In this blog, MSc Business Analytics alumnus Ruoyu Li recounts his journey to a thriving data analytics career. He highlights the crucial programming and coding skills gained during his MSc and discusses how he used this knowledge to tackle real company challenges and solve important business challenges through his dissertation project. He also shares valuable advice for aspiring and current postgraduate students at the UCL School of Management on taking advantage of the School’s network and resources to advance their careers in data and business analytics.
Interested in developing your business analytics skills? Chat with a current MSc student at the UCL School of Management to learn more about their unique experiences and journey with us.
FROM MARKET RESEARCH TO ANALYTICS: WHY THE BUSINESS ANALYTICS MSC STOOD OUT TO ME
The UCL Business Analytics MSc programme offers the best combination of academic research and industry practices. This was incredibly important to me when choosing a Master’s programme. As I already had five years of work experience in market research before joining the School, I wanted to shift my career towards a more technical role, focusing more on the analytics side of business.
Building resilience and adaptability
The Business Analytics MSc programme at the UCL School of Management stood out to me with its focus on applying complex theories in real-world scenarios. The programme doesn’t focus its teaching on memorising theory, instead, you are constantly developing your practical skills to solve real-world problems, regardless of the scenario you find yourself in, building the vital resilience and adaptability qualities a business analyst needs.
A UNIQUE OPPORTUNITY FOR PRACTICAL WORK WITH INDUSTRY with the dissertation project
I especially enjoyed the dissertation period, where we were matched with companies of our interest and worked on one of their projects, utilising the skills gained in the previous terms and modules. This is a unique opportunity provided by the UCL School of Management, and I found the whole process incredibly fulfilling. I gathered information, conducted my analysis, and pushed a solution toward commercialisation where it can be applied to a real-life business - this was exactly what I was looking for from a Master’s programme.
Learn more about the three types of dissertation projects you can undertake in the MSc Business Analytics programme.
Coding as a tool for problem-solving
Coding is also a key skill I picked up throughout the programme. However, I greatly enjoyed that as the programme went on, the coding served primarily as a tool for problem-solving rather than as a subject to be examined in a test. Because of the open-source nature of Python and R, I was able to accomplish many complex tasks using the coding languages that I learned on campus, from data gathering through to the visualisation of my results, which would otherwise only be possible in a corporate setting with licensed tools.
This ability will aid me in developing my own data analytics pipelines, not just in my future career, but for building my own public portfolio.
Impact on my career and future aspirations: summarising my time at the School of Management.
My main advice to current students would be to utilise the strong alumni and industry connections at the UCL School of Management for job searching and to connect with fellow students across different programmes. You never know what a simple conversation can lead to!
Overall, the MSc Business Analytics programme has been instrumental in advancing my career and equipping me with the skills to thrive in the field of business analytics, in any industry my career takes me.
Find out about our Alumni programme at the UCL School of Management.
For more student stories, you can visit our Blog webpage.
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The UCL School of Management Industry Advantage
Taking advantage of our global network and strategic campus location in London's financial and business district, the UCL School of Management recently launched three new speaker series.
Our speakers come from a range of industries and backgrounds to showcase their experiences and skills. Explore what you can gain from our Speaker Series below:
Business Leaders Speaker Series
