Kavyashree Chandrashekhar
Country Of Origin: India
Degree: MSc Information Technology, Management & Organisational Change, 2016
E-commerce Associate, Cognizant Technology Solutions
I completed my undergraduate computer science degree in India and worked as a Software Developer at IBM India for the following 3 years. It was at this point I knew that it was time to go for my dream and pursue my master’s in the UK. I was searching for a course different from most of the contemporary management school courses, which would offer a perfect combination of IT and business related knowledge.
LUMS was one of the obvious choices for me to pursue an IT based management graduate course. Lancaster University Management School has consistently been ranked amongst the top 1% of business schools worldwide and falls under the umbrella of UK’s top ten, which holds triple accreditation and great reputation. MSc Information Technology, Management & Organisational Change offered everything I wanted from a master’s degree.
Studying with the diverse cohort from 22 nationalities was the most enjoyable part of the MSc ITMOC programme for me. It has enhanced my cultural understanding, which plays a vital role in global thinking for businesses. I have also enjoyed group work, which was the key aspect of MSc ITMOC. It has enabled me to reflect on cultural awareness, organisational, initiative and time management skills. I enjoyed the workshops, presentations from industry practitioners and reflection sessions. I loved our reflection sessions when our class came together to reflect on our learning and shared insights to unlearn harmful habits that influence our learning process, we were great together and we learnt a lot from each other throughout this year.
Lancaster University’s beautiful campus made my time more soothing and wonderful. There are a lot of things to say about the fun experiences in Lancaster. Apart from academic activities, regular social events on campus were the best part of my Lancaster experience. Additionally, I enjoyed the time I spent working on interesting projects along with my studies at University.
I contributed as a PG RISE research consultant for Lancaster University Enterprise Centre. This experience was fascinating since I collaborated with students from other programmes and different disciplines to discover the market opportunities and feasibility of research conducted by Lancaster University professors.
I worked on a consulting project conducted towards my MSc ITMOC dissertation in collaboration with SAP UK as a research internship. The main focus of the study was to understand the functioning of Internet of Things and its impact on business processes. The research was carried out for three months, along with two other course colleagues. The project required extensive preparation and planning, it was a challenging piece of work both in terms of time duration and knowledge management. I was able to successfully self-organise towards successful completion of the dissertation and equally, contribute to meet project goals by generating a whitepaper for SAP which received great appreciation.
I was recognised by the LUMS study abroad programme and was offered an opportunity to pursue an additional term at Kozminski University, Poland. This has helped me prepare for a global business career and gain first-hand knowledge of other business cultures. I enjoy the fact that I have an opportunity to live in a new country with people from a cultural background that is very different from mine.
My year at Lancaster studying MSc ITMOC was very relaxing and fun, filled with a lot of learning. The campus was itself a global community where we interacted with people from diverse cultural backgrounds on a day to day basis. I will cherish the time I spend at Lancaster.
The LUMS Careers Team was helpful throughout my year of studies. The team helped me broaden my knowledge on the international job market and helped me understand the key aspects of having a good quality job prospect.
I pursued my study abroad term in Poland that was offered by LUMS. I leveraged this opportunity to gain strategic management experience through consulting projects in Polish companies. After completing my studies, I'd like to progress in a business development role through which I can learn more and broaden my business vision. I intend to contribute in technology consulting or business analyst positions through which I can leverage my strong technical skills and business knowledge that I gained through my studies at LUMS.
I am currently working at Cognizant Technology Solutions in India as an E-commerce Associate.