Case Study

Ioana Stefan

MBA Human Resource Management


Ioana Stefan is a student on the MBA Human Resource Management course. She explains how working with one of the world’s biggest companies created a passion for business in her, and how she’s taking that further at the University of Sunderland in London.

The course is only one year, but the amount you learn is just incredible.

“Before I came to study here, I worked for the Compliance department at Amazon in my home country of Romania.

We used customer feedback to improve the quality of our visitor experience through things like reducing defects in our products.

I came away with a genuine love of business. It’s why I decided to study for my MBA.

I got my passion for Human Resources from Amazon as well. I started my own firm that was hired by the company to mentor their new.

I helped to set up training, figuring out what they needed to perform at their best and meet the challenges of working for a multinational organisation.

When my mum came to the UK for work, as a nurse in the NHS, it wasn’t long before I decided to start studying.

I wanted to explore the passions for business and Human Resources that I’ve discovered in Romania and see how far they could take me.

The University was recommended by a few of my friends who’d studied here and loved it.

They all told me about how great the programme is and how much they liked their lecturers. It sounded ideal.

I was so excited to find out I got my place. It meant studying surrounded by the huge skyscrapers of Canary Wharf, which is just incredible.

You get so inspired being around some of these companies. I’d love to do an internship with one of them once I’ve finished.

My friends were really right about the lecturers. They’ve all been so helpful and informative. Muhammed Azam who teaches things like strategy and international business and Tawfiq Elahi, my dissertation supervisor, are particularly great.

But it’s their career advice I value the most. They’re always telling us how a good grade on our MBA will get us an invitation to an interview.

But it’s up to us, how prepared we make ourselves, how passionate we are about the role, that will get us the job.

The course is only one year, but the valuable practical knowledge you learn is just incredible.

You cover everything from general management to leadership skills and marketing.

I would definitely recommend it for anyone who’s passionate about business and HR.”

If you want to study for an MBA in Human Resources Management at the University of Sunderland in London, visit our course page. You can read more on lecturers like Tawfiq and Azam on the Staff Profile pages 

And for information about how we can help you find your career path, book an appointment with the Careers and Employability team through Compass or email them at careers-london@sunderland.ac.uk. 

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