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Why I'm staying on to do my Master's at Prague College

3 min read
22 January 2016 10:01
Bachelor’s student Moritz Kustermann has just completed his degree in International Business Management at Prague College, and will be going on to do his Master’s here next year. We spoke to him about his experience of Prague, what motivates him, the blend of work and study, and his ambitions for the future.
 


Moritz, you’re German but with quite an international background - can you tell us a bit more about that?

‘My father works for BMW, so we ended up moving with him all over the world. I lived in South Africa as a child, and as well as studying in Ireland and Germany, I worked for a tourism company in Barcelona.

What was your previous education like?

I studied Business Administration at the University of Applied Sciences Kempten in Bavaria, with around 4000 other students, and I did an Erasmus year at IT Sligo in Ireland. Both institutes offered a blend of lectures, seminars and project work, but what neither of them had was the individual attention you get at Prague College. There’s quite a difference between levels of engagement studying here and sitting in a group of 300 or so in a lecture room.

You currently have a job with a pharma company in Prague?

Yes, I’m really enjoying working as a Commercial Excellence Assistant for GSK; our team is currently engaged in a project with its focus on the central European region. It’s the sort of work I’d like to do in future. I’d like to go into Marketing Strategy. To be honest  I’m not a big fan of administration; I’m more interested in the psychological and social side of things -  for example how people work together in different companies. 

What’s the programme like here at Prague College?

With previous credits, I was able to enter straight into the third year of the Bachelor’s programme. It’s excellent, with a strong emphasis on practical links to business. For example the case studies we look at are recent cases from well-known companies: this semester we have been looking at Timberland and Unilever as part of our course of ethics and CSR.

For me as a working student, the course is completely manageable and flexible. It involves two or three lectures on Tuesday and Wednesdays, but they are all in the evening from 5 to 7, or 7 to 9; and every third weekend we have weekend classes.

Why have you decided to stay in Prague for the next step in your education?

I’m comfortable in this city; it’s an amazing experience.The job situation in Prague is great at the moment, especially if you're multilingual. As a German speaker I have had plenty of offers just in the last couple of months.

I’m a big fan of outdoor sports, and the country gives plenty of opportunities for that, but also - perhaps unexpectedly - I’ve become a fan of classical opera. It’s so expensive in Germany that it’s not something I would normally go to. But here it’s cool for people of any age - so far I’ve been to see Carmen, Don Giovanni, Rigoletto, you name it.

It helps that I have made some good friends here who (like me) came here not expecting to stay longer and then got hooked. And I have a Czech girlfriend now, which is a very good reason to stay!

And finally, why the Master's in International Management?

Partly because it’s a natural transition from BA to MSc - as I see it, the BA focuses more on operation and application, and the MSc takes you more into a 'helicopter' view. At least, that's what I'm looking to get out of it, the bigger picture. Also I know Prague College well now - it makes a difference if you are studying somewhere where you know all the professors by name and don’t have to make an appointment to see them!