The Employability Hub’s advice was a key factor in allowing me to find a job

Mauricio Pena wearing a white T-shirt.
Mauricio Peña
Postgraduate alumnus
MBA
2020
Mauricio Peña from Mexico graduated from the Sheffield MBA in 2020. He is currently working as a Senior Strategic Account Manager at Amazon in Manchester.
Mauricio Pena wearing a white T-shirt.

Sheffield is an amazing city to live in.

I chose to study the Sheffield MBA because Sheffield is lively, accessible and very well located. The city is the greenest in Europe and Sheffield Students’ Union is the best in the UK. All of these factors make Sheffield potentially the best city to live in as a student in the UK. In addition to this, the Sheffield MBA offers the best cost-value of all MBAs Triple Crown accredited management and business schools in the UK.

It took me less than a month to feel at home!

When I moved to Sheffield, it was my first experience living abroad without my friends and family around. I did feel anxious about both moving away from home and starting a challenging course but it was a delight to collaborate with people from Europe, Africa, Asia, North America and South America. In addition, extracurricular activities organised by the Students’ Union allowed me to make new friends and network with people from different departments in the wider University.

The Employability Hub's advice was a key factor in allowing me to find a job

The CV, LinkedIn and job application advice that the Employability Hub gave me was definitely a key factor that allowed me to find a job in the UK. The framework that the Hub gave me is still the same one as I use now. In addition to this wide range of workshops, covering topics such as sales and management, were very practical and definitely key to my professional development.

Since graduating, I have supported global tech and fintech companies to secure new partnerships.

The same month that I finished my dissertation, I started working at Nubank, a major fintech company in Latin America. This was an amazing experience but I was working remotely from the UK with the desire of finding a job here. The experience at Nubank helped me get a job at Klarna and after a year there, I got the amazing opportunity to join the marketplace team at Amazon UK.

I have supported global tech and fintech companies to secure new partnerships and manage strategic accounts, while helping build new products with customer insights. Being able to do this in two completely different markets has been a big achievement.

To the future

I intend to stay in the UK for the next few years and further develop my career in a customer facing or management role, whilst always leaving the door open to any great opportunity that may come up in my home country. Setting up a side business in the UK is another one of my short term goals.

My advice to future MBA students

Whilst at Sheffield University Management School, create a network and make lots of friends. Don’t just stick with people from your nationality or who speak your language, but make the most diverse network possible.

Enjoy the student life at Sheffield and take the opportunity to explore the UK (whenever assignments and projects give you a break!).

Get the most out of all the resources available through the programme, the department and the University. Don’t say no to new possibilities - get involved with the local community and the various opportunities available at the Students’ Union.

Four students laughing while sat at a bench, outside the Students' Union

International Merit Scholarships

We offer a generous package of financial support for international students including 75 undergraduate scholarships worth £10,000 towards the annual tuition fee and 125 postgraduate taught scholarships worth £5,000 towards the tuition fee. Applications are now open for existing offer holders.