So she decided to take time out to do an MBA. And she started looking for a programme that would give her that broad knowledge as well as international experience.

“I love learning from different cultures,” Melis says. “I’ve done social projects in Peru and an exchange in Canada and they really helped me grow. So I wanted to study abroad. I looked at options in Belgium and the Netherlands but I already knew about Vlerick – I visited campus a couple of years ago to stay with a friend who was doing a master's. Then I saw Vlerick were going to be at an MBA fair in Istanbul. I went along, met Minna and got a great impression. There was only a month left to apply – but I got it done and came to Brussels.”

When she started the Full-time MBA programme, Melis realised she was going to get the knowledge she was looking for – and valuable opportunities to put it into practice.

She says: “I really enjoyed all the courses – finance, big data and so on. The most valuable thing is when you bring them all together in real business cases and see how they all connect.”

Living and learning as a team

Melis also learned a great deal from her colleagues – a diverse mix of people from different cultures and industries. She says: “There were so many industries represented in the group. I had a product marketing background, there were people with life sciences roles, digital experience and so on. This made our discussions really interesting. Different industries often face the same challenges – but approach them in different ways. Seeing all the possible ways of doing something really helps you prepare for the future.”

It wasn’t just business that her course colleagues helped with – Melis says they also provided useful feedback on her soft skills.

“I got to know myself a lot better through the personal development course,” she says. “It’s not just individual – it’s on a team level too. You work with your colleagues day and night and they really get to know you – so you get really useful feedback from them. I was one of the youngest in the MBA and at first, I’d wait for more experienced people to take the lead. But then I realised I wanted to be a leader too. The MBA gave me opportunities to develop this – I really learned what I was capable of during my time at Vlerick.”

Discovering her passion

As well as developing her leadership ability, Melis discovered a love for strategy too.

She says: “I really enjoyed the classes and knew I wanted to make strategy part of my in-company project. So I joined two classmates to go to Bekaert, where we worked with the corporate strategy team. We really did become part of the company – we even got to present our findings to C-level executives throughout the project – which was such a great experience. And we could apply everything we’d learned at Vlerick.

“I decided strategy was something I wanted to pursue after graduation. But then we did a great course on Big Data – an exciting sector that’s getting bigger and bigger. So I wanted to explore that a bit more too.

“After Vlerick, I was inspired to pursue my career in digital marketing at a machine learning company called ML6. A year later, I wanted to combine this knowledge in a more strategic consulting environment. I recently joined Deloitte as a consultant under Deloitte Digital.”

Making the most of her network

“When you do an MBA, it helps you to see different perspectives and consider the big picture. If something isn’t working, you can adapt, identify another route – and have the confidence to change course. If you’re struggling, you can also always go back to models and frameworks from the classes and put them into practice.”

Melis loves living in Belgium and is continuing to grow the network she started building at Vlerick. She says: “My advice to future students would be to value all the opportunities for networking – talk to everyone, even faculty who don’t teach you. And get to know as many sectors as you can by reaching out to alumni. I was hesitant to do this at first but now I am happy to do it – there is nothing to lose and everything to gain.”

Melis Atalay graduated in 2020.

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