Claire recently completed the iMBA from Gies College of Business at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC). Ranked “#1 Biggest B-School Innovation of the Decade” from Poets&Quants, the iMBA program includes learners from nearly 100 countries across the globe and 88 of the Fortune 100 companies. The diversity of the class profile allows learners like Claire to explore new career avenues and grow their professional networks.
Claire is from Taiwan and her career has spanned many fields. “Before the program, my expertise was primarily in journalism, which then expanded into corporate public relations, communications, and marketing,” she reveals, adding, “I gained valuable experience in journalism, followed by PR and branding and marketing.”
Even with her impressive background, Claire felt a desire to add to her abilities and grow her influence throughout her organization. She explains, “I realized that despite my years of experience, I needed to interact with other departments like finance and lacked certain skills. I wanted to “level up” in skills and connections to gain visibility within the company and get exposure to new ideas and thoughts.”
As these professional ambitions took hold of her, Claire remembers, “I saw a digital banner on Coursera and it stayed in the back of my mind.” When it was time to pursue her master’s degree, she concluded, “The cost and Gies’ solid academic structure were major deciding factors, offering a good balance of knowledge and connections.” With so many reasons to go after the degree, Claire soon submitted her application and was accepted to the program.
Once Claire began her coursework, the challenge of balancing her professional responsibilities with her studies was significant—but the rewards were substantial. “I’ve enjoyed the learning process and have taken advantage of networking resources. I’ve connected with peers through live classes, breakout sessions, group projects, and networking events. There are also local and student-led meetups abroad, which have been beneficial. A group of about 40 of us throughout the Asia-Pacific region met in Singapore, and it was all student-led,” she says while describing what it’s like to be part of the program.
In her last MBA class, the professor’s parting words that “be humble and kind” and “always help the next in line” resonated with her. Driven by the message, she has continued to serve as a Gies Ambassador for three consecutive terms, interacting with prospective students through more than 20 webinars, workshops, and marketing content creation initiatives with a genuine passion for giving back. For example, she was a panelist in the Gies ROI Series on the Banking and Financial Industry, one of the top industries within the Gies program.
Over the course of these different encounters, Claire became emboldened to take her professional life in a radically new direction. “My previous experience was all with big, public companies. The program connected me with entrepreneurial students, which gave me the inspiration and motivation to pursue a career in the tech start-up realm,” she shares.
Since her time in the program, Claire has used the iMBA from Gies to secure an elevated role where she has greater involvement in strategic business decisions. Before her career pivoted to the start-up, she was promoted to the vice president of digital marketing in one of Taiwan’s major financial services firms. Today, she’s the Taipei office lead, managing operations, global marketing, and supports business development, clients and projects for a global tech start-up.
Her journey from journalism to tech shows what you can do when you earn the right degree for your career goals. Claire’s shift from established companies to a dynamic start-up environment was a bold move, guided by the relationships she developed during her program. The networking opportunities she had were invaluable, as she came into contact with driven individuals from diverse backgrounds. If you’re looking for ways to make big changes in your own career, you can start by digging into the details of the iMBA from Gies—just like Claire did.
Learn more about the Master of Business Administration.