How I Launched An International Career At Nike After Business School

Growing up in the Mexican city of Piedras Negras, birthplace of the beloved nacho, it’s fair to say Jocelyn Gallegos Perez has always been surrounded by a hotpot of enterprise. 

But creativity without a proper framework can be taxing. Once Jocelyn began her marketing degree, she found the constant demand to come up with new ideas a little overwhelming. 

“A lot of marketing is about creating something from scratch,” she says. “It’s also pretty broad.”

It was only when she began working post-graduation as a business analysist that Jocelyn discovered the concrete direction she needed.

“When I found out about the whole world of analytics, it was perfect for me, because it actually gives you answers based on data,” she says. 

Now a graduate of BI Norwegian Business School, and a data analyst for Nike, one of the world’s largest sportswear companies, it’s clear that Jocelyn’s dedication to pursuing her passion has paid off. But how did she get there? 

Embarking on a business master's degree in Norway

Particularly coming from Mexico where pursuing post-graduate education is less common than in Europe, considering a master’s degree was a big deal for Jocelyn—let alone moving halfway across the world to study in Norway. 

With a big decision to make, Jocelyn attended an international fair in Mexico City to meet with business school representatives and decide where was the best fit for her. 

Spurred by her curiosity about the Scandinavian lifestyle, Jocelyn was attracted to the MSc in Business Analytics program at BI, situated in Norway's capital, Oslo.

However, it was through connecting with a member of BI's international marketing and recruitment team that Jocelyn found the confidence she needed to take the leap and study abroad. 

“Having a human connection encouraged me to actually apply,” she says.

With a strong focus on teaching core business skills such as management, leadership, and critical thinking, as well as more technical skills such as programming, the MSc in Business Analytics program combines the best of both worlds when it comes to a career in analytics.

For Jocelyn, this was the next big step for turning her passion for telling stories using data into her dream career.

"Today, there is an overwhelming amount of data. But being able to compile it into an easy to follow story and make it useful is what I love about my job," she says. 

Learning the skills to launch an international career in Europe

Going from a sunny town in Mexico to a country where the average winter temperature is below freezing, it was undoubtable that Jocelyn was going to have some adjusting to do. 

“I read a lot about the culture, but it’s one thing to read about it and another to experience,” she jokes. 

Since BI’s campus is comprised of students from more than 100 different nationalities, Jocelyn found herself thrust into a highly multicultural environment, where she learned how to work with classmates from Brazil, Vietnam, Lithuania, and Norway.

However, she discovered that the main thing that mattered was that they shared a common drive for analytics. 

“My classmates were really interested in all of the classes, and all of the teachers were really passionate,” she says. 

Her exposure to diverse environments also allowed Jocelyn to learn more about what she wanted for her own career.  As part of the program, she interned at the Norwegian Refugee Council, where she learned how she could use her data analysis skills to help a non-profit organization to improve its operations.  

“It was the first time that I've realized that you can work with analytics in a lot of different areas from supply chain to marketing. It was like discovering a whole new world of analytics,” she says. 

At BI, MSc Business Analytics students are also able to take up an internship with the SAS Institute, the world’s largest business analytics company, which both develops their skills and improves their career prospects.

Experiences such as these meant that Jocelyn could hit the ground running in her career at Nike. 

Impressing recruiters and launching an international career at Nike

Jobhunting isn’t an easy task for anyone, but as an international student, Jocelyn knew she would have to work even harder to apply to companies that would be willing to wait for her work permit visa.

Fortunately, the hiring manager at Nike offered her a job as a data analyst not long after graduation—an opportunity Jocelyn credits to her degree.  

“Studying abroad definitely gave me more potential as a professional,” she says. 

As a part of her role now, Jocelyn uses data to improve the company’s supply chain operations, which includes optimizing customer delivery times, as well as finding ways to make the process more sustainable. 

At BI, students can pick electives such as Supply Chain Analytics, which teach them how to combine data analytics skills with a knowledge of supply chain. 

Jocelyn also found that ability to work for a global company was enhanced by the fact that she completed an internship in an English-speaking company. 

“It gave me more confidence to follow my career in a non-Spanish speaking environment,” she says. 

Most importantly, though, by pursuing what she was truly interested in, Jocelyn has been able to create a career for herself in which she can make a real difference. 

“Through my work I'm trying to positively impact the outside world,” she says.