 My name is Alexis Drake and I studied the Marketing and Leadership MSc with the Senior Leader Apprenticeship at Cranfield School of Management. My job title now is the Talent Attraction Marketing Specialist and I work at Read Talent Solutions. I would say this course transformed my career because I was headhunted into a more senior position and it's allowed me to do much more strategic work than I did previously. I decided to study the Marketing and Leadership MSc at Cranfield for three cool reasons and firstly it was really to consolidate my marketing experience that I'd gained over a lifetime. Secondly I really wanted to learn the strategic theories and concepts that backed up that knowledge and lastly I felt it was a really good way of springboarding my senior career in marketing. It's important to me that the Marketing and Leadership qualification was developed in partnership with the CIM Academy because I felt that the CIM was such a well-respected marketing organisation globally so it was very well renowned. Also it meant that the academics were underpinned by an industry recognised qualification which is a lot more practical for working people like myself and also the work-based project was fantastic for my employer because it meant that they felt they got value out of me studying. There are so many benefits to studying an apprenticeship. Firstly you can work, study and apply the learning simultaneously so literally the minute you start the course you're applying it into your job. Also for me kind of an unexpected benefit was that I got to meet peers in my industry so you can get a little bit myopic working in your own organisation or your own industry and it was a really great chance for us to cross-pollinate ideas so you get put into learning teams and you get to understand how people do marketing in different industries which was great. Also I've definitely made friends for life on the course.