International Business MSc.

Author: Victoria Faucher, Master’s student of the ZHAW School Management and Law

This blog article was written in collaboration with the ZHAW-Ambassador program. @zhaw_sml

My name is Victoria and I am currently enrolled in the International Business Master of Science program at the ZHAW School of Management and Law. To be honest, I had not heard of this program before and I found it by chance while I was searching different International Business programs on the Internet. However, the promotion of the program was very promising, and its characteristics were quite attractive: Indeed, the program takes only one year and covers the most interesting topics of international business such as negotiation, leadership & intercultural management, and advanced research & consulting. Furthermore, lots of projects are designed to develop skills and abilities that are needed for working within a team.

Within the scope of my application, I did an interview with the Headmaster of the program, Mrs. Barthelmess, and a few days later I received the acceptation! The process went really fast: I was enrolled to the program under the condition of being graduated by the end of the year. You can imagine my excitement when discovering the city of Winterthur, the school’s infrastructure, the teachers, and especially the content of what I was going to learn!

But let’s be honest: The beginning was pretty intense . . . especially the Business Boot Camp, an exhaustive two-week group work with homework assignments to hand out at the end of each day. In addition to these assignments, we had two oral presentations each Friday. Then the planning slowed down a bit, and we followed the path of a typic school schedule with everyday lectures and group projects that stretched out over several months.

During these few months, everything happened really fast actually: All deadlines were quite close to each other, and it was a pretty stressful situation. Although the lectures were interesting, it was mostly the experience of group projects that taught me useful tools for handling group management in terms of time, contribution, and conflicts. Indeed, it has been underlined by several alumni. Actually, since the students are coming from different countries with different backgrounds, many cultures and abilities interact with each other, which can sometimes result in a mess . . . Therefore, tolerance and open-minded spirit are necessary to deliver a good work within a pleasant atmosphere.

Nonetheless, group work is the best practice you can do before handling group projects within a professional environment. Indeed, as Master’s students, this experience is very valuable for our future professional lives. Who does not doubt about his/her abilities to find a job? Who does not question his/her achievements as they were time-limited? Living a group project experience under the school’s supervision is 100 percent beneficial for building self-confidence about competences, and it is unquestionably the most helpful insight that I have learnt during this program. I can assure you of one thing: You cannot tell what it is worth until you live it . . .

In that way, if you want to have the opportunity to live this wonderful adventure, come and jump into this exciting International Business program where you will acquire inspiring and advantageous knowledge for your future professional life! 

For further information, you may have a look at the website: https://www.zhaw.ch/en/sml/study/master/international-business/

And watch this inspiring video for more information: https://www.youtube.com/watch?list=PL1kohU9UkY-wSDyJM7xsPvKDu5hwq5Sbt&v=YYpfe2ZxpQU&feature=emb_logo

We are looking forward to meeting you there!