Manali Dev

You moved from India to join the Leeds MBA with ambitions to build your career in the UK. How did the programme, its network and the Leeds MBA community help you achieve that goal, and what advice would you give to other international professionals considering the same journey?

I still remember reading my acceptance email from Leeds over and over, just to make sure it was real, because this wasn't a sudden decision, it was something I'd been quietly working towards for years while having a full-time job in India, always telling myself “One day" whenever the idea of an MBA came up. That day finally came, and honestly, nothing really prepares you for the mix of excitement and nerves that comes with moving to a new country for a dream like this. But from the very first week, that nervousness started to fade, because the support was just there! In Career Farm sessions that helped me think differently about my own story, in seminars where my cohort mates brought perspectives I'd never considered, previous graduates who visited us to share their stories and add a spark of motivation in all of us, in guest speakers who made the business world feel a lot more familiar and a lot less intimidating.

The alumni network played an instrumental role. There were days when self-doubt took over, but almost every conversation I had with a Leeds MBA graduate came with real, practical guidance on how to approach the job hunt, and hearing their journeys gave me a genuine boost of self-belief that if they could do it, so could I.

 I knew from day one that I wanted a job right after graduation, and the Leeds MBA matched that ambition every step of the way, helping me rebuild my CV, rewrite my cover letters, even guiding me on how to form a proper answer for interviews. I did put in the hard work, late nights, endless applications, always trying to stay one step ahead, but none of it would have come together without my professors believing in me. So, my advice to any international professional standing where I once stood is simple: trust the leap, use every bit of support the programme offers you, and never hesitate to ask for help, because that's really what turns a degree into a career.

During your MBA, you took on the role of Student Representative and became deeply involved in the cohort experience. What made the Leeds MBA community special, and how did the relationships you built influence your personal and professional development?

I still remember my MBA interview, where Richard, our Programme Director, asked me what my weakness was, and I said I was too empathetic, that I understood people and emotions way too deeply, and it sometimes stopped me from giving raw, honest feedback in my professional ecosystem. And then I became the Course Representative of our MBA cohort. Funny enough, that very "weakness" was now slowly turning into one of my biggest strengths. My job involved going around the cohort, communicating with everyone in a very natural manner and collecting feedback about what could we do better and then we had monthly meetings with our Programme Officer and Director where I'd present my thoughts and genuinely argue for what needed to improve and what didn't, and that pushed me to get more direct with every meeting. That's really how the Leeds MBA helped me convert my weakness into a strength, but this time with confidence and clarity behind it, and by the time I graduated, I'd learned how to have difficult conversations and present in a way that felt far more open and clear without losing my ability to understand people’s emotions and struggles. And it wasn't just the Course Rep meetings, from the very first semester, we were straight into group assignments, presentations, debates, the whole mix, and I found myself actually arguing my viewpoint in seminars, pushing back on ideas I didn't agree with instead of just nodding along like I might have done before. Looking back, that shift from someone who absorbed everyone's emotions to someone who could hold her own in a room full of strong opinions is probably one of the things I'm proudest of from my time at Leeds.

You participated in our international study tours, including Switzerland and Berlin. What impact did these experiences have on your understanding of global business, and are there any particular moments or insights that have stayed with you since graduating?

The study tours to Switzerland and Berlin are honestly some of the moments I hold closest from my entire MBA journey. The trips were so nicely planned that they took everything we'd learned in the classroom and made it feel real, tangible, alive. I still remember Dr. Johanna Gollnhofer's session on Marketing in the Age of AI, it was so powerful and thought-provoking that I almost made up my mind to write my assignment on it for our Marketing module, that's how much it stayed with me. Another moment I'll never forget was being the team lead for our project with Mentessa during the Berlin study tour, where I got to work directly with the founder, presenting my ideas and thoughts to someone actually building and running a business. It taught me so many valuable lessons that no textbook could have given me, about confidence, about clarity, about how real founders think under pressure. And beyond the sessions and the projects, I can't deny how beautiful both Switzerland and Germany were, after we'd wrap up for the day, I'd often go out for a quiet walk just to take it all in, and in those moments I remember just feeling genuinely grateful to be there, to be doing this, to have made the decision that brought me to that exact place. Those are memories I know I'm going to cherish for a very long time.

As a recent graduate, when you look at today's Leeds MBA students, is there anything that makes you a little jealous? Are there any opportunities, experiences or developments in the programme that you wish had been available during your own MBA journey?

Honestly, when I think about my own time on the programme, I don't really have any complaints, we had everything we needed to grow, to learn, to genuinely enjoy the experience. If I had to pick one thing, I did hear the new cohort got a brand-new MBA lounge, and I'll admit, that's something I was definitely a little jealous of! But beyond that, honestly, no. We had our own share of celebrations: Christmas, Holi, Diwali, all celebrated together with the whole batch and even our professors joining in, and it genuinely felt like more than just an academic programme, it felt like a second home. Sometimes when I scroll through LinkedIn and see the current cohort celebrating the same festivals, or talking about modules I absolutely loved studying myself, it brings a real sense of nostalgia, not jealousy. It’s more like a warm reminder of how much I loved being there. If anything, what I really want is for the Leeds MBA to keep growing, to introduce even more impactful modules, to become bigger and better with every batch, because the more it grows, the more proud I get to say I was part of it.