Robert Kennedy College as part of its residency week in Zurich, Switzerland conducted a lecture in Money Management for its students which was also broadcasted live on Facebook to all students, current and prospective. Through this Facebook Live Session, students could get a feel of how the residency week is conducted at the college and at the same time give them a deeper understanding of Money Management.

This class which was facilitated by the Dean of the college, Prof. Dr. iur. David Costa, had attendees with different professional backgrounds from all over the world. Hence he followed a clear-cut agenda starting with the Basics of Money Management and then delved deep into the most common assets i.e. Commodities, Stocks, Bonds etc. while also discussing briefly about Cash, Real Estate and Cryptocurrency in brief.

Dr. Costa spoke of stocks as one of the best investment option as investors can study the market and the companies and then invest in the stocks of companies, thereby becoming owners of a certain stake in those companies. He illustrated this by giving real life examples of companies whose share prices had gone through a turbulent period in the stock market and pointed ways to analyse the situation and arrive at a decision on whether to hold or sell.

Keeping the session interactive and responding to a question on Real Estate as an investment option, Prof. Costa said that Real Estate is like any other investment and is subject to the same risks and rewards, just because it’s tangible, it does not mean that the property prices cannot crash. He advised that everybody’s first major investments should be in their home, a property for you and your family, and every investment made before buying this property should go towards this purchase.

Speaking on speculative investment options, Dr. Costa compared it to a lesser form of gambling but also stressed on the fact that the higher the risk an investor takes, greater the reward can be.

When considering an investment, Dr. Costa advised to always plan! and ask, ‘Why am I investing?’, ‘What kind of risk can I take?’, ‘How long can I be locked in?’ and ‘Where do I invest?’

Click here for more information on the programmes in finance and business offered by Robert Kennedy College.

We live in exciting times: from home automation and autonomous cars, to all-screen phones and artificial intelligence, technology is making our lives easier and more productive.

With advancements in automation and telecom, companies are getting leaner and more centralised. There is pressure to be able to make quicker and more informed decisions, becoming more efficient and profitable and being able to provide higher returns to their shareholders. As a direct result of this, companies are looking for a more skilled and qualified workforce.

With jobs that are available in organisations moving up the value chain, companies are looking for specialised, proficient candidates to fill specific roles within the organisation. In today’s global market, one’s citizenship hardly matters to a world class employer looking for the best talent. With options ranging from working remotely to traveling to any destination within 24 hours or simply relocating, companies more often than not find the people they are looking for.

Today, a master’s education is rapidly becoming the entry degree in many professions. This has come about in part because the degrees are specific and utilitarian. A company looking to hire in project management or public healthcare will look to hire candidates with Master’s degrees in either Project Management or Public Health Management.

A Master’s degree implies that a candidate has taken the extra step in getting qualified, gaining extra skills, and specialisation. Having worked on projects, assignments, and dissertations, candidates tend to be more disciplined, structured, and task oriented.

They tend to be trusted with more responsibilities and will bring that experience and knowledge to the company. Such candidates will be an asset to the company and very seldom a liability.

In 2014-15, in the United States, there were nearly 800,000 Master’s degree graduates, a number that has been growing exponentially. In this scenario, most of the candidates applying for any above entry level position will already have at least one Master’s degree, if not more specialised qualifications. A Bachelor’s degree alone would disqualify them in the first stage of recruitment.

Explore the number of specialised Master’s degrees offered by Robert Kennedy College in exclusive partnerships with top British universities.

The Project Management Institute’s Education Foundation (PMIEF) has awarded Neil C. Robinson, a postgraduate student at Robert Kennedy College, University of Salford, its 2017 James R. Snyder International Student Paper of the Year.

The award was presented to Neil at the annual PMI Global Conference in October, held in Chicago, Illinois, USA, for his research paper titled Life is a Project: Project Management as an Enabling Life Skill in Cross-Cultural Transition.

Neil’s paper was inspired by the outcomes of the Life is a Project (LIAP) education initiative, teaching project management life skills to a group of ESL (English as a Second Language) adults in London.

During the course of five volunteer-led workshops, participants were assisted to articulate and develop plans for personal life projects as well as collaborating as a project team in the planning and delivery of a practical community-based project initiative – a fund-raising event in support of the British Refugee Council. Neil and the LIAP programme were also featured in a local UK news article.

Neil’s paper introduces the concept of project management as an enabling skill for individuals in the process of cross-cultural transition. He explores theoretical models of cultural adaptation, research into psychological and socio-cultural impacts of cross- cultural transitions, the challenges of being a non-native English language speaker.

The paper concludes with a view on the merit of project management skills in a cross-cultural context and thoughts on further development of the concept.

On receiving this award, Neil said “It’s a great honour and validation of the effort expended to have this work recognised by PMIEF.” In an email to the university, Neil also thanked the university and Robert Kennedy College for equipping him “with the requisite academic research and writing skills to produce this piece of work!”

As a mature student himself, Neil believes it is never too late to learn, “Education really can “open doors” and with programmes like this (Online MSc Project Management), it’s never too late to “follow the dream”. Just do it.”