Greece EBM Graduate 2014-2015

"The course opens your mind to new perspectives"

Since graduating from WMG in 2015, Lefteris' career at Meggitt plc has gone from strength to strength. After joining the company as an Operations Management Trainee in 2015, he quickly progressed into a variety of roles including: Operations Project Lead, Project Manager (Strategic Ops) and, most recently in 2019, as Site Operations Manager in the USA.

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When we originally spoke to Lefteris Andreadis, he was about to travel to the USA for training as part of his new job with Meggitt plc. He joined this global engineering group as an Operations Management Trainee just a few weeks after completing his MSc in Engineering Business Management with us.

“It’s all happened really quickly,” he said, “but this is a dream opportunity for me. As part of my training, I’ll be rotating around the business and my aim is to fast-track into a leadership position. I do feel confident going into it though, and my time at WMG has definitely prepared me for what lies ahead.”

Business experience

Lefteris came to Warwick in 2014 after gaining his first degree in Mechanical Engineering in Greece. Having worked in engineering related roles, he wanted to develop his commercial understanding, as he explained: “I was looking to build my skills across all areas of management and business - from operations and finance to marketing and leadership. With its broad mix of modules, WMG’s programme was exactly right for me.”

Even before joining the course, Lefteris had gained first-hand commercial experience. In 2011 he established an e-commerce enterprise, selling health and beauty products through an online shop. Handling all aspects of the operation including cash-flow, inventory, marketing, recruitment, training and people management, he grew it from a start-up to a successful business.

Constructing connections

Coming to Warwick with this ‘front line’ business knowledge, what did Lefteris think of his MSc programme? “It was absolutely brilliant,” was his short reply! “The best thing about the course, for me, was that it helped me construct connections that I had never considered before.

“You learn how everything aligns with everything else in an organisation – how logistics connects with purchasing, how operations strategy connects with HR and so on – and how it all works together to drive a company’s success. Now I’m actually working in industry, I see these connections all the time. Before my course, I simply didn’t have that awareness.

“Not one module was irrelevant. Each of them added to the bigger picture and I loved the whole experience. It opened my eyes and made me see things in a completely new way.”

Putting in 100%

Lefteris was also keen to talk about the cultural aspect of life at Warwick. “I wanted to experience new things and interact with people I wouldn’t normally get the opportunity to. It was amazing to work in teams with students from right across the world – Malaysia, Nigeria, Thailand, Jordan and elsewhere. That was hugely fulfilling and gaining such a wide-ranging cultural awareness was a big part of the learning process. It also helped in my interviews, as I could show how I can work with people from so many different backgrounds.”

For his dissertation, Lefteris chose the subject ‘Practical issues surrounding the utilisation of the Value Stream Mapping tool’, for which he achieved a distinction. “My supervisor was outstanding and helped me a lot,” he said. “It was hard work, in fact the whole course is very intensive and challenging. But I came to WMG wanting to grasp the opportunity with both hands. I believe that with anything in life, you get out what you put in. So to get the best from the course, I knew that I had to put in 100% all the way.”

His dissertation is about to be published, and Lefteris is planning along with his supervisor to present it in Korea. “This was something else that helped in my interviews,” he added. “The Head of Global Procurement was very interested in my ideas and asked me to send my dissertation to him. I understand that he was really impressed.”

Immerse yourself

Throughout his interview process, Lefteris found much of the knowledge he had developed at WMG came to the fore. “I could prove that my understanding went beyond the underlying technical theories to how they could be applied to help an organisation develop. Most of all, I felt that I could talk to interviewers on an equal level and open up stimulating discussions. It was clear that my confidence and communication skills had developed massively.”

So what advice would Lefteris give to someone who’s thinking of studying at WMG? “Immerse yourself in the experience,” he answered. “You do need to be committed and prepared to put the effort in though. Also, open your mind to new ideas and new ways of thinking. Be ready to move out of your comfort zone, because that’s where you can learn the most.

“I can honestly say that it was the best choice I have ever made in my life. It opened the door to major opportunities for me.”