Helen S. Ervin

University of Cambridge, Judge Institute of Management

1. What were you doing before your MBA?
   I had been working for an Entertainment and Sports Marketing firm in New York City for the past 7 years
    
2. What were your main reasons for deciding to attend business school?
   I was interested in changing careers and expanding my knowledge base of international business. 
    
3. What research did you undertake in selecting your school? 
   I mainly relied upon online research to select a business school and discussions with past students.
    
4.  What were the main criteria in your selection?
   It was very important for me to find a school that went beyond the typical MBA program.  I was looking for somewhere that focused on recruiting quality students with a diverse background from several different business sectors.  I was interested in learning from my piers as well as from quality professors.
    
5. Why did you decide to study either in your own country or overseas?
   I was looking to learn more about international business and wanted to not only read about it, but experience it first hand.  
    
6. How well do your think the MBA is regarded in your home country?
   The MBA is a very common degree in the US and many of the schools have become very “cookie cutter.”  This is another reason that I wanted to study outside of the US. The Cambridge MBA is diverse, international, collaborative and practical. 
    
7. How are you financing your studies?
   I am financing my studies through personal savings
    
8. Did you apply for any scholarships? If so, which ones?
   No
    
9. Have you already been, or do you intend to become an entrepreneur?No
    
10. Are there any well-known and/or successful entrepreneurs that are alumni of your school?
    Cambridge as both a University and a town has an incredible amount of entrepreneurship. There are many opportunities to interact with local entrepreneurs, which provides an amazing learning experience.
      
11. How much do you expect to earn on graduation?
    I expect to be making a salary that is comparable or above the one of my last job which was $120,000USD/year
      
12. What do you expect to do on graduation and where do you expect to be based?
    I expect to stay within Europe working for an international business
     
13. Where do you see yourself in ten years time:
    a) Own Business
    b) Senior employee (Senior Manager, Director etc.)
    c) Downshifting for work life balance
    
    answer b
     
14. How easy or difficult do you expect it to be to achieve these objectives?
    I am dedicated to hard work and while I do not think that achieving these objectives will be easy, they are attainable!

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