MS Marketing --> UK

hai am ravi, i want to ph.d in marketing INDIA/ABROAD .....WHAT ARE THE PREREQUISITES...TO DO...
What type of test i have to prepare

Hello everyone.
I`m looking for MSc program in Marketing from the UK for Sept 2012.
The Larger goal is to get an MBA from a Top School in the US.
But since i have no work experience(5 months),I`m sure i will not be eligible to make it to any top school.
The reason i choose marketing is because in the longer run, i see myself being associated with this field in any company/start up.

The Schools i`ve shortlisted for International Marketing are :
1)Birmingham Business School.
2)Leeds University Business School.
3)Manchester Business School.
4)Durham Business School.

Please help me with your Informed suggestions as to whether its the right choice in the bigger picture of things ?
the decision to do an MBA after taking up a degree in Marketing and gaining some credible work ex ?

It is a dire need for me to start working in the business world.I wish to not delay it any further.

Hi, I was a marketing guy originally (before I reached general management).

I don't know details about the four schools you listed. However, they are all good universities with solid reputations in the UK. Out of the four, Durham is the most prestigious university, although I don't know how its business school ranks. Manchester Business School has an excellent reputation, although I don't know much about its marketing programme.

I think any of the four would be good. However, the most important thing is what opportunity each course provides for work experience. A good internship is critical.

In terms of marketing careers, the ideal option is to get a place on one of the graduate traineeship schemes with a big multinational (Unilever, P&G, etc). Get one of these and you won't need an MBA. You should ask the university admissions staff how well their postgraduates place with companies.

I wouldn't bother with both an MSc in Marketing and an MBA. On your CV, I would wonder why you had done an MBA too. It might indicate that your marketing career hadn't gone well. One Masters is good. Two Masters degrees looks too academic, which is negative. Much better to get proper experience of actually doing marketing!

Hope this helps.

Thanks Oldbrit !
I did enquire about the Universities mentioned above,seems like Manchester Business School is better of the lot. But i mostly, wont be sending to any of these universities.
I had a change of plans.I'll intend on doing an MSc in Mktg, but have applied to some other universities.

About the thing you mentioned about having two masters,i also did ask a lot of consultants & reps from different business schools,the difference between programs such as MSc Mktg & an MBA is that, with an MSc you start as a functional manager,but with an MBA your a general manager. So work profiles are pretty different.
Plus,it also depends on when you looking to have your degree.
When you hit a glass ceiling in your career,it would make practical sense to go ahead and do an MBA.

It would be great if you could share your work trajectory in the field of Mktg and then the switch to General Mgmt.

Hi again,

Which universities are you considering now? What changed your mind?

In my opinion, an MBA is valuable as a post-experience qualification. The syllabus is more general management, so I reckon it's most useful if you're at the point of transition from middle to senior management (or if you want a career change, e.g. to move from industry into consulting). If you do an MBA very early in your career, you will have learnt a lot about general management, but without the experience to move into a general management role. It might still be helpful and the knowledge may serve you well when you get to senior management.

Obviously, an MSc in Marketing will be useful for marketing roles. In your early career, you are going to be in a functional role. This is important experience. Functional experience is your career foundation. Lack of this experience is why some management consultants can struggle to move from consulting into industry.

Personally, I would rate an MBA and an MSc equally. Either would be a useful qualification. At least in the UK, however, you want your CV to show that you have great experience in business. More than one Masters qualification looks odd to me. You want to have the right balance between academic qualifications and experience. That balance should be biased towards experience. When hiring, I'm really interested in what you've achieved at work, not what you've studied.

If you're still considering an MSc in Marketing, then my advice would be to find out in detail about each school's track record with placing students in work. The economy isn't good and it's tough to find work. So you want a school that is genuinely excellent at helping its students find an appropriate job.

If you want to work in the UK, you should check if the MSc exempts you from the Chartered Institute of Marketing exams.



Since you asked, I left university after my batchelor's degree. I was very lucky to get a place on a 'fast track' graduate entry programme to do marketing with a well-known multinational. The company sponsored me through a business school executive education programme part-time. I did a number of years in consumer marketing, global product development, etc. Then I was lucky to land a role in an internal consulting/strategy group in industry, eventually becoming its corporate director. I left to become the CXO of another organistion. I never paused to do an MBA, which might have slowed down my career. (I made CXO level in my late thirties.) However, I'm now returning to business school for a senior executive programme.