MBA Alumni Interview: Hande Kolcakkostendil, LSE

LSE alumnus Hande Kolcakkostendil talks about her time there and why she chose the program and school that she did. Kolcakkostendil graduated from LSE with an MSc in Political Sociology and is a TV journalist at CNN Turk, one of the biggest TV & Radio channels in Turkey.

1. What prompted you to apply for a graduate degree?

I love doing research. I was also thinking seriously about getting into academics, so Masters was a first step.

2. How well do you think the international degree is regarded in your home country?

Highly esteemed. Especially if you get it from a well-known school like mine. People do not necessarily understand what I did for my graduate work – for most, a Masters from the LSE automatically means a Masters in Economics – but I realized long time ago that even the name of the school changes their perception of me.

3. How and when did you start your research into universities?

My senior year in college. I was studying in the US and my advisor was very helpful.

4. How did you choose which university to apply to, what were your main criteria?

How did you evaluate the specialization, location, ranking, student community, and other factors? I knew I wanted the school to have very high academic standards and as big a library as possible. I knew I wanted to do political science-related work so I also looked for a school that is strong in that area. I wanted to be in a big city that was not just a university town. Once again, my advisor was very helpful in directing me to the LSE – he had spent part of his life in London and was a very big fan of the city as well as the school.

5. What were your applications result? How did you decide which offer to accept?

Iapplied for 4  PhD programs and a Masters. In retrospect I see that I was not ready for PhD and now I think that my thesis proposals were quite weak. I either didn’t get an offer or didn’t get the scholarship for PhD programs, and I got into Masters. So the circumstances made the choice for me, but I think it turned out for the best.

6. How are you financing your studies?

What advice would you give other candidates when preparing scholarships applications? I think they really know what they are getting into – they should be very clear about whether graduate studies is really what they need, especially when applying for PhDs. Except for people who cannot imagine doing anything other than being an academic, I would recommend at least one serious internship in a field that they think they might be interested in getting into for a living. I never thought I would get into journalism but at the end of my internship, I realized that being an academic is not my thing.  About financing, I would recommend looking very deep into special scholarships – which are often more about who you are than whether you deserve the scholarship or not. I also have friends who got financial aid from schools that match exactly with their areas of interest. For a student of Nationalism, it is easier to get financial aid from a university that has a nationalism institute than getting it from a school with a general political science program. 

7. What are the three things you like about university life? What are the most challenging aspects?

I like the research environment, the luxury of learning just to appease your appetite and having more time to learn than ever in your life. I like the fact that, especially in big universities, your professors or people who come for conferences will actually be decision-makers - looking back, I wish I had made more use of that. During my studies (especially in undergrad) I thought being away from my family was the biggest challenge, but now I realize that the real challenge was staying focused – and I don’t think I did a very good job with that.

8. What skills did you acquire during your study that have helped you gain employment?

I have a very solid background as far as simple “knowledge” is concerned. I learned to be a good researcher and knowing where to look is always an advantage in journalism. I learned to ask as many questions as possible before forming an opinion, and more importantly, I ask the questions that would give me a meaningful result.

9. What career opportunities has your Masters provided you with in your line of work? (could you please include a brief employment history)

My job – I am a tv journalist, both on-camera and off-camera – has no direct connection with my Masters in political sociology. So I cannot really say it “provided opportunities” but it definitely provided advantages as I tried to describe with my previous answer. My employment history is limited to journalism at CNN Turk only – 1 year of internship, 2 years as a producer, and 2 years as a reporter.

10. Please describe your job and what it entails on a daily basis?

I am a reporter for CNN Turk world news desk. I work mostly in the fields of global changes, diplomacy, foreign policy - of Turkey primarily – and energy. I interview policy-makers, opinion-leaders, academics; I follow conferences; I write news items and video-edit them. I help out quite a bit with daily news coverage planning and the planning of major CNN Turk productions such as the World Economic Forum.

11. What are the highlights and the challenges of your job?

It is never static, there is constant change. It is very high-paced, very high-adrenaline. It makes it easier for me to access primary documents and background stories. I like the fact that following the developments all around the world is part of I do for a living. But there are some challenges: It sometimes gets too intense and it doesn’t have much of a reward mechanism. Progress in career is never linear and you never know what is around the corner career-wise – you might be stuck doing the same thing for years or a random event might change your course forever.

12. Where do you see yourself in ten years time?

One answer for these two questions: I eventually want to work for a major media outlet or press institution in the UK or the United States. Preferably for a very dynamic news show or for news-related documentaries. I am not sure about the timing.

13. What do you wish you’d known before you started your program?

I wish I had known I was interested in journalism – I would try very hard to get into the BBC or the Guardian for an internship.

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