Hailing from Azerbaijan, which links eastern Europe and western Asia, Jamala Talibova wanted to study in the United States, but she was unsure where. “I was just looking at every university in every state,” she said.
She learned that The University of Tulsa offered scholarships and assistance with living expenses, which meant a lot to Talibova because she had spent several months unemployed in her native country and did not want to rely on her family for monetary support.
While studying, Talibova served as a graduate assistant. She graduated in December 2020 with a master of science degree in business analytics.
Talibova is now a business intelligence engineer at Amazon in Seattle and said UTulsa helped prepare her for the role. “There were courses such as data mining,” she said. “I think that we did a lot of really heavy projects.”
She said UTulsa stands out not only for the friendly campus, but the kind Tulsa residents, as well. “I met great people. My professors were great, supportive,” she added.
Talibova became friends with many people she met here, including someone who helped her with her taxes. Additionally, she met a mentor, who helped her prepare for job interviews since interviews in the United States were very different than she had ever experienced.
“I attended several career fairs, companies’ lunch workshops, mock interviews and, most importantly, found a mentor through TU’s mentorship platform,” she said. “My mentor helped me a lot with my résumé and getting prepared for the interviews. I also am grateful to the TU Alumni Association and the connections I made through LinkedIn.”
Talibova also attended the Collins College of Business’ Friends of Finance monthly luncheons, which are free networking opportunities for students, and competed in the Love’s Entrepreneur’s Cup. The Entrepreneur’s Cup is a statewide collegiate business plan competition in which students take part in real-world processes of researching a market, developing a business plan, and presenting to potential investors. “We actually got third place in the graduate division,” she said, which paid out thousands of dollars in winnings.
Learn more about UTulsa’s graduate business programs at https://utulsa.edu/academics/business/academics/graduate-business-programs/