Sophia Hacker

Country of origin: Germany

Before my studies at Lancaster University, I gained professional experience in the field of Marketing at advertising agencies and companies such as BMW. In order to deepen my knowledge with a theoretical background and to further enhance my career opportunities, I decided to apply for the MSc Marketing programme. I chose Lancaster because its Marketing department is ranked as one of the best ones in Great Britain.

While the first half of my degree programme mainly provided theoretical knowledge, the second half focused on the practical application of our learnings. In the second part, I had the great opportunity to work on versatile projects with my fellow students for well-known companies and agencies, such as Mediacom. The development of an online marketing strategy as part of our Digital Marketing module was specifically valuable for me, as this is the area I want to focus on within my professional career.

What I enjoyed most about life at Lancaster were the people and their culture I got to know from all over the world. Together we explored Lancaster and travelled around all parts of Great Britain. That peaceful being-with-one-another of different countries, cultures, and religions enormously widened my horizon.

For our dissertation we did a company-based consulting project for a local interior design company, which elaborated the communication of the company’s brand persona through storytelling within a business-to-business context. I worked on the dissertation with three other students and during the period of four months, I learned a lot about team work and time scheduling. The dissertation gave us the chance to conduct in-depth research of a largely unexplored topic. It was hard work that finally paid off: we received the Departmental Prize for the best dissertation which honoured all of us.

During my studies I applied for various jobs within the United Kingdom and elsewhere in Europe. I received a job offer as an Online Marketing Trainee at Sixt Rent a Car, one of the biggest car rental companies in Europe. I moved back to Germany and started working there right after submitting our dissertation. Studying in England helped me a lot as all my colleagues at Sixt are from different countries and therefore we only speak English at work. Furthermore, the intensity of the MSc Marketing programme built up my ability to handle the high expectations of a trainee programme. 

I am now working as Customer Engagement and Solutions Lead at Ipsen and I am confident that I will continue to benefit from my positive experiences at LUMS in my personal and professional future.