Sooner the better
Planning ahead, a DFS product manager decides on a part-time CUHK MBA despite the major challenges.

Shortly after Laura Jiang started an undergraduate degree in broadcasting and journalism at China’s Nanjing University, she found out she had been accepted to study human resources at the Hong Kong Baptist University. After thorough consideration she decided to take a chance, so she packed her bags and headed to Hong Kong.
The move paid off. After graduating top of her class in 2008, the native of Shandong province joined retailer DFS as a management trainee and is now a product manager in the beauty department.
She recently became a part-time MBA student at the Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) and is expecting to graduate in 2014.
What prompted you to pursue an MBA?
Firstly, I wanted to upgrade myself. As I studied human resources for my undergraduate degree, my area of knowledge was concentrated mainly in the human resources field. I thought that studying an MBA would enable me to enhance my knowledge in different areas and see the world from different perspectives. Some of my friends also have MBAs and I found that they had a much more broad and in-depth way of looking at the world.
I also believe that having a master’s degree will become a must sooner or later. As the education level of the general public is getting higher and higher, having a bachelor’s degree is already a basic entry requirement for many jobs. It is possible that in the future, candidates will have to possess at least a master’s degree to be eligible to apply for jobs. If sooner or later I will have to study a master’s degree, why not start studying now?
In addition, I wanted to know more people from different industries and with different backgrounds. I was sure an MBA programme would be able to fulfil this wish, and I was also sure that I would learn a lot from talking and sharing experiences with my classmates.
Why did you choose CUHK?
The impression I got from CUHK was that it was very people-orientated and cared about its students, even the applicants. When I was invited to attend an interview, the conversation I had with the interviewers was just like a casual talk. It was nothing like a formal interview. The interviewers mainly asked me personal questions. It made me feel that they would like to get to know me more, and this impressed me a lot.