Case study: Santander Master's Scholarships Q&A with Marina Naz

This student's Santander Master's Scholarship helped her gain employment with KPMG after studying MSc Management at UCL.

Marina Naz (MSc Management, UCL) is a Corporate Tax Manager at KPMG, currently based in the London Region Corporate Tax advisory team. The team specialises in a range of international tax issues, intra-group reorganisations, new financing arrangements, acquisitions, disposals and joint venture planning.

She has recently been appointed as a member of KPMG’s core Brexit team to help clients and colleagues understand the potential structural and tax impact of the UK’s decision to leave the European Union.

Q: Why did you apply for the Santander Master's Scholarship? 

A: I applied for the Santander scholarship as I needed help financially to pursue my passion of undertaking further education after I had completed my BSc. The effects of the recession were still being felt in 2010 and it was incredibly difficult to obtain a graduate position in a top firm as a lot of the Big 4 accounting firms had frozen graduate recruitment. Had I not received the scholarship, I may have not been able to pursue the MSc (purely due to financial constraints).

Q: What made you choose an MSc in Management?

A: I had studied BSc Mathematics and on completion and later interviewing for finance related graduate positions I realised that I was very strong technically (and numerically), but I needed to balance this with commercial acumen and the more softer people related skills.

I came across an advertisement for MSc Management at UCL (2010 was the first year to offer this course) and I thought the course would be an excellent opportunity to build upon my areas of weakness with the view of shaping myself into an all rounded candidate to pursue a career in finance.

Q: How did this help you in your career?

A: UCL and the MSc Management course provided me with the commercial acumen I was seeking (accounting, economics, financial modelling concepts etc), but most importantly provided me with a platform to practice and adopt a suitable leadership style which is something I have cherished to date and most definitely helped me attain the managerial position I hold at KPMG today.

I also feel I am able to motivate and understand what really drives the junior members of staff in my team and this has come with both experience, but also theoretical concepts I learnt as part of the Masters degree.

UCL also has a fantastic careers service and I recall spending time with my careers advisor undertaking mock interviews and presentations to really prepare me for the competitive graduate recruitment process typical in finance.

The Santander Master's scholarships aim to assist the most academically able students from leading universities to pursue a Master’s degree programme at UCL. Students must be from Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, Puerto Rico or Uruguay to apply.