Becky George-David

Background

From the Royal Bank of Scotland to JP Morgan: my career journey

Since graduating in 2013, I’ve spent my career working within financial institutions. My career started in 2012 when I joined the Royal Bank of Scotland, Markets and Investment Banking Technology internship programme as a Business Analyst in Money Markets. I really enjoyed owning the delivery of an automated application that helped the business understand and plan renewals on close to end-of-life servers across its technology server estate. I’m now a Vice President at JP Morgan Chase where I continue to work within technology, leading the streamlining and optimisation of software delivery for the bank.

The programme

Choosing the Imperial Weekend MBA

Pursuing an MBA has been on the cards for me as far back as when I was studying my undergraduate degree. I studied Computing at university which meant my primary modules were centred around hardware and software engineering with very little business context. As I began my career in finance, my quest to develop my business and leadership acumen became ever so apparent.

I immediately knew the Weekend MBA was the right option for me as I could continue to advance my career whilst fulfilling my long-term goal of undergoing an MBA. Imperial College Business School was perfect as the main College is renowned for science and technology and by extension, the Business School for fostering innovative leaders with a flair for entrepreneurship. The icing on the cake was also the fact that I lived and worked in London, with the university being only 90 minutes away from home.

Funding my MBA

My MBA is primarily self -funded. Fortunately, I’m also a recipient of the Imperial Women’s Scholarship Award which was a very welcome surprise as I applied quite late in the process.

Applying my MBA learnings in real-time

Undertaking the Weekend MBA programme whilst navigating a corporate career is akin to constantly receiving training at work that directly and indirectly advances your performance. I’ve taken learnings from the core modules in Strategy, Organisational Behaviour and Innovation, and directly applied them to my responsibilities at work. As the programme touches so many subject areas, I’ve found myself more able to engage in a broader range of discussions, applying my new knowledge to what’s happening at a micro and macro level in the technology space and the world at large.

What has been the most rewarding part of the programme?

The reward of pursuing an MBA is already being realised as I’m visibly more confident and well-rounded as an individual. In the short term, I plan on leveraging my MBA towards advancing myself as a thought and people leader in technology across my organisation.

"The reward of pursuing an MBA is already being realised as I’m visibly more confident and well-rounded as an individual."

Opportunities

How have you benefited from the Business School’s connection to the Imperial College London community?

My cohort is a melting pot of talent. Cross industrial professionals ranging from engineers, wealth managers, accountants, sales managers, fashion professionals, marketing experts to start-up entrepreneurs assimilate into one community of vibrant leaders looking to make an impact in their worlds. Extending my network to span people from multiple industries, backgrounds and beliefs is not something I could have come by without having done the Weekend MBA programme. The real value here is derived by not just an increased number in my network, but by the shared experience and time spent nurturing those relationships into one that continues well beyond the MBA.

"Extending my network to span people from multiple industries, backgrounds and beliefs is not something I could have come by without having done the Weekend MBA programme."

Career

What are your future career goals and how have they been realised since being at Imperial?

My longer-term goal is to move back to the African continent, most likely to my home country of Nigeria, with a focus on designing and delivering social impact strategies and products that drive change and tackle challenging problems for people, organisations and governments across Africa.

Tips

Advice to prospective students

My advice to anyone thinking about applying to the Weekend MBA is to find your ‘why’. With a career, life and an MBA to juggle, what has really kept me going is my purpose. Also, maximise LinkedIn by connecting with current MBA students and alumni to get a real sense of what the programme entails, their perspective on its value add, how they approached financing, required time commitment, challenges and any other areas of interest. Attending an open day is a great way to interact with the Business School lecturers and team, complementing any other knowledge that you’ve gathered.