Travelling halfway around the world in the hopes a Lancaster University degree would help boost her career has more than paid off for Emily Chung.

The 25-year-old left a job at a Hong Kong advertising agency to study for an MSc in Advanced Marketing Management at Lancaster Management School.

Her goal was to boost her prospects of a career in marketing, and her choice of Lancaster means that ambition has been achieved. As she graduated with her fellow students, Emily was already employed by Relative Marketing & Creative, in Bolton.

“In my previous job I specialised in advertising, but I thought if I wanted to have a better career then I needed to study more about marketing and the wider sphere, so I wanted to further my study,” Emily said. “I liked the UK and looked for a degree there, and Lancaster comes near the top when you search for a marketing Masters degree.

“The degree really helped me get a job. After working in Hong Kong for two years, I wanted to try to find a job in the UK after gaining the Masters degree here. I love new things and new experiences, and this was a change in my life. Although I knew it could be quite difficult, and I had to send out a lot of job applications, I wanted to prove I could do it, and I have.

“I hoped the degree would help me to find a job, and in the job interviews, they did ask me what I have learned in Lancaster. Some of the projects I took part are quite appealing to potential employers, as we took part in several practical assignments as part of the course. We had to do marketing campaigns and pitching, which are really nice examples to share. “

While her studies took up most of her time – “there were a lot of assignments and a lot of exams, so you had to work most nights. But now, looking back, it is all really a good memory and I’ve gained a lot from the degree,” she said – Emily also took the time to compile a Facebook page of her life in the UK.

Her Oh It’s Emily page allows friends and family back in Hong Kong to feel a part of her life first as a student at Lancaster and now in her daily life and job.

“I wanted to share my experiences with my friends, showing them my life in Lancaster and the UK,” Emily said. “I update it three or four times a week. It’s a way for me to tell them what I’m doing.

“I can share what I have found to be different between Hong Kong and the UK: my holidays; my hectic deadlines; as well as the food I have been cooking! It also saves me a lot of time – rather than telling my family and friends one by one about what I have experienced, all they need to do is to follow my page.”

But it was not just for keeping in touch that the blog proved useful.

“I’ve been using it to practice digital marketing at the same time,” Emily added. “I got some business insight from it, and it helped me study for my modules on digital marketing. When we had assignments on Facebook insight, I could use my own page to test whether certain things worked or not.”