MBA Alumni Profile: Irina Gorbarenko, Lancaster University

 Irina Gorbarenko tells us how she narrowed down on her MBA at Lancaster University and where it has led her.

Before starting the Lancaster MBA, Irina was deputy commercial director for a Russian airline. In her new post, which she obtained while still on the MBA, she works as a consultant for Deutsche Post World Net's in-house consultancy in Germany.      

The idea to do an MBA wasn't a spontaneous one for me. I spent a lot of time over a couple of years checking ratings, contacting MBA students for advice and studying the programmes at different business schools in the UK.

After winning a British Council Chevening scholarship I had offers from a number of noteworthy schools. And you know, it is not at all easy to make the "right" decision - because a whole year of your time, your career and probably the rest of your life - will depend on it. It was especially tough to make this decision back in Russia.

But the Lancaster MBA office was extremely helpful, providing rapid replies to thousands of my questions and I guess I wasn't the only applicant demanding attention at that time. I got the feeling that they do really care about me. And I was right. Now looking back I'd say that the professionalism, willingness to help and countenance of the office during the whole year was one of the reasons our class managed to get through that challenging MBA year successfully.

Generally I'd say that people were the best part of MBA for me. The high international profile of the class and unusual blend of backgrounds were great challenges on the one hand, but on the other hand gave me an unforgettable and valuable experience. Working together, discussing cases and even arguing with my classmates, I learned to be more open-minded and look at problems from different view points. I think that group work on the Lancaster MBA is one of the best features of the programme - because back in the 'real' world of business we are all working with other people - and spending the MBA year with smart and  demanding fellow students was great training.

 I would like to make a special mention of the MBA careers service at Lancaster. I think most MBA students are looking for a change in their career. The Lancaster MBA Career Management Programme gave me opportunities to understand myself better, and get a sense of my personal priorities, values and the types of jobs I really want to do. A number of workshops and mock interviews boosted my confidence and helped me get through the assessment center for my new job successfully.

Early in 2005 I start a new job as a Consultant for Top Management in the Deutsche Post World Net in-house consultancy. The high standard of the Lancaster MBA, the professionalism of the academic staff and the partnership programme between the Lancaster and Deutsche Post World Net - all these things came together to provide the boost to my career that I was looking for.

I had no experience in consultancy before, but the summer consultancy project made it clear that thinking tools and the thorough knowledge in different areas gained during the programme made a Lancaster MBA graduate capable of solving problems in the real business world at the highest standards.

- Irina was also featured in an article in The Independent (one of the UK's national newspapers) in May 2004.