Sakina Mannan
Multicultural experience
Master of International Business
1. Full name / Nationality.
Sakina Mannan / Pakistani
2. Where are you working / studying presently, and describe your general work scope.
My position title is Research Executive in Millward Brown, Dubai. I basically work with the Senior Research Executive to set up and run research projects. Key responsibilities include questionnaire management, data pulling and chart formatting, preparing fieldwork materials, developing and checking code frames, data analysis, proofreading presentations, meeting with clients and preparing reports for clients and internal management meetings.
3. How has your degree at Monash prepared to be where you are today?
Firstly, Monash Malaysia gave me the exposure of dealing with a rich mix of cultures and nationalities (i.e. Australian, Indian, Malaysian, Sri Lankan, Bangladeshi, Nepalese, Chinese, Mongolian, German, Arabic, and so on). This has helped me tremendously to cope with the metropolitan city of Dubai and the multicultural workforce of a multinational company like Millward Brown.
Secondly, Monash taught me professionalism. Be it in communicatiion or in or any other area. Seminars and workshops have been of great help and exposure.
Thirdly, I believe that Monash was my selling point! Having Monash on my resume clearly had a strong impact and my hiring manager also confirmed this.
4. How has the MIB qualification helped you?
Every course I took at Monash included research, analysis, report writing, market research techniques and presentation. This is a major chunk of my work at Millward Brown and the professors at Monash have clearly helped me to improve my writing, analysis and presentation skills.
5. What advice would you give to fresh young graduates looking for a Master's qualification?
If you can get work experience before pursuing Master’s, it is going to be much, much better. Because I didn't have any work experience, I was hired at the same level as a fresh undergraduate candidate.
It is a MUST to consider obtaining a Master’s degree from a well reputed international university such as Monash. For me, it is also a MUST to experience living in a foreign country during your education years. This will surely prepare you to face the challenges of work life in foreign countries.
With the world being a global village and industries being closely related to each other, a degree like Master of International Business or Master of Business Administration is ideal. It gives you a wide career choice (e.g. marketing, market research, finance, economics, business, entrepreneurship) with a well-rounded international knowledge that is needed in today’s competitive environment.