Hesham Zohair is a student in the Rady School of Management’s Master of Science in Business Analytics program.
1)Â Why did you choose to pursue a Master of Science in Business Analytics?
I have been working in marketing for five years, largely in promotion development and analysis. I wanted to take my career to a new level by going deeper into understanding consumer behavior analytics.
2)Â Why did you choose the Rady School of Management?
Rady is a well-established school, and one of the early schools that started a Business Analytics program. Positive feedback from students in the same program also had a strong influence on my decision to apply here.
3)Â What do you feel makes Rady unique? How do you benefit from these aspects?
From the very first day of the orientation, the enthusiasm was obvious from faculty, the admissions team, the career advisory office and student services – not to mention my fellow students in the class and the ones in other programs I interacted with. That alone makes UC San Diego, and the Rady School in particular, a very unique place.
4)Â What classes are you looking forward to taking this year?
So far, the class I look forward to the most is pricing and consumer behavior analytics.
5)Â How has your perspective on your career or your life changed since you came to Rady?
At first I was thinking, “I am going to study and see how it goes afterwards, fingers crossed!” However, the energy from the Career Connections department gave it quite the lift.
6)Â What are your goals after graduation?
I have considered two paths. The first is to try to land a job in a related field — hopefully in the San Diego area. The second to return to Egypt and establish a consultancy that focuses on marketing analytics.
7)Â What advice do you have for prospective students?
Again, I thought it would be not so different from my graduate studies. Fortunately, I was wrong — and the program started at full force. Dedication is key here, so work hard and stay on top of your work.
8)Â Anything else you would like to share?
A final word about Rady and UC San Diego. Diversity is a very important pillar here. I had not realized it until I saw it for myself. To me that makes things even more interesting — to study and work with people from very different backgrounds and cultures, understand the differences and broaden my knowledge.