Photos https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-9wK8f9gJHDU/U57m8J_yanI/AAAAAAAAAOY/D0hCgF0VnsE/s487/H1.jpg https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/--81DIcJozFs/U57m8Kzx54I/AAAAAAAAAOc/2HfJ4d8OxYk/s481/H2.jpg https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-Ilj25oi6a9s/U57m8gWomcI/AAAAAAAAAOs/7Kn_VlhcxXc/s736/H3.jpg https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-6O5JEYnpaqI/U57m9UF6srI/AAAAAAAAAOo/Ri09PmQvAeQ/s736/H4.jpg https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-UTDbiG2rgTw/U57m9cz0bCI/AAAAAAAAAOw/S4AjLT6IRbo/s736/H5.jpg Videos https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RHGcBzGAHHs https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MjyKHt5JGrQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vVmcuwrv1zA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rUVutMjq-1k https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-9pgsgrqCYo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wn4T9MGhHpo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hR6diJnWzb0 Careers Report Snapshot(Class of 2014) HEC Careers Report.jpg Download Career Choices Report (Class of 2014) Placement+report+class+2014.pdf HEC-Paris Social Media Updates Tweets HECParisMBA,469746988523606017,500 FB Updates HECParisMBA Interview debriefs of GMATClub members Prashkumar91 CommonMBApplicant Ninjamba Zat Grumpycat Ashkul123 HEC Paris: Where The Grande École Has Gone Global by John A. Byrne on June 10, 2014 Courtesy: Poets & Quants https://poetsandquants.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/hec.jpg For a recent business school presentation on the Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts, Connie Chen came dressed to the nines. After all, the MBA exchange student at HEC Paris was leading a group of four classmates in the semester’s last session of a class on Luxury Strategy. The highly popular course is taught by a charismatic professor, Vincent Bastien, who was once the chief executive officer of both Louis Vuitton and Yves Saint Laurent Parfums. A Chinese-American student from New York University’s Stern School of Business, Chen was smartly attired in a haute outfit, with a black-and-white sweater vest over a flowing pleated linen dress. But what most drew Professor Bastien’s attention were her Christian Louboutin four-inch stiletto heels. The professor playfully urged Chen to come out from behind a podium to show off her black suede, gladiator-style shoes, announcing to the class in his strong baritone voice, “beautiful shoes” as the petite student obliged. When a classmate reminded the professor that such comments would be politically incorrect in an American business school, Bastien laughed aloud. “That’s why I don’t want to teach in the U.S.,” he quipped. Welcome to HEC Paris, a business school that has become truly global without completely losing its French roots. One of Europe’s finest business schools, HEC Paris is located on a 340-acre wooded campus in Jouy-en-Josas, just 12 miles southwest from Paris. It is a school that has undergone a dramatic transformation in the past five years, from a distinctly French institution, part of the elite “Grandes Ecoles” where entry is granted only to the very best students in France, to a truly international business school where every course is taught in English. ‘FREEDOM OF LANGUAGE IS FREEDOM FROM CULTURE’ As Professor Bastien says, “The students are very diverse. I want my class to be a reflection of the world and it is. Out of a class of 30 students, I had one from France, four Americans, five Chinese, with some from Taiwan, Hong Kong and Beijing, Koreans, Japanese, Mexican, Russians, Italians and a Chilean. They see the world differently. And the big advantage is that no one speaks French. You have more freedom of language here and freedom of language is freedom from culture.” In contrast to either London Business School or INSEAD, which respectively take in 400 and 1,024 students every year, HEC’s full-time MBA program is small and intimate. The latest entering class—admitted in two intakes in September and January—is composed of 178 students. Some 85% of them are from outside France, reflecting 50 different nationalities, ranging from Brazil to the U.S. The school’s acceptance rate of 28%–which falls to 18% if you take into account candidates who completed an online profile but were not encouraged to apply–makes HEC more selective than INSEAD. The students, moreover, are taught by a cosmopolitan faculty of 110 permanent professors, 64% of them from other countries. Many of the professors are relatively new to the school, replacing a slew of inbred teachers that had been born in France and were proud products of the “grandes écoles.” Six out of ten are currently on the tenure track of six to seven years. HEC faculty who teach the MBAs are surprisingly down to earth, defying the stereotype of the stiffly formal and somewhat intimidating French scholars of years past. THE SCHOOL SAYS THAT GRADUATES TYPICALLY DOUBLE THEIR PRE-MBA SALARIES When HEC’s students graduate, they tend to find jobs outside of France. The career stats show that 72% of the MBAs find jobs outside the country, largely in Europe but increasingly in China, Korea, Singapore and India, often with French firms such as L’Oreal, LVMH and Schneider Electric, that have been gaining a foothold in Asia. On average, the school says, MBA graduates from HEC double their pre-MBA salaries and last year 89% of the class had jobs three months after commencement. The average salary with bonus was 95,160 Euros, or just under $130,000. In 2009 and 2010, five out of the 15 top recruiting companies were french. This past year only one—the fashion conglomerate LVMH—was among the top 15 recruiters which includes such mainstream MBA players as McKinsey, A.T. Kearney, GE, Credit Suisse, Unilever, and Johnson & Johnson. This year’s two largest recruiters are familiar names: Amazon and Google, which have respectively made nine and five offers to the Class of 2014 which officially graduates on June 13th. “U.S. business schools are of a type,” insists Tony Somers, director of the MBA career management center. “They are all two-year programs and the jobs market is homogenous, both in terms of how the students find jobs and their ultimate location. At HEC, our students are from all over the world and they are placed all over the world.” https://poetsandquants.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/bernard_garrete_hec_paris.jpg ‘WHEN PEOPLE CALL US THE HARVARD OF EUROPE WE LIKE IT’ That diversity of people and thought has helped the school’s rankings. Ten years ago, HEC’s full-time MBA program was ranked 53rd in the world by The Financial Times. Just five years ago, it had climbed to 29th—and this year to 21st globally and seventh best in Europe. Overall, in its combined rankings of the MBA, executive MBA, master’s in management and executive education, the FT has also named HEC Paris the best business school in Europe in four of the past five years, tying with Spain’s IE Business School for the honor last year. The architect of HEC’s transformation is Bernard Garrette, a gregarious and accessible one-time McKinsey consultant who has been associate dean in charge of the MBA program since January of 2011. Garrette knows the old and the new HEC well: he earned his master’s degree from the HEC “Grande Ecole” in 1985 and his Ph.D. from HEC Paris in 1991. When Garrette stepped into the dean’s role more than four years ago, his goal was “to transform a national champion into a global champion in the business education world.” HEC graduates are a vital part of the country’s power elite. The school boasts 11 alumni among the CEOs of the 40 companies on the Paris Stock Exchange with the highest market capitalization. It ranks fifth worldwide for having the most CEOs of the Fortune global 500. “When people call us the Harvard of Europe, we like it,” says Garrette. “When they say we are the Harvard of France, it’s not enough. We want the brand to be recognized around the world.” LIKE MANY AT HEC, THIS AMERICAN MBA BOASTS MULTI-CULTURAL ROOTS AND A DEEP INTEREST IN THE WORLD Students who find their way to HEC are a remarkably global bunch. Katrina Senn, 25, who will graduate in 2015, came to the school as an American from California. But her father is Swiss and British, while her mother is Chinese and Indonesian. Senn had gone to the Lycée Francais Laperouse in San Francisco for a French secondary school diploma in economics and social sciences before doing her bachelor’s in Asian studies at Occidental College in Los Angeles. Senn spent a year in Osaka, Japan, teaching English and writing classes in high schools and then returned to San Francisco to work for the Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO). after graduating from Occidental College with a degree in Asian studies, she left for Osaka, Japan, to be an assistant language teacher for a year. Both her parents have MBAs—her father from Chicago and her mother from UCLA—and encouraged her to go for the degree. “I was looking only in Europe,” she says, “I was drawn to go some place new.” She focused her search on schools in Spain, France, and Italy, but found herself liking HEC Paris the best. “The culture here is unique,” says Senn. “It’s a very international program and we learn a lot about France.” Many of the students here say they have chosen HEC over INSEAD because they prefer the fact that the MBA here can be taken in 16 months, rather than 10 at INSEAD, and because of the much smaller size, an annual intake less than 20% of what INSEAD admits every year. “INSEAD is a completely different world,” says Senn. “We have a small class. We get to know each other very well, and the focus is on individual growth.” Adds Marcus Vilcinski, 29, “HEC is one of the rare schools where you can find a wide range of students from all over. And 16 months is the right timing. I didn’t want to squeeze everything in 10 months at INSEAD.” DRAWN TO THE SCHOOL BY A BOOK CO-AUTHORED BY ONE OF HEC’S SUPER STAR PROFESSORS Vilcinski is Brazilian, though his father is half Japanese and half Portuguese, and he has lived and worked in Australia for three years. “The school is in the countryside of Paris so when you first arrive, you think it’s a negative thing,” he adds. “But if we were in Paris we could easily disappear into the city and the connections with each other wouldn’t be the same.” Vicki Yang, 30, was drawn to the school for its specialty in luxury marketing just as Stern exchange student Connie Chen. The Chinese American had earned her undergraduate degree at New York University and then worked four years at the BankofAmerica. She put a year in at a strategy consulting boutique and then founded her own custom lingerie company in San Francisco. Keen to learn more about the upscale market, she found herself engrossed in the book, “The Luxury Strategy.” “I was so fascinated by the book that I flipped to the back and saw that the co-author (Professor Bastien) was teaching at HEC Paris. I had never heard of the school, but the more I read about it, the more excited I got.” A big appeal was the school’s “luxury certificate,” a deep dive in a specific topic that requires the completion of three of four courses, a three-day business game that challenges students to address the problems of growth and profitability in the luxury market, and a group project that involves hands-on experience. The two compulsory core courses are Topical Insights in Luxury and Managing Luxury Brands, while the two electives are called Sense & Sensibility and Retail and Merchandising Management. AN UNUSUAL CERTIFICATE PROGRAM ATTRACTS MANY STUDENTS WHO WANT A DEEP DIVE IN A SUBJECT MBA students who take one of the six certificates—digital innovation for business, energy and finance, innovation management in aviation and aerospace, leadership, luxury, and social business—also rub shoulders with students in the last year of the school’s Master of Management Grande Ecole program as well as students enrolled in other one-year master’s programs. In addition to having the opportunity to take a class with the co-author of a book that resonated with her, the certificate program sealed the deal. “HEC was an obvious and easy choice because I wanted to stick to luxury,” she says. “Being in the heart of the luxury market was important to me.” The bet has paid off. Her field project is with L’Oreal and as the outgoing president of the school’s luxury club, Yang organized numerous dinners with prominent alumni at such companies as Louis Vuitton, L’Oreal, Hermes, Yves Saint Laurent, and Givenchy (which she wears). ‘I WAS TOTALLY SHOCKED HOW DIFFERENT HEC IS FROM MY EXPECTATIONS’ Whether one pursues a certificate or not, the MBA experience here is different on several levels. “I was totally shocked how different it is,” says Promiti Prosun, 26, a Canadian whose parents are from Bangladesh. Prosun did her bachelor’s degree in marketing at York University’s Schulich School of Business in Toronto and didn’t want to repeat her undergraduate experience.. “Coming from a cosmopolitan culture in Toronto I thought it would be a breeze to transition here,” she says. “But in North America, you have the expectation that people adapt and blend in. Here, there really is no one culture because it is so diverse. You have to be flexible. It goes to the way you speak and to how you act. Like most MBA programs, the work at HEC Paris is challenging. “If you cruise here, you get left behind,” says Jameel Zakkout, who did his undergrad at Université du Québec à Montréal and who graduates this year with his MBA. “It’s a humbling and challenging experience. I never have had to work so hard for an A.” Some students express surprise at how the global diversity of the program tends to overwhelm the school’s french roots. “You are not really in France in this building,” says Zakkout, who speaks French, English and Arabic fluently. Adds Yang: “It’s been a little bit of a struggle to immerse myself in the French language. Within the MBA building, it’s all English.” Yang is fluent in French and expects to land a job in luxury retailing in France when she graduates. She says she would have liked to take some electives in French but the entire MBA program is in English. Otherwise, the complaints are few and far between. Students say the bus schedule to Paris is horrible, the food on Sundays is not up to French standards, and they wish it was easier to get in tune with the French culture outside the school. “It’s hard to integrate in a foreign country,” says Senn. “France is very difficult.” A TRANSFORMATION THAT HAS TOUCHED EVERY ASPECT OF THE PLACE Little has been left untouched by the transformation, from the way candidates are admitted, to where they study and work, to how they land jobs. Admissions has been revamped so that applicants get a decision within five weeks of submitting their applications. In fact, candidates are told within three working days if their applications will move forward or if they will be cut. It’s a novel admissions process because the decisions are made by an eight-person jury that consists of Associate Dean Garrette, the academic director, a representative of the alumni and the faculty, and the directors of career management and admissions. There’s also the director of the Direction des Admissions et Concours, an independent body in charge of organizing and ensuring the quality and the integrity of the selection process for French business schools The president of the jury is a professor or dean from a different university who functions as a representative of the French ministry of higher education. To get the decision time down to just five weeks, Admissions Director Philippe Oster had to increase the size of the jury and ask it to meet monthly. When the jury meets, the deputy director in charge of development and the manager of the admissions Office are also present with their teams: they present the applications and answer questions but do not participate in the decision process. The president of the jury has the final word. THE GMAT IS ONE OF 17 CRITERIA ADMISSIONS USES TO ASSESS CANDIDATES The school receives about 1,200 applications annually, and applications are up 11% so far this year. Oster says he is especially looking for candidates with international exposure, leadership potential, career progression, and generally three plus years of professional experience. “The GMAT is only one of 17 criteria,” says Oster, who notes that the average for the latest entering class is 685. About half of the applicants go through two admission interviews done by a group of 400 alumni, and the yield—the percentage of admits who enroll—is between 60% and 70%. Do the math and it comes to an acceptance rate of about 25%. The MBA students study in a new and massive building with ten classrooms and six lecture theaters and 25 breakout rooms opened in June of 2012. Modern and sparse, Building S features gray concrete walls, wire grid ceilings that expose the building’s wiring and air conditioning ducts, and rooms that are often lit by metal shop lights. The design is not without its critics, given the industrial feel of the interior, but it is a first class facility. There is a formal career management center curriculum which brings students through a process of self-assessment, industry boot camps, and one-on-one coaching to assist in job searches. Somers divides the students up into two categories: Explorers and Hunters. About 80% of the students are not sure what they want to do,” he says. “They have a plan A and a plan B. A hunter is someone who knows he wants to be an investment banker or a consultant and is coming here to do that.” https://poetsandquants.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/HEC3.jpg CAREER BOOTCAMPS FOR STUDENTS If a student is interested in finance, the MBA candidate is taken through a mini-course on finance essentials, a careers-in-finance info session, a weekend-long bootcamp, where students learn how to craft a perfect CV for the industry, how to interview and what to expect in the culture of a financial service company. There is also financial modeling sessions and specific one-on-one interview training. In other words, what MBA students typically get at any world class business school is offered at HEC Paris. Increasingly, there is a greater emphasis on internships to help line up students with jobs. “We are dealing with a culture in which internships are undergraduate mechanisms and longer term, four to six months,” says Somers. “But I’m trying to make sure that participants have the same internship experience they would in a two-year program even though we are 16 months.” Somers says that more than 140 students in the Class of 2015 have landed internships and that 25% of those internships have been converted into full-time job offers. Besides the core curriculum and a full menu of more than 70 electives that can lead to one of five specializations—finance, marketing, entrepreneurship, leadership and strategy—or one of the certificate programs, there’s also three key events at HEC that help to define the MBA experience. The first is a two-day leadership seminar at Saint-Cyr Military Academy in Brittany, the French equivalent of West Point. where students don fatigues, navigate an obstruction course, and engage in leadership exercises with debriefs by French military officers. Thomas Maudet, who came to HEC from the French Defense Department, had to manage a crisis center that set up a refugee camp. ‘ONE OF THE MAIN CHALLENGES IS TO MAKE HEC PARIS MORE VISIBLE GLOBALLY’ Then there is the MBA Tournament, a student-run undertaking that has MBAs from all of Europe’s elite business schools competing in 23 different sporting events, from chess and foosball to soccer. The event attracts more than 1,300 MBA students. This past year, as co-president, Senn helped lead what everyone calls MBAT (pronounced M-BAT) and says she slept seven hours during the three days of the event. “It was only at HEC that I could have had this opportunity,” says Senn. “I am the youngest person in the program with the least amount of work experience. So the opportunity to run the tournament was a real growth experience for me.” Finally, every MBA student is required to do what HEC Paris calls a fieldwork project that addresses a strategic challenge for a company. MBA candidates–either individually or in teams of up to four students–do the project over one term, working in a company or sector closely linked to the student’s professional goals. Many business schools, of course, have similar projects but HEC even leave open the possibility that a project can be completed with a full-time job, an unusual twist. Where does HEC Paris go from here? It’s the question, admits Garrette, that keeps him awake at night. “One of the main challenges is to make HEC Paris more visible globally,” he says. “We need to let people from outside Europe, and sometimes outside France, know better about what we are and what we are doing here.” While HEC Paris hopes to build its reputation and the size of its full-time MBA program, it wants to do so carefully. “We do not want to grow too much and to become too ‘commercial’ because that would be incompatible with our ‘exclusive’ DNA,” says Garrette, who intends to better leverage the school’s powerful alumni network which has 75 chapters around the world. “We must enhance the visibility of HEC Paris by the business community in key international ‘hotspots.’” He especially calls out London, New York, San Francisco, Sao Paulo, Doha, Hong-Kong, and Shanghai. Africa, he believes, is the school’s next admissions and placement target. “An obvious reason is the economic take-off of some, if not all, African countries. The second reason is that HEC Paris’ French origin creates a competitive advantage in a large cluster of African countries. The HEC brand is already known and valued, we have some prominent alumni there and the potential is huge,” believes Garrette. “But in order to attract the best students that fit our philosophy, we must find ways to become more inclusive, facilitate funding and scholarships, without compromising selectivity. In other words, we must be socially inclusive while remaining intellectually exclusive.”

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02 May 2016, 03:00

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FROM HEC Paris Admissions Blog: A Top 15 MBA: Go Part-Time

The HEC Paris MBA Part-Time option is unique in the way that it allows participants to earn their MBA, whilst still actively pursuing their professional careers. Here, we chat with Lauranne Bardin, one of the HEC Paris MBA Development Managers about aspects of the program.

What are the advantages of the part-time MBA?

First of all, what’s important to know is that at the end of the part-time program, you end up having the exact same qualifications as the full-time MBA. The students who are doing a part-time MBA have the chance to keep their current jobs and they’re able to get financial security by continuing working. What’s also really important is that they can apply what they learn during the week to their current positions, and bring something new to the company at the same time. Compared with full-time MBA, I would say that the experience of doing a part-time MBA is different due to the part-time format of one week per month, where the students spend a full week on campus. It’s a very unique format because the students are still very integrated into the MBA community, and they can benefit from all the extra-curricular activities, such as those organised by the student clubs and the Career Management Centre (CMC). For the one week that they’re on campus each month, part-time students need to be completely free, which is why it is important that they negotiate with their employer, so that they’ll be able to focus completely on their courses during the week.

Does HEC Paris MBA help potential candidates prepare for this negotiation process in any way?

Yes- as part of our recruitment strategy, we know that doing a part-time program needs even more preparation than a full-time one, especially with negotiation as it’s not that easy. We know that it can be tricky and we have a lot of candidates who have very big challenges with negotiation. So, what we’ve done over the past two years and what we’re going to keep on doing is that we’re working with one of our faculty members, Philippe Gaud. He was the HR Director at Apple Europe for over 10 years, and then he joined HEC Paris. He was the Executive Director of the MBA program, then he also took part in the creation of this part-time format and he’s currently teaching within the MBA program. Once a month, he teaches a 2-hour workshop in Paris, where a group of 6-8 potential candidates are given advice on how to start negotiating with their employers, and all of them are given the opportunity to present their main challenges. Another challenge that we’ve noticed amongst potential part-time applicants is the preparation for the GMAT. Due to this, we also work with preparation centres, who give presentations to the potential applicants about opportunities to take GMAT classes.

Does the recruitment process for the part-time differ in any way from the process for the full-time?

In terms of recruitment, the admissions process is completely the same and we have the same requirements and rolling process of admissions etc. We do a lot of specific events that are geared towards the part-time such as the negotiation sessions, campus visits when the current part-time candidates are there on campus, so that they can be put in touch with and pose questions to students who have gone through exactly what they’re going through. Our dedicated staff is constantly available to guide students through the application process. We usually have the academic calendar for the part-time program well in advance, so that students can show their employers the schedule and plan ahead, and this helps with negotiating and letting the students take the needed weeks off work.

Visit the HEC Paris MBA website for more information on part-time focusedevents and interviews with students.

The post A Top 15 MBA: Go Part-Time appeared first on HEC MBA Blog.

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12 May 2016, 04:00

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FROM HEC Paris Admissions Blog: MBAT 2016: “Voluntears”

Stephen Prsa, from the HEC Paris MBA Class of 2017, discusses the lessons that he learned in this year’s MBA Tournament.

Victory always boils down to the same ingredients: endurance, strength, aptitude, strategy and dedication. This year’s MBA Tournament was the perfect showcase for such ingredients, as over 1500 participants from 17 of the top business schools across Europe gathered at HEC Paris for the largest 3-day sports competition of its kind. From the high-top sneakers on the basketball court to the high-heels on the salsa floor, the competitors certainly earned their blisters. But from my eyes, this year’s winner was a different type of victor; A victor who nevertheless collected the same blisters on their feet as the competitors. While the athletes of one school were guaranteed to walk away with the trophy at the end of the tournament, it was the volunteers who demonstrated the ingredients of victory more than any sports team.

Many had tasks that required a lot of endurance. Perhaps no one endured more over the tournament than the man behind the zebra – a 10-kilogram fleece zebra with absolutely no ventilation. Now imagine you’ve been wearing that zebra costume for 8 straight hours, it’s 27 degrees Celsius outside, you’ve walked a 300-meter vertical climb 4 times already and now you’re running back and forth trying to fire up the crowd at a football match. God bless the zebra (and every other school mascot that showed up for the event to cheer on their squads).

And then there was strength. The strength required of the saints who volunteered to lug the kegs of beer around from tent-to-tent to ensure our guests stayed cool throughout the weekend. Let me put that into perspective for you. A full keg of beer is 73 kilograms. We consumed 141 of them. That means our volunteers muscled the strength to move and pour over 10.2 metric tons of beer in 3 days. I’m sure it was appreciated.

Of course, coordinating an event like MBAT wouldn’t be possible without a keen level of mental aptitude. As I was leaving campus shortly after 1 in the morning on the second night, there was one sight in particular that caught my eye. It was the lights in window of a meeting room on the second floor of the MBA Building – the MBAT meeting room. While there were 1500 participants enjoying their evening a few hundred metres away, a few bright minds were sitting around the table with their own lights on, enhancing and improvising the logistics for the following days. While a few minor glitches are to be expected, those bright minds ensured an incredible weekend for everyone in attendance.

But mental acuity can only get you so far if it’s applied with the right strategy. For the MBAT organizing committee, that strategy started almost 8 months ago. That was before we had sponsors, participating schools, a selection of sports and even volunteers. This team developed a roll out strategy to serve all 1500 participants from 17 schools. That includes 350 different sports teams, over 13,000 meals served, 10 hotels, and jumping through a countless number of unexpected hoops and roadblocks.

Finally, there’s dedication; It came from the head of the MBAT planning committee, to the students who spent their weekend sitting by themselves in the sun, helping the odd student find the right bus to get back to their hotel. And this goes beyond HEC Paris. The captains across all 17 volunteer schools collaborated endlessly to the last minute to ensure a seamless integration, and even new friends stepped up when they could to help a rival athlete with injury, or even just point them to the tennis courts.

And sure, the HEC Paris students might get a credit or two for volunteering their time, but the credits don’t matter. I realized it on the second night while I found myself crowdsurfing on top of 1500 screaming fans watching battle of the bands when my friend yelled to me “Can you believe we’re getting credits for this?!”

The MBA Tournament isn’t about victory, but when you’re surrounded by 1500 MBA students you know that competition is at the core of the experience. HEC Paris was proud to take the trophy this year – We certainly worked hard for it. But when I compare the roar from the crowd at the announcement of “And the winner is: HEC Paris!” to the smiles on the faces of the volunteers who made this year’s MBAT a roaring success, I know where the true victory lies. You could see it in the hidden smile behind the zebra mask, the stressed muscles of the girl carrying that keg of beer, the bags under the eyes of the planning committee, the handshake of every new encounter, and in the blisters on the feet of every single volunteer.

For more photos from this year’s MBA Tournament, visit the Facebook page.

The post MBAT 2016: “Voluntears” appeared first on HEC MBA Blog.

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17 Jun 2016, 09:00

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FROM HEC Paris Admissions Blog: Celebrating the Class of 2016

So proud of the accomplishments of the Class of 2016!

Despite hosting a commencement celebration that included champagne and cocktails, an elegant garden party, and speeches by several of France’s top CEOs, those of us at the HEC Paris MBA program wanted yet another way to honor this year’s graduates. The Class of 2016 was that impressive.

Take, for example, Cécile Villette. The entrepreneurial track student decided to forego significant job offers in order to follow her dream and launch her own business (stay tuned to www.mba.hec.edu for more details). There’s also Ryan Howard, who transformed his internship with Amazon Prime into a prestigious managerial position. Those are just two of countless ways our graduating class are benefiting from their studies.

We’re certain to hear more of the accomplishments of the Class of 2016 in the months and years to come. In the meantime, we’d like to share a few memories from graduation day, held on June 10, 2016 at the HEC Paris campus. Highlights of the day’s events: a new scholarship created in memory of student Juan Gonzalez Garrido; Chris McEvoy’s widely quoted commencement speech; and the words of wisdom shared by Bruno Moineville, MBA ’88, and Emmanuel Faber, CEOs of Altice and Danone, respectively. It was also the first Commencement Ceremony for Andrea Masini as Associate Dean of the business school.

The images in the linked video were taken by Marcella Barbieri and by HEC Paris MBA staff.

We hope you enjoy them as we bid farewell to the Class of 2016.

Commencement Ceremony MBA 2016

The post Celebrating the Class of 2016 appeared first on HEC MBA Blog.

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27 Jun 2016, 07:00

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FROM HEC Paris Admissions Blog: Living like Royalty

Sharon Chan at the castle’s doorway

When Sharon Chan first applied to the HEC Paris MBA, she didn’t know the experience would include living in a stylish castle in the French countryside. The “Château of Montebello” as it’s known today, once belonged to the Countess of Vassart. The property was later purchased by Maurice Delaire, who gave it to his daughter as a wedding gift when she married the Count of Montebello. The Montebello family owned the castle until the 1940s, when the building and much of the surrounding forest in Jouy-en-Josas was converted into private homes and apartments.

Sharon shares a few insights into castle life:

How to Rent a Castle

“Back in October, when I knew that I wouldn’t be living on campus, I started looking for a place. The apartment was listed on www.PAP.fr. The MBA program has Facebook group for admitted students (www.facebook.com/groups/expansiel/) and I asked if anyone would like to share a duplex in a castle. I found another girl, and she found our two other housemates.

There’s seven units in the château. The four of us occupy the top floor. It’s very different than what we expected; it’s actually very modern. We have a superintendent who takes care of the building and the landscaping. My bedroom looks out on the swimming pool.”

Meet the Neighbors

“I moved in the afternoon of December 27. The next day I went downstairs to get some groceries and check out the neighborhood. I remember that I was almost through the gate when a man passed by on a horse. He was dressed in a traditional French gentleman’s riding outfit, and he said ‘Bonjour’ with the most perfect accent. That felt like my first real day in France.”

Life with Housemates

The living room

“I have three housemates who are Americans: Jess, Alison and Heather. We’re all extroverts. Heather cooks a lot and Jess bakes a lot so we always have tacos, quesadillas, cupcakes and cookies lying around. My housemates are all in the same program, so we do our homework together. We’re always talking together. Last night I had decided to use the pool, then I ended up staying inside to talk with the girls. Because we don’t live on campus, we count on each other for support. We’re really a close-knit family.

There’s also a group called the ’Burbs (short for suburbs). It used to be us and about six other people who lived near the château. There were two girls and one guy who lived about three minutes down the street from us. They used to host barbecues. Some members have moved away, but there’s still a few of us around. Aaron rented out space in one of those big houses near the swimming pool. Gabor lives below us; he sublets a room from our neighbor.

We always say that we’ll get together to do homework, but I don’t think that’s ever actually happened. We usually get together either in the château or in someone’s apartment just to talk and share a bottle of wine.”

Telling People Where She Lives

“Everyone in the MBA program has to study a language. I’m learning French, and one of the first exercises in class is to say our name, where we’re from, and where we live. I felt silly saying, ‘Je m’appelle Sharon. J’habite dans un château à Jouy-en-Josas.’ One time we had to explain what we did the night before. My response, ‘J’ai nagé dans la piscine du château de Montebello’.

I’m sure that 10 years from now, I’ll look back and say, ‘I can’t believe that I lived in a castle in France.’ But for the moment, I’m trying to sublet my room. Before I leave France, I also want to have the Parisian experience as well.”

Sharon’s Housing Advice

The Château of Montebello

• Consider a shorter-term lease. “After the Core 2 classes, you might want to try living closer to campus or in Paris to get a Parisian experience,” she explains.

• Look for a furnished apartment, especially if you don’t drive. “It took us four or five IKEA trips to furnish our apartment. All of our furniture, we bought and assembled ourselves.”

• Bring your favorite foods. “I can’t live without ginger ale. But really, you can get everything here in France. It just might take you a while to find it.”

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21 Jul 2016, 02:00

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FROM HEC Paris Admissions Blog: Stepping out of your comfort zone, and into UCLA

Blue skies over the California campus in summertime

Thomas Vermeulen, MBA Part-Time class of 2017, describes how he chose and what he learned from doing an exchange program with UCLA as part of his HEC Paris MBA studies.

It is a Sunday evening in late June when I cross the UCLA campus. The cinematographic “magic hour” has just started, making the Anderson School of Management appear golden against a dark-blue backdrop. I am on my way to the welcome drink that kicks off my exchange week at the U.S. business institution, remembering how the idea for my participation had occurred to me 18 months before.

Part-time MBA students Kai Qian, Philippe de Mijolla and Thomas Vermeulen during the UCLA exchange.

At that time, I was new to the HEC Paris MBA and still felt a bit overwhelmed by all the new information, in and out of the classroom. The Academics Team presented us with the different options for the customized phase of our programs, which ranged from fieldwork projects to elective courses to several international exchange programs. The UCLA option immediately caught my attention: It offered the chance to experience a different teaching style and business mentality within the very convenient framework – one week per month – of the part-time modules. There and then I decided to make the UCLA experience the cherry on my “MBA cake,” even though the summer of 2016 still seemed so far away. Now, those one and a half years had passed and I was ready to see if the experience would match my expectations.

My first impression of UCLA does not let me down. I had always dreamt of visiting a U.S. college, and the park-like campus that comprises the different faculties and departments completely meets my expectations. Next to the business school, a large stadium houses daily American football training sessions, and the entire area has a sportive vibe. Even before entering a classroom, I am emerged in a different context.

Classes too vary from the approach and content at HEC Paris. I signed up for two courses that were a nice addition to the curriculum at my home university, expanding my knowledge of emerging markets as well as of branding. Classes take place every day from 2 to 10 p.m. and each one requires preparing several assignments as well as reading one or more cases and articles. As such, the exchange is also a useful exercise in efficiency and time management. As could be expected with such extensive preparations, class discussions of the cases play a central role in the teaching experience and take up most of the time. For me, this is a clear difference from the HEC Paris MBA, which focuses on a more equal combination of class interaction and classic teaching. At the same time, the discussions at the Anderson School of Management are more steered by the professor, leading to less animated debates among classmates and more anticipated outcomes.

My final motivation for doing the UCLA exchange was to expand my network with professionals from all parts of the world. I am thus very happy to see that UCLA also has a strong diversity of nationalities and professions, and I am able to connect with many interesting people during the five class days. A further plus is the participation of UCLA’s EMBA students. Their managerial experience leads to interesting discussions and creates a nice addition to what I am learning at the HEC MBA.

Stepping out of your comfort zone and encountering new challenges is useful for any kind of learning experience, not the least for an international MBA. Spending the week at the Anderson School of Management confirmed my initial motivations for the exchange: Getting to know a different teaching style and making new contacts with other international professionals. At the same time, the format allowed me to maintain my normal working rhythm at my company, showing the many possibilities available in the part-time program at HEC Paris.

– Text by Thomas Vermeulen

To learn more about the HEC Paris MBA Part-Time option, visit: www.mba.hec.edu/Learning-Experience/Part-time

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FROM HEC Paris Admissions Blog: A Partner’s Voice: When your significant other chooses an MBA

Zahid and Zaheerah with the MBAT Zebra

Embarking on a degree program is often a joint decision. Every year, between 15-20 percent of our students arrive with partners. Coming to HEC Paris as a couple involves more than pursuing an MBA: it means both people have to integrate into a new country and culture.

As a result, we asked Zaheerah Samrod to share her experience of joining the HEC Paris community. She and her husband Zahid Ahmed-Hassen moved from South Africa to France last winter, when Zahid became part of the school’s January 2016 intake.

What were you doing professionally before you arrived at HEC Paris?

I’m a financial accountant by profession. Prior to coming to France, I had been working for three years at a diamond mining company in Johannesburg. It was a role where I needed to interact directly with the team, so I resigned from my job to move to France.

Some people are shocked that I followed Zahid, and they say to me, “But you left everything?” Honestly, I wouldn’t have it any other way. My previous job had asked me to stay on, and I had really amazing remuneration offers from them. It’s not even something that I’d consider, not coming here and being with Zahid.

Just another day in the capital of French culture

Did you try to find a job once you arrived in France?

I did a bit of job searching, but in order for a South African to work in France, you need a company to sponsor your work visa. It’s not very easy because that’s a big commitment for a company to make. You can’t commit to being in France post-MBA, because you never know what role your partner is going to take when they finish their studies.

I wanted to use my time in France productively, and add a skill set to my CV. Eventually, I decided to study French full time. I enrolled at the Sorbonne, which is basically French lectures, grammar and phonetics from 9 to 5 every day.

Are you active in the Partners’ Club?

I was nominated president of the Partners’ Club, and I took on the role in January. But once I started at the Sorbonne, I found that I just didn’t have time to arrange get-togethers, so I resigned as president. But I’m still in the Facebook group, and I do attend a lot of the evening activities.

Besides living in France, how has the MBA program changed your life?

Since Zahid started the MBA, I’ve found that we’ve actually become closer as a couple. When he and I were both working, life was so intense in terms of our jobs. We didn’t get to see each other as much as we do now. We’ve never had two months of holiday, so we said, “We’re just going to travel as much as we can, and do as much as we can together over the next two months.” So far this summer we’ve traveled to Germany and Budapest. Next, we’re going to Belgium. In August, it’ll be Nice, then 10 days in Italy, Croatia and Amsterdam.

France vs. Portugal at the Euro 2016

What advice would you give someone who is the partner of an MBA student?

Try to learn French before you arrive, and continue learning French once you’re here. It just adds so much to your experience. As a partner, you interact on a daily basis with French people whether it’s at the train station, or over the phone to sort out administrative things. If you understand just a little bit—the basics—it makes your life easier.

Make sure that you, as a partner, have a project to keep yourself busy. It could be studying, or joining a gym, or getting involved in the Partners’ Club. You may not be the one earning the MBA qualification, but you certainly have the opportunity to come out of the experience a better individual.

Socialize with the classmates—there’s a big group to socialize with, between classmates and their partners. When Zahid is invited somewhere, be it for an official event, the MBAT for example, or even if it’s something informal, just a few of his classmates meeting up, he’ll always ask me if I want to join. I’ve also started trying to meet with the partner of another MBA student at least once a week, to visit a museum or have a coffee.

Has your “French experience” met your expectations?

My experience has definitely met my expectations. It’s actually better than I expected it to be; I thought I would miss home more. I do miss my friends back in South Africa, and I do miss family, but with technology it’s so easy to keep in touch.

That said, I absolutely love Paris. I love living abroad. I’m a big foodie, so I love the food here. It’s like heaven, all the pastries. And Zahid and I have experienced so much together. With the Euro 2016, we watched three matches live, including the semi-final in Marseilles, and the final at the Stade de France. We also watched the Women’s Final of the French Open.

I feel like I’m growing so much. I am putting my career on hold, but despite that, I think this is the best thing that I’ve ever done.

Resources for Partners

Clubs and Events

The Partners’ Club supports all HEC Paris MBA partners in their transition to university life. Regularly scheduled outings and on-campus activities enable participants to make connections and make the most out of life in France. Visit:

www.mba.hec.edu/Student-life/Student-Clubs

Watch a webinar featuring Neha Tripathi, the club’s 2016 president:

https://careernomics.webex.com/careernomics/lsr.php?RCID=e6d623dbc6fe41979f86535e4ebb22fd

The CEO Speakers’ Series, the MBAT, and other events sponsored by student clubs are open to partners. Partners may also contact the president of a club to see if they are eligible for membership. To learn more, visit:

https://www.mba.hec.edu/Student-life/Student-Clubs

Education

French Classes

Partners are invited to attend on-campus French classes. More details, as well as a list of other classes available in the area, are provided by HEC Paris upon arrival to campus.

Non-degree Programs

The Social Business/Enterprise and Poverty Certificate is an intensive, 7-week course held on campus. Participation is based on application, and partners are welcome to apply. Visit:

www.hec.edu/Masters-programs/Non-degree-programs/Certificates-available-to-current-HEC-students-only/Social-Business-Enterprise-and-Poverty/Program-Details

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FROM HEC Paris Admissions Blog: Entering the Mindset of a Professional Management Consultant

Reading 150-page documents, designing PowerPoint presentations and interviewing with coaches prepares students for consulting season

Fernando Martinelli, CEO of Prep Lounge

Forty-five MBA students ended their summer vacations early this year to attend Peak Week, a six-day event jointly organized by the Career Center and the Consulting Club. An intensive preparation for the upcoming consulting-recruitment season, the week featured case-cracking sessions and workshops designed to hone students’ interview skills.

Events kicked off with Fernando Martinelli, CEO of Prep Lounge. As someone who has interviewed more than 500 consulting-management candidates, Martinelli emphasized that “it’s not about knowing the solution, it’s showing how you can break down the question into logical steps.” He illustrated the different types of business cases and how to best structure them.

The next workshop featured Sébastien Ritter, a career coach and HEC Paris alumni with more than 4 years of experience in strategy consulting. He presented the 8 key competencies management-consulting firms look for during a fit interview.

Sébastien Ritter has been a career coach since 2012.

On September 2, AlixPartners, a global business advisory firm, came to campus with one of their clients, Albéa. Participants were divided into groups to solve a real-life business case. After 2 hours of flipping through 150-pages worth of data, crunching numbers, group discussions, and PowerPoint design, students presented their findings and recommendations to Albéa.

Peak Week, held this year from August 29 to September 2, 2016, also involved cracking businesses cases, mock case and fit interviews, and networking with HEC alumni.

Still smiling on the first day of Consulting Peak Week

Participants said:

“Peak week is an intensive training session: for five days you do 3 case cracking and fit interview sessions in a row, each lasting two hours. This tests both your skills and stamina. It is exhaustive. But it’s like going to the gym; after you finish you feel lighter and the next exercise round becomes much easier. At the end, the improvement in my performance was clear.”

—Edmundo GARDOLINSKI, September ’15 intake

“The project with AlixPartners was beneficial in several ways. First, it allowed us to work with real data and lots of it—how I’d imagine a real case would be. During this ‘competition’ we weren’t guided as we are when we crack cases, so we had to really filter and focus in on certain data. Second, we received mentorship from real consultants, to understand how they think. Finally, having the actual clients there allowed us to see if our recommendations were practical and showed us that AlixPartners truly does work closely with their clients.”

—Dustin YEE, September ’15 intake

“I found the one-on-one session with Fernando to be very fruitful. He detailed my weaknesses and my strengths. I walked out with very clear idea of what I need to work on in the next few weeks.”
—John SHIJA, January ’16 intake

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22 Sep 2016, 06:00

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FROM HEC Paris Admissions Blog: Integration Weekend at Dune du Pilat

Two weeks after setting foot on HEC’s campus for the first time, the MBA September ’16 intake (Class of 2018) embarked on “Integration Weekend,” which consisted of a glamping trip to Dune du Pilat and Bordeaux.

Starting from Montparnasse, spirits were high the entire train ride, with lots of food, drink, and an impromptu salsa party. After an additional hour by bus, we reached the camp site around midnight, and immediately got cosy in our cabins (another interesting French cultural experience – how many people are supposed to fit into a tiny cabin?!) – some in their beds, some on the porch to continue socializing.

The next day started with a brunch, followed by a game of Capture the Flag. As it turned out, playing CTF with a bunch of MBA students wasn’t an easy feat – strategy AND team-work strength meant that both sides successfully defended their flag for a very long time.

The afternoon meant free time, so most of us decided to climb the dune to lie on the beach and go for a swim. Fortunately, the weather played along against all forecasts, so the sun was shining and the water wasn’t too cold. Others preferred the seaside bar with its selection of Bordeaux wines and splash-effects from actual ocean waves.

Once the afternoon was over, and everyone had rid themselves of as much sand as possible (which was, by far, not enough – just how could there be so much sand?), we were off for dinner, followed by card games and – of course – a huge party, which featured, among other things, dancing in the pouring rain.

This of course made the next morning a less than pleasurable experience for most! Unfortunately, there was no time for lie-ins as we were off to the city of Bordeaux for some delicious food, canelés, sightseeing, and a multimedia scavenger hunt. As a result, the returning train ride was a far cry from the arriving one, with most of us sleeping soundly.

Our integration weekend was a wonderful way to get to know the co-students of our intake, and it was a welcome break after two weeks of intense introduction to the program. While most of us certainly struggled to get up in time for lectures on Monday morning, the weekend was definitely an experience not to be missed!

Text by Christine Weitbrecht, photos by Baskara Aditama

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30 Sep 2016, 09:00

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FROM HEC Paris Admissions Blog: Romanian Cultural Day

On September 22, the HEC Romanian community organized this year’s first networking event with all three MBA intakes. In partnership with the Romanian Embassy, the cultural evening was held in the Hôtel de Béhague, one of Paris’ finest hôtel particuliers, and a property owned by the embassy. Built in the second half of XIXth century, the hôtel particulier is a work by Gabriel Destailleur, the architect famous for his recuperation of sculpted wooden elements put on the market by Haussman’s important transformation of Paris.

The night’s Romanian team included (from left to right):
Alina and Ioanid Rosu (professor of finance), professor Roxana Barbulescu and event organizers Amalia Bejinaru and Pierre Bortnowski

Combining the complex agendas of HEC Paris and the embassy meant that planning had to start four months in advance of the event! But the result was a success. Students tasted many Romanian culinary delights, watered with fine Feteasca cépage. The beautiful architecture of the building and Romania’s famous Tuica plum brandy were the final touch to this happy gathering.

It is always a pleasure when you can share with your colleagues a little bit of what makes your country so special. We really hope to have inspired some of them to come and visit us back home and, who knows, we might have set a benchmark in cultural-day organization for the next batch!

Many thanks to the French Connection Club for their help during the event; it’s another example of the friendship that has existed for many centuries between the two countries.

Text by Pierre Bortnowski and Amalia Bejinaru

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FROM HEC Paris Admissions Blog: “Act your Success” puts you in front of the class

“Engineering” a roller coaster out of paper.

After a smooth check-in on campus, expect to deep-dive directly into the transformation you dreamed about while drafting your candidate profile for the MBA program. “Act your Success” is a three-day seminar where you interact for the first time with your fellow MBA students through a series of writing and improvisational workshops.

The end goal is to provide MBA students with the communication skills needed to succeed in the program and the professional world.

The seminar begins with the outstanding consultants guiding you (and sometimes pushing you!) in the basic elements of a business presentation. You have to introduce yourself to a group of 12-15 students without using a microphone.

The focus is on you:

-Being understood by people of diverse backgrounds
-Using the appropriate structure, attitude and content to make your presentation memorable
-Making eye contact
-Using simple and easy-to-understand gestures
-Speaking loud enough to be heard and using a slow rate of speech

Remember, only 10 percent of the message you’re conveying is in the content itself! The rest is in your body language and other non-verbal means of communication.

Roller coaster success!

Next, jump into the first workshop and discover what it takes to work with a diverse group of people while following rigid guidelines. Choose your role: Are you going to be an engineer or a public relations specialist? You are in charge of a roller coaster, and it’s up to your team to build it, prepare the press release and market it at a new product launch. That’s pure team work, a lot of fun and the perfect occasion to become closer to your peers!

Eventually, you start intensive trainings in improvisation and acting. Forget about intellect for a while and observe other people’s emotions and reactions. When you first get on stage with your group to act out your story, you are acutely aware that there’s more than 100 people in the audience watching you. That feeling fades away once you start acting, and eventually you forget that they are even there.

Quickly forget that everyone is watching your performance.

My advice to the next group of “Act Your Success” participants? Get connected, be creative, just let go. But be aware, because you could find yourself, like I did, playing the part of a desperate monkey in front of every member of your class!

Overall, “Act Your Success” was an outstanding experience.

Text by Noel Marciniak, Class of 2018

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06 Dec 2016, 12:00

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FROM HEC Paris Admissions Blog: Sailing through Italy

Sailors can become MBA students or vice versa. Nowhere is this more apparent than in the largest MBA regatta held on the globe–the Rolex MBA Regatta and Conference–hosted in Santa Margherita Ligure, Italy, by the SDA Bocconi Sailing Club. From 29 September to 2 October, 23 HEC students and alumni competed in two divisions for the opportunity to represent their school on the podium.

Salty dogs and first

-time sailors alike from 18 global MBA programs competed, with HEC Paris coming in a best-ever 5th place overall. With a jam-packed schedule of sailing, networking cocktails, and a black-tie keynote conference and gala, the weekend was something to be remembered for all the participants. It is already eagerly anticipated for next September.

For more information about the HEC MBA Sailing club and the 2017 MBA regatta schedule, visit our Facebook page at: https://www.facebook.com/groups/hecmbasailingclub/.

–Text by Ryan Bates

–Photos courtesy of Arturs Smilkstins, Carlos Sadovnik and the SDA Bocconi Sailing Club

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FROM HEC Paris Admissions Blog: Sailing through Italy

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FROM HEC Paris Admissions Blog: The best of both worlds: studying at HEC and in the US

Tahira Taylor (bottom, right) spent 3 months as an exchange student at HEC Paris

HEC Paris MBA participants in international exchanges with 40 business schools throughout the world. In Fall 2016, we welcomed Tahira Taylor, an exchange student from Georgetown University’s McDonough School of Business. We asked Tahira to share an insider’s view of her three months on campus, and the differences she found between European and American programs.

Course load
My experience so far has only been with the core 1 and 2 that are taken during the first year at Georgetown, and with the specialization at HEC. It has been an intense year and a half. Neither school presented itself as “easy” during either of these stages, and on most days I found myself either working on a group project, studying for a quiz or exam, finishing a paper, reading a case, preparing a model or, in general, just trying to stay ahead of all the work. In some cases, I found myself doing several of those things at the same time!

The courses from the marketing specialization at HEC were very specific, which I appreciated because Georgetown doesn’t offer specializations. The core classes at Georgetown were extremely helpful during my internship at Delta Air Lines, and the things I’ve learned in the HEC specialization have definitely been helpful as far as recruiting. Now I am able to speak about marketing at a very in-depth level. The courses and the cases go into such detail, I have come away feeling like an expert.

This fall’s marketing specialization during their last day of presentations.

Curriculum
I wanted a global curriculum. I have lived and worked in the US, Morocco and Lesotho, so I knew that wherever I did my MBA, I needed an international student body and a curriculum that understood how dynamic business in a global world can be. As far as the international student body, HEC wins hands down. In any one of my project-study groups, I worked with people from at least four countries (in groups of five people or less). The number of languages spoken among the student body and faculty is so impressive.

As for the curriculum, both schools do an excellent job of taking into account global affairs and business. I believe this is the direction that all business schools are going. Georgetown has the Global Business Experience, which is a semester-long consulting project that students must do for a company somewhere in the world. I will be consulting on a go-to-market strategy for a South African company. Both schools teach material that is relevant and timely to what is going on in the world. What is nice about HEC is that you learn about global cases and discuss them with people who can speak to the opinions of about 15 or so countries in one classroom.

Recruiting
The main event of an MBA is how it shapes your career. The United States has a mature MBA market, and so the recruiting process is very well choreographed. In the first year, you recruit during the fall for your summer internship. 100% of the students at Georgetown do an internship (though it isn’t mandatory, schools in the US kind of imply that it is). The US also has giant career fairs in the fall that are specifically for MBA recruiting. I got several internship offers by attending one of the fairs, and many of my classmates did as well.

Europe appears to be different. The MBA market in Europe is not as choreographed, so you will need to be grittier. In general, the companies that recruit heavily in Europe are large American companies like Microsoft, Google and Amazon. That said, I received my job offer a few days ago from a company headquartered in Europe. I found the position though HEC’s Career Management Center. It’s my dream job and I’m going to love the work. It pays as much as an MBA job would in the States, and presents me with the opportunity to live in Europe! Keep in mind that for many MBA jobs in Europe, full language proficiency is mandatory, and the pay is sometimes lower than MBA jobs in the US.

Final word
Whether you chose to do your MBA in the United States or in Europe is a very personal decision. I chose to do the exchange in Europe because I wanted some exposure to the European MBA experience, and I wanted to do HEC’s specialization. One might choose to do exactly what I did, but the other way around. Exchanges are not so popular among schools in the US.

In any case, you will make amazing friends and gain a dynamic professional network. You will learn about key aspects of business and find out new things about yourself as well. I am so happy with my choices. Both schools can open doors for you that you never even knew were there. It is just a matter of taking the time to get to know your options and making a truly informed decision that works for your future.

–Text and photos by Tahira Taylor

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19 Jan 2017, 12:00

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FROM HEC Paris Admissions Blog: Meet the Newest Members of the Class of 2018 in this Student-Produced Video

Meet some of our new HEC Paris MBA students in this awesome, student-produced video. In a tradition that started in 2014, the MBA program’s incoming participants collaborate to create a video prior to their arrival on campus that introduces them to their classmates, showcasing their unique personalities and their home countries. “It really is a collective effort,” says Orlando Guerra, MBA ’18, who compiled the individual video clips for the HEC Paris MBA January 2017 Intake. “Forty people—or almost half of the incoming class—participated. We started with a WhatsApp group and we voted on a paper-plane theme.”

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30 Jan 2017, 03:00

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FROM HEC Paris Admissions Blog: Exploring the world of luxury

Stopping by Condé Nast’s Parisian office

In a uniquely Parisian office with sweeping views of the Eiffel Tower and the Arc de Triomphe, Xavier Romatet (MBA ’86) described his rise to CEO of Condé Nast France. Twenty-three HEC Paris MBA students from the MBA Luxury Club listened to him speak about his personal experiences as part of the club’s trek to the French capital last November. “It was very inspirational to hear how Xavier drove his career to head such an iconic publishing company,” Caroline Spegiorin, then-president of the MBA Luxury Club, explained. “While meeting with us, his attitude was, ‘I’m here for you. Ask me whatever you want’.”

Student-led treks are designed to expose MBAs to different sectors within an industry and the particular issues they face, yielding thought-provoking results. During the Luxury Club’s trek, participants benefitted from an insider’s view into the acclaimed fashion and perfume house Givenchy, and visited Skintifique, a newcomer to the high-end world.

Orestes experiences the skincare industry first-hand.

At Givenchy, Patricia Huyghues Despointes (H ’98) asked participants to analyze whether the upmarket icon should open a new store in Asia. “In luxury, branding and image mean as much as net revenue,” Caroline explained, “and as Chief Financial Officer, Patricia shared with us her own measures of how to strategically select a new location as an investment.”

The group also met with Marie Andrade (M ’05), Director of Digital and Marketing at Skintifique, as well as Dr. Jacques Delort, the company’s CEO. Skintifique was founded in 2012 and is known for its 100 percent pure, non-allergenic and innovative skincare products. The conversation included the company’s plans to expand their portfolio in this niche market.

“It was great to add something tangible to the strategies and concepts that we have been learning in the classroom,” said trek participant Orestes Peristeris (MBA ’18). “By visiting these companies’ offices and meeting their staff, we were able to understand first-hand their ways of doing business.”

For Caroline, the event’s main coordinator, the treks can also aid participants in defining their future. “This kind of event is about more than networking,” she said. “Treks are a way for students to immerse themselves in the know-how of a specific industry. They help students gather a broader knowledge not only about the sector, but also about themselves. Many HEC MBAs are career switchers, and these events help them to understand how they can fit into a particular industry and bring their expertise to it.”

That’s why Romatet’s own career trajectory—he went from the HEC Paris MBA to his own advertising agency, then Condé Nast asked him to head their French office—particularly resonated with the group. Along with discussing how the publishing powerhouse changed its business model to overcome digital disruption—partially by opening a Vogue Café in Russia and a Vogue Bar in Bangkok–he gave his personal dos and don’ts on how to break into luxury.

Other Luxury Club-sponsored treks in 2016 included visits to the champagne estates of Taittinger, Veuve Clicquot and Moet & Chandon. The club also has springtime plans to travel to Milan for the MBA Retail and Luxury Forum.

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10 Feb 2017, 04:00

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FROM HEC Paris Admissions Blog: Transitioning from Science to Business

Daria Jacob, Class of 2017

Even though inventing a new vaccine technology might seem like the ultimate in scientific research, it left Daria Jacob unfulfilled. “I see so many researchers who have fun only doing lab work, but that’s not me,” the Russian MBA candidate explains. “I really missed communicating with people.”

It was in the middle of her post-doctorate research at Paris’ famed Institut Pasteur that Daria first sampled the business side of biomedicine. “I was leading experimental research on my vaccine project and, at the same time, trying to find funding and negotiate with investors,” she says. “That was my first experience outside of research. I realized that I am more driven by business tasks within the pharmaceutical industry. I wanted to switch to the industry side, and that led me to discover HEC.”

We asked Daria about her personal strategies for making a career pivot as a scientist, and how she’s been able to leverage the HEC Paris MBA as part of her journey.

For someone who is looking for a similar career switch, what’s your advice?

I know quite a few researchers who have transferred from pure scientific research to lab management or other business-side jobs. It’s just a question of whether to do it through an MBA. I was really interested in corporate management and strategy, and an MBA is indispensable to reach the corporate level.

Is that an easy career transition to make with an MBA?

I knew that I needed to do a fieldwork project to have some hands-on experience solving business problems.

Describe your fieldwork project.

I worked for Tecan, a highly technical company that makes automated laboratory robots. I did a 12-week project to help them understand and potentially expand into a new market. The market is very niche, very specific, and divided into very different potential applications of Tecan’s technology.

I had to perform a very complex analysis and make strategic recommendations about the best way to enter the market. I did 55 interviews with customers and specialists in the field to get different points of view and different pieces of data. That information helped me to formulate my conclusions and advise the company on which direction to go.

At the end of the project, I had to pull all my research together into a business-oriented PowerPoint presentation, something that I’d never done before in my life. I presented it to Tecan’s corporate development team, which includes the company’s CEO, CFO and the vice presidents of different departments. It was really important for them to get into the details of what I analyzed, so we ended up discussing every one of my slides for at least five minutes. It was a very interesting and dynamic interaction.

Did the MBA’s Fundamental Phase help prepare you for the fieldwork project?

The amazing thing is that everything that I learned during the core classes was applicable to my fieldwork project. Unlike many students, I don’t have a background in business. For me, most of the classes were rather new, but they were taught so deeply and efficiently that I started the fieldwork project with the feeling, ‘I do know how to do this’.

Has the MBA benefitted you in other ways?

Without the HEC Paris MBA, I would’ve never met so many people from different industries and backgrounds. People usually come to the MBA not just with a single background, and their future is not a straight line, either. We serve as examples of what the opportunities are, and what you can potentially do. What’s next for your career? I received a job offer from Tecan, which I accepted. Before the MBA, my job title was post-doctorate researcher. When I start full-time with the company in April, my title will be associate for corporate development. It’ll be a completely different job for me, in exactly the direction that I want to go.

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13 Feb 2017, 10:00

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FROM HEC Paris Admissions Blog: 2017 Chinese Culture Week

Chinese students from the HEC Paris MBA and HEC Paris recently hosted a series of events designed to introduce the entire campus community to different aspects of their culture. To kick off Chinese Cultural Week, the students celebrated the Year of the Rooster with a Temple Fair which offered activities ranging from tea-drinking and fortune telling to trying on traditional clothes and learning traditional games. The next evening at the Lantern Festival, participants shared an authentic Chinese dinner, followed by a show both organized and performed by members of the student body. From traditional and modern dances to a fashion show and music recitals, they displayed their artistic talents and united the HEC community in a fantastic celebration of culture.

The following videos offer a sampling of the week’s events. The first one features MBA students Dengke Li, Vincy Zhang and Leslie Zhu, who were among Chinese Cultural Week’s main organizers. The second includes excerpts of some of the evening performances.

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22 Feb 2017, 09:00

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FROM HEC Paris Admissions Blog: Tips for Time Management

There is no doubt that an MBA is an incredibly time-consuming, challenging experience. The course load, homework, job searches, recruitment and extracurricular activities can leave you feeling overwhelmed and exhausted. In the end it is all worth it, but navigating your way through the process can seem a little tough at times.

That’s where time management skills come in.

I’ve always been known for taking on every project and activity possible. Currently I’m juggling many activities – I’m on the executive committee of both the annual MBA Tournament (MBAT) and the Luxury Club, trying to maintain a healthy GPA, traveling several times a month, keeping an active social calendar including hosting dinner parties and events for 20-50 people at a time, and moonlighting as a chef for Our Kitchen. Put this against the backdrop of the MBA and all the work that the academics and job-search process entails, and it makes for a very busy schedule indeed!

Often people ask me how I’m able to manage so many things and still show up to classes (most of the time). For me, it’s all about task management and planning ahead.

Here are two of my best organizational tips:

Find a Productivity Tool
Before there were such things as smartphones and apps, I used to rely – heavily – on Post-it Notes. Today, I rely on time-management applications. While virtual post-it notes are fine, I now use Google Keep which allows me to keep track of almost everything in life. It contains my to-do lists, grocery shopping lists, notes and project deadlines. I even get email notifications when deadlines are coming up.

Maria Martyak participated in the HEC Paris MBA’s Champagne Trek last fall.

Another trick of the trade is the Gmail plug-in Boomerang for Gmail – it has been a life-saver! I start and end each day planning and writing and emails. I also schedule the send time for my emails – this allows me to get through a large volume of emails, knowing they will be sent at the appropriate time for each recipient. This is especially useful for sending job applications that span different time zones, ensuring that I apply during working hours.

Achieve Balance
Being able to handle a large workload with many different projects isn’t for everyone. It’s important to find your balance and stick to it. One way I’m able to handle all these different subjects is by allowing myself downtime when I know I need it.

Take time to plan your vacation time, enjoy alone time and make sure to schedule time with friends. Often I travel on weekends, which allows me to disconnect and relax. At the HEC Paris MBA, we are very lucky to be in such close proximity to amazing cities and countries. Exploring new places is always fascinating. These adventures have allowed me to learn about history, architecture, people, cultures and foods across a variety of countries.

Successfully juggling your MBA workload – or any workload – can be daunting, but it’s all about the balance. One of the best skills we gain from the MBA isn’t found in our core textbooks. It’s how to properly prioritize and efficiently manage our time while still maintaining that sense of balance.

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27 Feb 2017, 11:00

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FROM HEC Paris Admissions Blog: Alumni in High Places

We sheepishly admit it: It is satisfying to be the best. We are referring to the Times Higher Education Alma Mater Index, the prestigious annual ranking that reveals the academic backgrounds of the world’s top chief executives. The January 2017 edition names HEC Paris as the top business school in Europe for educating the CEOs of Fortune Global 500 companies.

Here’s the breakdown of the world’s 10 leading educational institutions, showing the number of degrees they awarded to chief executives and their companies’ combined revenues:

Graph courtesy of the Times Higher Education Alma Mater Index

To celebrate the ongoing power of the HEC Paris MBA to forge leaders, we decided to expand on the results of the Alma Mater Index and create our own list. The following highlights just a few HEC Paris MBA graduates who are currently working worldwide as chief executives. With nearly 4,000 HEC Paris alumni who are CEOs, CFOs or have founded their own companies, this list is far from complete. Think of it as a small sampling of the impact HEC Paris MBA graduates are having on the future of business worldwide.

To learn more about these and other alumni, visit the careers section of our website.

Banking and Finance

Pascal Cagni was recently the guest speaker at an Afterwork Drinks reception organized by alumni in Paris. Photo courtesy of Matthieu Marquenet (MBA ’13)

Pascal Cagni, MBA ’86

CEO, C4 Ventures

Pascal Cagni’s career trajectory is the stuff of business legend. An encounter with Steve Jobs on the Big Island of Hawaii (where the Apple cofounder was celebrating his 45th birthday) ended with Pascal accepting the position of General Manager and Vice President of Apple Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA). Under his 12-year tenure, Apple’s EMEA revenue increased from $1.3 billion in 2000 to nearly $40 billion in 2012. In 2014, Pascal founded C4 Ventures, a venture capital fund which invests in European startups and companies wanting to enter European markets.

Olivier Combastet, MBA ’86

Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Pergam Finance

Sixteen years after it was founded, manages assets valued at an estimated € 800 million. Under Olivier Combastet’s guidance, the company has earned a reputation for finding atypical investments for its customers. From railroad wagons to arable land in Uruguay to undeveloped real estate in the US, it’s been said that the former triathlete has a knack for finding investments not yet on the radars of other asset management companies.

Jean-Yves Fillion, MBA ’92

CEO, BNP Paribas USA and Head of CIB Americas

Jean-Yves Fillion started his career at BNP Paribas in 1984 as an account officer. He worked in several different departments before deciding to earn his MBA at HEC Paris in 1990. After his studies, he returned to BNP Paribas and became Vice-President of North America’s Corporate Banking Department. He was appointed CEO of BNP Paribas USA in 2012.

Energy
Emilie Flanagan, MBA ’14

Managing Director and Founder, Obi Energy Pte. Ltd.

After earning her MBA degree, Emilie Flanagan joined KPMG Singapore as a strategy consultant specialized in the Southeast Asian energy market. She left KMPG in 2015 to start her own renewable energy company, Obi Energy. With the goal of deploying small-scale renewable energy infrastructure projects, Emilie raised $5 million to build a recycling plant that transforms palm-oil waste into biodiesel feedstocks. The plant has now reached an annual turnover of more than $16 million.

Hospitality

Ankit Gupta greets customers at the Dialogues Café in Bangalore.

Ankit Gupta and Saurabh Priya, MBA ’16

Co-founders, Dialogues Café

After living and working in countries throughout the world, both Ankit Gupta and Saurabh Priya wanted to return to their native India to create their start-up. At Dialogues Café, patrons are charged for the time spent in the welcoming co-working space, and are provided with unlimited food and drinks–or they can choose to bring their own. Corporate level wifi, meeting spaces and a boardroom are provided, as are a wide range of books and board games. “We wanted to focus on building collaboration, and create a space where customers could meet, dream, discuss, share and execute ideas,” Saurabh explains.

Industry
Eric Olsen, MBA ’93

CEO, LafargeHolcim

Eric Olsen joined Lafarge North America in 1999, and subsequently worked in high-level positions in its finance, human resources and operations departments. When the company merged with Holcim in 2015, Eric became the CEO of the newly combined companies. At the time, the Financial Times reported that it was Eric’s international experience that caused the Board of Directors to tap him to head the group, which is the worldwide leader in the building industry.

Investment Services
Ole Rollag, MBA ’02

Managing Principal, Murano Connect

Ole Rollag started his career working as bond runner for Dean Witter. Upon graduating from the MBA, he joined Société Générale as a fund manager. In 2009, after working for big banks for nearly his entire career, Ole decided to create his own asset management consulting firm, Perfecta Partners. Murano Connect spun out of that business as an “investment dating service” connecting compatible funds with investors.

Luxury and Media
Xavier Romatet, MBA ’86

Vice President, Condé Nast International

Xavier Romatet (center) welcomes students during the Luxury Club’s Trek to Paris.

After completing his MBA, Xavier Romatet and fellow HEC Paris graduate Christophe Chenut (MBA ’86), created their own marketing company. In 1993, the company became part the DDB group, where Xavier served in several leadership positions, including president of Rapp Collins and the head of their French subsidiary. He stayed with DDB until 2006, when he was recruited to take the helm of Condé Nast France. His tenure as CEO included the launch of French-language versions of GQ and Vanity Fair. In January 2017, he was promoted to vice president of Condé Nast International.

Pharma
Michel Vounatsos, MBA ’90

CEO, Biogen, Inc.

He speaks six languages, runs marathons and has over 20 years of experience working for drug manufacturers in half a dozen different countries. In January 2017, Michel Vounatsos took on an even bigger challenge: leading Biogen, a Massachusetts-based biotech firm. Michel takes the helm at a critical time, when the company is delving into a new treatment for Alzheimer’s disease, and considering entering markets outside of North America and Europe.

Retail
Marc Hanisch, MBA ’09

CEO, Dos Caballos

Despite its Spanish name, is a German company established by MBA alumnus and world-class mountain biker Marc Hanisch. Using his own experience of powering through rough terrain on two horse power—the amount of force that most cyclists wish for while riding a racing or mountain bike—Marc is constantly testing, improving and advancing new products and trends in bike, sports and casual wear. Known for blending fashion with technical functionality, Marc compares his company’s high-end offerings to retailers like Ralph Lauren and La Martina.

Start-up
Bhavna Suresh, MBA ’16

CEO of Lamudi Philippines and MyProperty.ph

Lamudi is a leading global property portal focusing exclusively on emerging markets. It offers sellers, buyers, landlords and renters a secure and easy-to-use platform to find or list properties online. Lamudi was established in 2013 in Berlin, and is currently available in Latin America, Asia and the Middle East. Within less than three years, the company has established its presence as a key online real estate marketplace in the countries where it is operating.

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FROM HEC Paris Admissions Blog: Two Weeks in Latin America

HEC Paris representatives Aidan O’Connor and Sara Vanos meet with potential students during a Bogota MBA fair.

Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Aidan O’Connor, I am relatively new to HEC Paris and relatively new to France in general. Like 90% of the HEC Paris MBA candidates, I am outside of my native borders (Canada, in my case) and adjusting to life in a new country. Fortunately, discovering other parts of the world is a passion of mine as I’ve been lucky to travel to almost 50 countries, so having the opportunity to represent the HEC Paris MBA Program as a Marketing and Recruitment Manager in Latin America and the Middle East is a perfect fit for me. And in February I did just that, by visiting five countries and six cities in two weeks.

Here’s what I learned.

Heeding the advice from current MBA candidates, like Jean Pierre and Claudia from Peru, Domingo from Chile, and Raphael, Rodolfo, and Anderson from Brazil, I was prepared to take on each country for the first time. What I wasn’t prepared for, but happily surprised by, was the overwhelming amount of interest from prospective candidates in each location. Just as we had hoped, the HEC Paris brand is becoming more and more recognized worldwide. My days and nights were jam-packed with 1-to-1 meetings, MBA fairs and our own hosted events. With every interaction, I encountered fantastic profiles, genuine kindness and undeniable passion; all of which will surely contribute to the steady growth of HEC Paris MBA candidates from Latin America.

It was great meeting alumni currently living in Mexico City, including Ruben Yahir Ahumade (MBA ’13), Guillermo Ferrari (MBA ’13), Cesar Vergara Sanroman (MBA ’16) and Daniel Elizondo (MBA ’16).

I also learned, unsurprisingly, that most prospective candidates are interested in changing their geography, industry or function, and I’m very thankful to the alumni on-hand who shared their unique perspectives on changing at least one of the three. For instance, Thiago Castello (Brazilian, MBA ’16) and Luiz Sollero (Brazilian, MBA ’16), who joined me in Rio de Janeiro, changed all three. Both just started working for Amazon; Thiago in Luxembourg and Luiz in Paris.

From the endless sand of Copacabana Beach, to the colorful, unique houses of Bogota, I found a different kind of beauty around every corner. It was frankly very inspiring to meet so many motivated individuals. As a result, I gained an acute understanding into the candidate-and-application process that I didn’t have before.

I cannot wait to do it all over again in September.

Latin America notables from a first-timer:

Peruvian food is incredible, especially Aji de Gallina.
When it’s 30+ degrees Celsius, nothing beats a pisco sour.
Flying over the Andean Mountains (Andes) is absolutely amazing.

Interested in the HEC Paris MBA Program? Fill out a Candidate Profile today to receive a preliminary evaluation of your candidacy or contact me directly at oconnor@hec.fr.

Written by Aidan O’Connor, Marketing and Recruitment Manager for Latin America and the Middle East

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