Phil Evans journey to the Cranfield MBA

Have you wondered how the Cranfield MBA has been operating during the Coronavirus pandemic? Next up in this series, we will be hearing from current MBA student Phil Evans discussing his journey to Cranfield and how Covid-19 has impacted his time here.

“Covid has impacted the course delivery with us moving from Face to Face learning to online (and hopefully back again). Each module has a range of tools and media to help with the learning and whilst lecturers are busy they are happy to have one to one calls or meetings and are genuinely interested in how they can help with your career plans.” Says Phil.

Tell us a bit about yourself
I am one of the more ‘mature’ students on the MBA this year, (as many of the cohort are keen to point out) with just over 15years of experience in the UK. Initially, I trained to be a lawyer and worked in the legal sector for a few years before taking a total career change into the world of professional sport and coaching. Using that experience I set up a couple of businesses to help companies manage their talent and performance strategies. This allowed me to work with some of the most exciting start-ups right through to large corporates and worldwide brands. Over the past 5 years, I have taken this experience into the recruitment sector, working with global investors in founding and growing new businesses.

Sector/Industry you are hoping to work in post-MBA
Part of the reason for joining the MBA was to take time out of my career to reflect on exactly what it is I want to achieve moving forward. The support provided around Executive Coaching, Careers Services and Mentor programmes, amongst others, has been a really helpful part of that. The Cranfield network is amazing, I have had the opportunity to speak with some incredible people from all over the world via the Alumni network.

I have always loved the start-up sector, working with companies to raise funding was great fun and I have been fortunate enough to make some investments of my own. After the MBA I’m hoping to work with early-stage investors and company founders in supporting the growth and scale of their companies.

Where did you come from and what led you to the Cranfield MBA?
My father did an MBA at Cranfield back in the 1980s and still talks about its benefits today. Doing an MBA was something I had always wanted to do and when the Covid pandemic hit I decided to bring those plans forward. I think now is a great time to invest in education and development and I’m hoping that by the time we graduate the world will have started to open up again.

I spoke with several Business Schools both in the UK and in Europe but in the end, it was an easy decision to choose Cranfield. Their practical focus means you can apply what you learn in a very ‘real world’ context throughout the course. Cranfield’s Alumni network is so positively involved in the course as well, many are involved in lectures, workshops and are very keen to ‘give back.’ The rest of the cohort is experienced across such a wide variety of sectors it’s been great. You learn as much from your peers as you do from anything else.

What have you done to prepare yourself for the Cranfield MBA?
As the decision to come to Cranfield was relatively last minute I didn’t have too much time to ‘prepare’ for anything but the University have been great in helping me feel settled very early on. From my initial enquiry, they have been really proactive and very approachable. Before confirming my application I was able to speak with lecturers and understand more about different aspects of the course. This level of access and approachability set Cranfield apart from the other schools I spoke with.

What about Covid?
Covid has impacted the course delivery with us moving from Face to Face learning to online (and hopefully back again). Each module has a range of tools and media to help with the learning and whilst lecturers are busy they are happy to have one to one calls or meetings and are genuinely interested in how they can help with your career plans. Many will refer you to their contacts as well which provides a great extra layer to the networking opportunities. Learning teams have continued throughout the year, which has been great, it gives you a great support network as well as the opportunity to work with some amazing people from around the world.