Alumni profile
Arnaud Durance, Masters in International Business and Management
"I believe that the teachers were much more open and available than in the other universities where I had been studying. Also, the balance was perfect between theory and practical cases or individual and group work"
A masters degree from Bradford School of Management not only helped Arnaud Durance, aged 24, to gain his present executive post in an industrial multinational company, it also helped him secure his impressive salary.
"My masters definitely helped me to obtain my present position. First of all, a postgraduate degree was expected to apply for this job. Then, the recruiters appreciated my international profile, which is essential these days if you wish to be part of a multinational firm. Moreover, the top position of Bradford's School of Management helped me to negotiate my salary," said Arnaud, who hails from Paris, France, and completed his masters degree in International Business and Management in 2006.
"My job of Sales Manager consists of selling the French company Legrand's products, systems and services to over 1,000 professional customers," Arnaud explained.
"I can certainly say that what I learnt at Bradford has helped me in various aspects - to decipher financial results, to analyse great amounts of data at the same time, and to build structured marketing events.
"I chose to take my masters at Bradford because I already had business diplomas from Bordeaux Business School in France and from Rey Juan Carlos University, in Madrid, Spain, so I wanted to obtain my masters degree in an English-speaking country. This allowed me to have a diploma in each of the three languages that I had been studying. As a European citizen, it was easier to study in England than in the USA or Australia. Furthermore, getting a masters degree from a US university would have been more costly and would have meant studying for two years, instead of one in England.
"During that time, the School of Management had the second best Masters in Management in the UK and the fifth in Europe. It also had the EQUIS label, which was a guarantee of quality. But at the same time, the tuition fees were not as high as for other UK top Masters.
"I appreciated that 'international' was not just a word in the name of my masters degree. Indeed, when you have group work to do, your team is constituted of people from the five continents! Besides, I enjoyed the relationships that linked teachers and students. I believe that the teachers were much more open and available than in the other universities where I had been studying. Also, the balance was perfect between theory and practical cases or individual and group work.
"Bradford has great infrastructures, such as the libraries, computer rooms, and sport halls. The School of Management building is wonderful with outstanding architecture, surrounded by a nice park and it's very quiet. The atmosphere on the campus was always very pleasant and I had some crazy nights at the Friday night students' party," Arnaud added.