My Cranfield experience: How studying for the Strategic Marketing MSc landed me a job in my dream industry

For Shraddha Mahapatra, studying for a postgraduate master’s degree at Cranfield School of Management unlocked the path to a career working in her dream industry sector.

Shraddha had gained an MBA in her native India and was working as a Senior Account Manager in the food and drinks portfolio at Unilever, which is when she decided to embark on the Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM) accredited Cranfield Strategic Marketing MSc to enhance her marketing skillset.

She said: “Working at Unilever, I got introduced to the UK FMCG (fast-moving consumer goods) sector. I was fascinated by the leading category developments in the foods sector and how it is aligned to a highly cosmopolitan population it caters to. I came to understand that, if I wanted to learn more and grow in FMCG (particularly in the foods and drinks industry), which I’m really passionate about, I had to pursue a career in the UK.”

Researching UK postgraduate programmes in strategic marketing, Shraddha was attracted to Cranfield for its QS ranking and impressive student outcomes. The Cranfield Strategic Marketing MSc currently ranks 7th in the UK and 25th in the world in the QS World University Rankings: Masters in Marketing Ranking 2026.

“What I found really genuinely interesting about Cranfield is that it had this curriculum of ending a particular module with an industry connection,” she explains. “This really stood out to me. It wasn’t just another theoretical course. I thought Cranfield would be the perfect choice for me to have this industry exposure and I’m extremely proud and happy that I chose it.”

Across the course modules, Shraddha was able to study the full marketing spectrum, from sales and negotiation, communications and branding, and market research, to digital marketing, retail and omnichannel marketing, customer relationship management, and big data marketing analytics. Along with other members of her cohort, she visited Cadbury, Salesforce and Eataly, allowing access to real-world applications of marketing theory in the workplace.

Reflecting on her year at Cranfield, she said:

“The course honestly exceeded my expectations, and if I had to recommend a course or university, it would always be Cranfield.

“A statement that has always stuck with me is one I read in book – that you are the average of five people that you mingle with on a daily basis. Well, Cranfield is where you find mature people; it is where you get to network with your peers and really learn something from them during the journey.”

During her course, Shraddha undertook a three-month internship with MumPod, a company aiming to encourage increased uptake of breastfeeding as a method of feeding infants in the UK, by providing dedicated nursing pods and expert consultancy to businesses and public spaces around the country.

Explaining her decision to work for the company, she said: “I chose MumPod because the cause of the company really stood out to me. It resonated well with me because I have a sister who is 10 years younger and I’ve seen my mum going through that journey of really struggling with breastfeeding in public areas. I would see her still pushing through and using the toilets or other places that are not really assigned to breastfeeding, but they had to adjust to it.

“That was something that was bothering me, but I had found a solution – this company had found that gap and was working to fix it.”

During her placement, Shraddha worked on a marketing communications strategy for MumPod aimed at raising awareness of its solutions and how they could be implemented to encourage breastfeeding in the UK. She also drafted a whitepaper calling on the Government to make installing breastfeeding solutions in public spaces in the UK a legal requirement.

Her input was so valued by MumPod that she remains in touch with the founders, who regularly share news about the company’s progress, hopeful of an opportunity to work together again in the future.

“I believe it is important when a person joins a company they should be able to feel passionate about the mission of that company,” Shraddha says. “That is when they can naturally put their best efforts into supporting it.”

“This advocacy of women’s wellness and welfare relating to mums is really important and it is something that I think corporate organisations forget these days.”

During her Cranfield studies, Shraddha also got involved in extra activities relating to her passion for FMCG marketing, aimed at expanding her network and skills.

These included a marketing consultancy project with Estée Lauder where she was instrumental in identifying a gap in the marketing of its products. Her team’s subsequent presentation to the company’s directors, including projected additional revenue that could be generated by addressing the gap, was hailed the winning entry.

Outside of her course, Shraddha was runner-up in the Cranfield-Colworth Innovation Challenge run by the Bettany Centre for Entrepreneurship with her idea for an edible food packaging solution.

“My whole focus while I was at Cranfield was to network with people to understand where I stood in terms of the expectation of the industry,” she explains. “Because I was extremely clear from the very beginning that I stepped my foot in the UK that I wanted to break into the FMCG (foods and drinks) market here.

“I wanted to grow here because it’s extremely different from where I come from and there are so many category developments. So, to keep at par with such expectation, I had to sign up for such events, and one thing that really helped me out was being proactive about it. I grabbed every opportunity that came through my way.

“The greatest takeaway from the Colworth Challenge was getting exposure to the fact that every FMCG brand is now under huge pressure to move towards sustainable packaging, and the fact I could contribute to an idea which is quite unique in terms of edible food packaging is something that I’m really proud of.”

Following completion of her MSc, Shraddha secured a permanent role as a buyer – account manager at London-based food and drink distributor CN Foods.

“I’ve been in the company nearly two months and it has honestly been such an exciting journey,” she says. “I get to understand many categories in the UK which I was not aware about, have different brand meetings and go to trade shows. That adds up to a lot of networks. Right now, I am handling close to 25 brands, and I get to meet the account managers, talk to them and go to different corporate parties and see what they are thinking about the brand. That is one really exciting aspect of the job.”

Asked what advice she would give to anyone thinking about studying the Strategic Marketing MSc at Cranfield, she gives two pieces of wisdom. “Firstly, value peer-to-peer learning and be proactive in sharing your experiences and insights. Secondly, broaden your horizons by taking part in a club or activity that involves mixing with people from other courses around the university.”

“Cranfield is such an amazing place,” she enthuses. “A lot of people say it’s in the middle of nowhere but, for a person like me who loves nature, I love the calm that the university gave me. Taking time off on a weekend was such an amazing thing. So being really open to the experiences of what the days throw at you and happily accepting and moving through those is what I would recommend.”

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