, don't 'play'! Well they play, but not the way their parents did! The movie got me thinking. I'm into digital marketing, and at present there are a handful of people around the world who use internet round-the-clock! But a few years from now, the whole world will have a duplicate cyber-world!

A New Beginning...

It's been 2 weeks since my second module at Hult started off! But the holiday spirit somehow doesn't seem to understand that! However, as all good things must end, so will the holiday spirit (now that our projects have started)

This term our projects are a step ahead of what they were last time...

...while in Module A, our projects focused on how quick and creatively we could think of marketing ideas, this term seems to focus more on how we use data to plan the future... whether it is in Strategy or Project Management or Customer Conversion, the theme of 'finding out what we don't know' seems to be a hot favourite! But then I suppose that is how real marketing projects are! You need to know and understand the client before trying to create an out-of-the-world marketing strategy for them!

In retrospect, we did analyse our clients even in the first term. However, that was never really our 'main goal' (if I can call it that). I guess we learnt at that time that we needed to understand them in-depth and therefore have now welcomed this module far more easily.

Most people would say that logically, we should first be taught how to build the strategy and understand the client and then be given assignments dealing with marketing them. To be honest, I thought so too.

Nonetheless, thinking of it now, as students, we seem to be far more enthusiastic to show our creative side than to want to waste time learning of the client's past/present. This is probably why the school used (should I say) reverse psychology on us and made us first realise WHY we needed to learn Project Management and Strategy and then taught the subjects to us!

Personally I am now happy to be learning it since I already know how projects would have been without such knowledge!

'We learn from our mistakes'... absolutely true! Now when we are being taught about these subjects, we can co-relate topics with what we did (or did not do) in Module A...

But this does not go to say that during Module A we would not have done a good job! Our projects at the time were such that they focused more on the plan; it is while working on the plan that we realised that we needed to understand other subjects too! The projects then focused on what customers liked, didn't like, and how we could use our knowledge of digital technology to rope them into things!

Now back to work, more on Module B later!

My First Individual Assignment at Hult

Analyzing a website is not an easy task. But we, the MDM students at Hult have to each pick and analyze the website of a brand listed in the Interbrands list of the top 100 brands of 2011. When we were given the project, I presumed it was very easy; but I guess I was not thinking of it from a marketeers POV.

At first, I was very confused! But then I picked the one I thought would be interesting to do - Nescafé. One of the reasons for picking the site was that I wanted to know what a coffee brand could and would do with their website.

Although there are a million things you can suggest, implementation is not always as simple! I am sure they wanted to do a lot with the site, and will probably do so, step-by-step.

Most people would wonder why Nescafé? The answer lies in the fact that after looking through a number of websites, I could not bring myself to understand how and why Nescafé was 30 on the list! The brand was popular, but that popular that Interbrands ranked it in the top 50 was a bit of a surprise.

For the past 2 weeks I have been trying to analyze the website. While this may seem like a cakewalk, it is not quite so! Analyzing anything takes time. A website is no different. There are several theories that can be applied and various results that you get out of it.

But if there is one thing that I did understand during this time, it is the fact that there is a lot of scope for improvement on the site! Maybe someday I can make these suggestions directly to Nescafé!

A Tweet is NOT Just a Status Update!

I have been thinking about the various things that people do with social media. Since I myself have started getting onto several social network sites, I realized the uses of each are different!

My biggest misconception is finally getting cleared! Twitter is not just about status updates. It is more about conversations and discussions. I know many people who read this might think, she just posted to days ago about 'Getting the Hang of Twitter', and now she says she has understood it?!

To be honest I knew the basics... Hashtags, using the '@' symbol, sending messages, etc. I just didn't know how to use it when I don't have any friends on twitter (on a personal basis)? I used to do it for the company I worked for (although for a short time).

So then I just shifted my focus, from only friends to friends plus work!

My earlier perception was that twitter is mostly used only by people who have a lot of friends (who are on twitter) and by film stars and journalists! Why? Because most of my friends were not on twitter! These perceptions have changed thanks to some friends from my Digital Marketing program. I also always believed that social networking should only be used to connect to friends. That has been put into perspective.

Social media sites may have started out aiming at connecting (or re-connecting) friends, but they have come a long way since. People now have personal and professional accounts or some simply use different media to communicate with different people.

Personally, I have started enjoying tweeting! The only part I still need to start liking in twitter is shortening the URL. Even though twitter is supposed to shorten URLs posted in tweets, I don't think it always does!

Where Am I Headed?!

Since yesterday, I have been trying to think about the top companies that I would like to work for. And the first thing to pop-up in my mind is... a blank! In our class about Career management, we were asked to list out the top 20 companies we want to work for.

Every time I would think about it, I drew a blank. Until a few minutes ago, I was in the same pathetic situation!

I just could not think about a company that I would die to work for. I have classmates who know exactly what they want, and where they want to go, and I have many friends who know what they want out of life, but to be honest, I couldn't pin-point any one company per-say!

I have heard time and again that if you work where your passion lies, then you will be able to excel regardless of anything else. So I decided to combine digital marketing with some things that I just love doing, such as:

1. Helping Animals (as always)
2. Travelling
3. Cooking
4. watching music videos/movies

I decided to fuse the thing I like most with digital marketing (specially social media marketing) to create my buzz campaign.

Though, thinking about it from a career point of view, I didn't think I wanted to merge my hobby and work life together.

I would love to work for companies that deal with travel (and maybe allow me to travel too). All the other options can probably be followed on a more personal level. Managing the Facebook or twitter account for companies in the travel sector is quite interesting. There is so much they can do using digital media! They have hardly tapped into the market.

Digital media is not just about setting up a twitter account or creating a Facebook page. The crux of social media lies in the interaction. Since I am fond of travelling, I have a good idea of what will attract a travellers attention using social media--and I know that no airlines or travel company uses social media to its full potential!

From here I began working my way up to where I want to work. Although I have still not ranked my preferences, I have a good idea about what I want to do. So the next time I walk into the 'Lifetime Career Management' class at Hult, I will have some idea of where I am headed.

Maths Once Again!

Every since I was a child, I have never liked maths. In fact, I have kind of hated it. I suppose most people do. So I am no different in it. But, many are actually good at it, despite hating it. This is where the difference lies!

I have always been miserable when it came to solving equations! Although I have been reasonably good at basic arithmetic, I have never managed to grasp anything beyond that! When I came to Hult, I realized that I needed to learn business maths--a subject that I never thought I would touch in my life!

Business + Maths = Disaster

I didn't have a choice. It was part of our toolbox and so I had to do it! Good thing was, we had a professor who made it a bit humorous and put in a lot of energy. I must admit, at least I did not really fall asleep in any class!

The thing is, simple maths is never a problem, it is remembering all the zillion formula that is troublesome! I tend to mix up 2 similar formula, and get confused about which one to use when. But when it comes to the theoretical aspect of maths, it seems quite like any other subject.

So today we did probability and some steps in 'Decision Making' with the consideration of 'Risks and Uncertainty'. By the end of it, I realised it was more using common sense than any math formula!

After the maths class, I was happy... No more maths! (hopefully!)