MBA alumni: achieving a higher degree of success It offers more of a holistic learning experience. He began the full-time course in January this year and will finish next month. For the first three months the study was largely theoretical before students undertook a range of modules - one of these included a trip to Buenos Aires to work with a small Argentinian company - that culminated in an assessed assignment. The final part of the course consisted of electives, where students examined real-world situations from different perspectives, with a consulting project or research dissertation completing the assessment. Hanson is in the fortunate position of having a job lined up with ethical executive search firm Ithaca Partners, but he says the MBA has given him a broader understanding of the business world. There is an element of learning the language and, at a less basic level, it's about understanding the systems and processes of how a company engages with its stakeholders and what it needs to achieve to be successful. His people skills have also improved, he adds, moving beyond the "blunt" approach often found in the military. Helene Speight, 37, Henley Business School Best known as one of the candidates on television show The Apprentice (she made it to the final of series four), Helene Speight started her executive MBA at Henley two months after filming ended in 2008. At the time she had returned to her previous company, General Electric, and had taken up a new position as general manager of one of GE's divisions. The MBA, however, made Speight realise that she wanted to be "more entrepreneurial" and gave her the confidence to accept voluntary redundancy when it was offered in 2009. "The network that you foster on an MBA course consists of experienced professionals from different industry backgrounds and being part of it gives you a lot more self-belief," she says. The course also awakened her to the importance of managing and motivating people within a business environment and, after a period of working for herself, she sought out a permanent human resources role while continuing her studies at Henley. With little track record in the area, a job proved hard to come by. When she was eventually made an offer of employment, by IT outsourcing start-up Endava, Speight was obliged to move to Transylvania in Romania, where the company has a service centre, which forced her MBA to take a back seat. Having now returned to the UK, she is determined to finish the final part of the MBA course: a 25,000-word dissertation, which she hopes to tie in with her experience in Romania as, she explains, "very few people in the UK have a grasp of the business environment there." The skills Speight learned on the MBA are already proving useful in her new role as part of a group of investors looking to buy British manufacturing organisations, in which she is able to combine her general management and human resources experience. "The MBA also polishes your skills and builds your confidence in other areas," she says. It helps you develop new ideas and better contacts, and takes you to a different level altogether. Simon Barker, 41, Cass Business School When Simon Barker studied for his Executive MBA at Cass Business School, he was sponsored by his employer, financial communications agency Cubitt Consulting. He began the part-time course in 2006 and graduated in 2008. The first year consisted of a number of compulsory courses - ranging from corporate finance through to human resources and marketing - with the opportunity to specialise in the second year. "I chose finance and strategy modules in the main because I work in financial services," says Barker. I also did two field trips - to Russia and China - which proved interesting. He completed the course by preparing a dissertation on professional services branding, but the hardest part, he says, was balancing the MBA with his professional and personal life. "My work at Cubitt accounts for 50 to 60 hours a week, and on top of that I was working on the MBA pretty much every night of the week and all day Saturday," he recalls. The arrival of his third child only added to the pressure; and he says he's lucky to have "a very understanding wife." The benefits have been considerable, both for Barker and his employer. "It has helped me to play an integral part in the development of the firm - advising, winning and managing clients and growing the business and the people," he says. Barker continues to benefit from an ongoing relationship with Cass. "There is a range of formal and informal networking opportunities and what you put into that directly relates to what you get out of it," he says. I find that kind of networking very helpful. The school also offers a complementary module each year for alumni, and Barker admits to being tempted to take on further study when time permits. "I enjoyed being back in a formal education environment," he says. Also on MBAs