warumnicht
leafsfan
Hi all,
I applied in round 3, got interview call back in June, but couldn't make the July round as I was on holiday. I am now going in for the assessment day on Friday 13 August and really looking forward to it....and a bit scared, but more nervous excitement I think. I'd welcome any comments and/or advice, the comments made up to this point have been great and really helpful. I'm 33 M, Canadian living in the UK, 7 years experience, currently working in Healthcare, got 710 on my GMAT.
Cheers, look forward to hearing from you/chatting/helping if I can.
All the best...
Hi Leafsfan, how was the assessment day? It would be great if you could share some insights. I applied in Rd4 and am in the 4-6 week wait period to find out about interviews.
31 F, Canadian in Switzerland, 8 WE, CA Big4 Exp, now Financial Controller, GMAT 680
Assessment day was everything I thought it would be, the outlines posted on this blog do it justice. Seven applicants from as far away as South Korea and China - having travelled from the UK, I felt a bit spoiled!
Interview: Probing, but as long as you know why you're there and what you think IMD is about, you'll be fine - be yourself, people say this, but I can't stress it enough - the interviewer asked probing questions to see why I answered my questions in certain ways, but all in all, there were no big surprises - as someone else advised, take a couple glasses of water for all the talking!
Impromptu presentation: Go simple - don't try to over complicate it. Remember, you only have five minutes to present and as they say, it's Switzerland, so they keep good time! This is more about showing you can understand the basics of a case and formulate a presentation with a possible solution, rather than trying to demonstrate you extensive business acumen (or at least I thought it was!). Also, I took the time during the break you get to get away and see the lake, nice to remove myself from the stress for couple of minutes-I think it helped.
Lunch: Wow, the spread is amazing and the chat with the current student is definite a huge asset, great conversation and take the time to ask anything (it is still an interview, so be a bit careful, but it's okay to ask tough questions/questions that show you're still wondering about things).
Case study: All I can say is review the case, review the case and then make sure you think you understand it - this part is about demonstrating you have understood it, but I think it's also really important to work with the other applicants and listen to what they have to say rather than just prove that your voice can be heard. You do need to make sure you're not a wallflower, but equally I think being supportive of others and involving their views too is important - they are not looking for the best 90 individuals, but the best combination to form the 90 and I think group interaction is an important part.
Optional class: By this point, I was spent, really long day, hadn't slept well the night before, but it was really interesting to see the class dynamics.
I came away from the day think I didn’t hit a home run, but didn't strike out either - and then I had to wait....
They said it might be less than the ten days as they had already seen another group earlier that week and sure enough, six business days later, I got the call and I have been accepting into IMD's class of 2011...it still feels a bit numb in a good way!
I now have about ten days to decide if I’m going and it’s definitely soul search time – I started down this road because I didn’t want to look back when I was 40 and regret not trying and I am really glad I’ve given myself the choice.
If there are any alum out there reading this, I would be interested in your views on work/life balance post IMD once you have a large amount of debt – I don’t want a 9 to 5, but equally I don’t want to have to take a job based on the money I owe and work ridiculous hours just to pay it off – this journey is more about me and my family and improving my life, both professionally and personally.
Cheers, hope that helps, any specific questions, let me know / any advice, I’d love to hear from you.
Nov 20
22 Aug 2010, 09:59
Me too - see you in January? 
thx. 
