IE Business School – International MBA

These are some of the more common questions about the Career Management Center; we decided to put them together in a blog post. If you have any questions regarding these or any other topics, please contact your Career Counselor. 

About the Career Management Center

The Career Management Center at IE is an active member of the MBA Career Services Council and the MBA Career Services for Working Professionals Alliance which is an alliance of the top 32 business schools recognized for providing outstanding career services to alumni and executive students. Within that, IE’s Career Management center is considered among the top in international recruiting.

What are the roles of the Career Management Center?

The Career Management Center’s number one mission is to improve students’ employability. In order to do this, it works to promote an everlasting relationship among the members of the IE community, facilitating a common platform of business, career development and lifelong learning opportunities, with the objective to propel personal and professional development of IE students and alumni, in accordance with the principles and values of IE.

Nevertheless, the Career Management Center does not place students in jobs.  It’s not about that. It’s about providing students and alumni with tools and resources and a very robust career education. Then it’s up to the students to perform well in the interviews, to prepare themselves well, to write strong cover letters, to do an internship to help lay the groundwork if they’re interested in a career change.  The Career Management Center is here to support students and assist them with these necessary steps. However, it’s up to students to secure their own opportunities.

Tools and Resources Provided by the Career Management Center

The Career Management Center offers very similar services of Career Education to IE students.

Career Pre-Program

The Career Management Center provides a career pre-program. Approximately one month before students start studying at IE, they are sent something along the lines of a career portfolio. Through the pre-program, once students come on campus, they can start to concentrate more on the academic content because they are immediately going to be overloaded on the academic side or their core program.

Career Self-Assessment Tools

Students start working on Career Leader and self-assessment tests. Career Leader is a company founded by Dr. Jim Waldroop who was Director of Career Services at Harvard Business School for nearly 18 years. He developed self-assessment tools for HBS students and discovered that this would be useful for business school students worldwide. The Career Management Center has been using it for years and it really helps students to gain focus, to see where they get a score on their best career paths, what are the best work environments for them, what are their motivators. This is what they should be doing even before they arrive.

Identifying Potential Career Opportunities

Then students work on identifying potential career opportunities. A lot of it is in their court. They should be really doing the research to prepare themselves. Career Management Center provides them with all the tools so that they become their own strategic career managers. No matter how good a career advisor is, you should never leave your career in the hands of somebody else. Career Management Center provides students with skills and techniques that they’re going to carry with them throughout their entire lifetime, long after they graduate from IE.

CVs, Cover Letters and Career Marketing Plans

The Career Management Center suggests students to do their CVs, cover letters and a career marketing plan. Right in the beginning of their academic programs, students have an introduction at the Career Management Center session with their point-of-contact at the Career Management Center  All students who receive Career Services are assigned to a key person at the Career Management Center  Then they have one 60-minute appointment with their careers point-of-contact to ensure that they have their career portfolio documentation in order, their CVs and cover letters are all set. Right from the beginning, they can start applying to internships.

Meetings with the Career Management Team

Once they’ve had a 60-minute meeting with the assigned point of contact, they’re welcome to have a 30-minute focused appointment with another member of the Career Management Center team who might be more specialized in the sector or area of their interest. Then they have unlimited drop-in sessions that they can participate in. These sessions are posted on the IE Career portal so each student can see every member of the team, what their specializations are and drop in for brief 10-minute appointments. Somebody who is applying for international organizations can come in and see if their application for the UN is in order and the person here who specializes is the one who advises the students in that area and is also the person who is handling recruiting for those organizations.

Career Strategy Course

Career Management Services offers a course to MBA and Master in Management students called Career Strategy. For the IMBA program, there are 13 sessions on CV writing, cover letter writing, speed networking, managing career transitions, networking, piloting your career, career design and job hunting, interview skills, mock interviews, negotiating an offer and then we talk to them about the IE job bank which we give them access to, 3 months prior to graduation and all the services we provide to alumni lifelong.

Winning Team and article author(s): Beethoven C Team (Ahmad Alamer, Carlos Capel, Sherif Elgabaly, Tatiana Paes, Darren Moon, Luca Ornati, and Namrata Raina)

“The world as we have created it is a process of our thinking. It cannot be changed without changing our thinking” – Albert Einstein

The Change in Action week started with the kind yet powerful words from Sarah Adeel, founder of LettuceBee Kids who told us about the street children situation in Pakistan and her challenges. Saad Khan, CEO of Gillette Pakistan complemented the picture about the situation in the country through his experience. In a few hours, 400 MBA students understood the challenge they had in front of them and how they should approach it through the design thinking process to make a change in the lives of those in need.

We learned the process and the power of  “Design Thinking” through a very simple exercise: creating a wallet for a team member that fit their needs. After having a clear understanding, we were able to replicate the model of discovery, interpretation, ideation, experimentation and evolution to the LBK challenge.

We brainstormed to better understand the situation faced by children and their families in Pakistan. We further looked at LBK from the eyes of potential volunteers, charitable contributors, and other people that would have an emotional connection and/or need to connect with the less fortunate or give back to society in some way. Following the concept of “Design Thinking”, we generated as many ideas as possible keeping as only constraint the relevance to the perceived needs of the end user. With a similar approach it’s easy to end up with the most diverse and unrelated ideas, some were just plainly not feasible! But that’s where the power of the newly learned framework became clear. After the creative divergence, instead of trying to find only one solution and killing all the others, we landed at an integrated solution.  To finalize the process we prototyped our solution and got as much feedback as possible by contacting people with relevant knowledge in and out of school, such as banks in Kuwait. The feedback we received helped us improve our solution and proved that the idea was valid. The key learning from this process was: 1) design the idea for a specific user, 2) set no limits (let your imagination flow), and 3) merge and integrate the ideas.

At the end of this process we had the following idea:

• LBK Keep the Change Program: Allows bank account users to forward part of their credit card payment to a savings account and another part to an NGO. This encourages users to automatically save as well as contribute to a good cause from each of their ordinary purchases on their credit cards. This is also attractive to banks that are looking to be socially responsible. Thank you letters with the results of their contributions and showing appreciation for their support are sent from LBK to help build an emotional tie and reinforce this positive behavior.
• LBK Loyalty Card Program: LBK can match their needs with volunteers’ abilities by keeping a database with their skills and contact information. Volunteers receive a loyalty card where they can keep track of the hours they have volunteered at LBK and after a certain amount of hours they are rewarded with goods made by the children, (postcards, art crafts, etc) which will remind them of the children they are supporting.  

The Change in Action was overall a great experience that we will never forget. As we only had two days to work on the idea, we spent many hours to make sure we had a viable idea and that it was nicely packaged to be presented. When we received the news that we were one of the eight finalist groups (out of 61), we were psyched! That was the opportunity to present to 200 students and the panel (Sarah Adeele, Saad Khan, and IE IMBA Associate Dean, Erik Schlie) an idea that we think can offer a better future to these kids. It felt great to be the winning team and see the impact that all our hard work and effort will have in that community. However, the best part is that Sarah will take back to Pakistan 61 ideas to help LBK become a sustainable organization.

The Change in Action Program has been extremely inspirational and an unforgettable experience:

“Our accomplishment is a direct result from the team’s commitment to changing the life of the street children in Pakistan.” – Tatiana Pereira Paes

“This was an intense yet extensive experience of teamwork and innovation coupled with fun.” – Sherif Elgabaly

“As a team, we merely amplified what was already there, we changed, we improved, we progressed and continued to grow with this great opportunity to make a difference.” – Ahmad Al Amer

“Coming together was a beginning. Keeping together was progress. Working together was a success.” – Henry Ford’s quote modified for a great team I was fortunate to be part of.” – Namrata Raina

If you would like to read more about this particular Change in Action Module, click here to read another article published on the BusinessBecause website called “The Power of 450 MBA Students Thinking Like Designers” by IE Business School professor C. Todd Lombardo.

Punjab suffers from high rates of malnutrition as 39% of children are too short for their age. PHOTO: EXPRESS/FILE

 KARACHI: Last month, a top-rated European business school gifted the efforts of 400 of its International MBA (IMBA) students to Pakistan. These students worked 24 hours a day for five days on the ‘LettuceBee Kids’ project, an Islamabad-based social enterprise aiming to provide a self-sufficient mechanism of survival to street children. Students brainstormed ideas on its sustainability, solving operational challenges and finding a multitude of creative ways to raising much-needed funds.

The opportunity was provided by the IE Business School in Madrid, Spain. This amazing program exposed and challenged their entire IMBA class (which was made-up of students from 75 nationalities) to projects from developing and poverty-stricken countries. It raised much-needed awareness among its elite student body about poverty and its associated challenges.

The module is named “Change in Action” (CIA), and forms a core part of their IMBA program focused on tackling global problems. The module was launched in 2008, and their class has worked on many poverty projects, most recently from South America (Columbia and Guatemala). I was able to convince the professors to work on a rehabilitation project for street children in Islamabad.

The real challenge for the faculty was to take a group of 400 top-notch students from around the world, who have no clue about Pakistan’s demographics and cultural idiosyncrasies, and bring them up to speed in just five days to make them able to come up with feasible and workable solutions to our problems. To guide them, Professor Todd Lombardo introduced the students to the concept of ‘design thinking’ to help structure the five days. Design thinking is a methodology that imbues the full spectrum of innovation activities with a human-centered design philosophy.  The students had to go through six specific stages to recommend a viable solution: namely. understand, observe, synthesize, ideate, prototype and test.

LettuceBee Kids Founder and Director Sarah Adeel and I spent an inordinate amount of time answering questions, helping the students visualize Pakistan’s dynamics, and in synthesizing and testing various hypotheses.

On the last two days, all 50 groups presented their insights and solutions, and we walked away with some invaluable, distinct and creative solutions which will not only help LettuceBee Kids meet its challenges, but many of these ideas will also help other social sector organizations move towards financial and operational sustainability.

I would strongly urge other elite institutions around the world to expose their students to the grave reality of poverty, which can be resolved only if we all work together. Issues such as global greed, lack of value-based business models, shocking income disparities between the ‘haves’ and the ‘have nots’, as well as global polices of advanced nations towards poor nations needs to be revamped, or else issues such as radicalism, terrorism and extremism will continue to plague us all.

Regards,

Saad Amanullah Khan

By Saad Amanullah Khan Published: March 24, 2013

THE WRITER WORKS IN THE CORPORATE SECTOR AND IS ACTIVE ON VARIOUS BUSINESS FORUMS AND TRADE BODIES

Published in The Express Tribune, March 25^th, 2013

There are certain people you meet in life that make you feel you could tell them anything. I call them “Divan People” because it’s as if there were an irresistible force pulling you towards them and causing you to talk as freely as if you were on a psychologist’s Couch. This is the case of Juan Humberto Young Elser, IE Business School Prof. of Positive Leadership & Strategy. When he looks at you, he looks deep into your heart. I know it isn’t possible for him to look at you right this minute, but if you listen to what he has to say you will probably see what I mean.

Prof. Humberto Young Elser graduated from Harvard, spent years at UBS, and now runs his own investment consulting firm. He does kick-boxing, yoga, and aikido. Everything he does seems to flow in the same direction, and he explains how important this flow concept is not only for aikido, but also for management.

One of the secrets of his success appears to be that he never stops learning (he is currently taking a course on mindfulness based cognitive therapy at Oxford University. When I said that I thought it was too late for me to start with Aikido he said “You really think so? I started with Aikido when I was 54. It’s not as late as you think…”.

Enjoy the flow!!!

Click here to view the embedded video.

First published on The Other Side, the blog about the other side of IE faculty.

Después de 12 meses de diligencias, trámites, papeleos y otras actividades necesarias para poner mi estado en orden, se daba inicio a la que será una de las mayores experiencias de mi vida, la realización de un MBA en la capital de España. Primera vez que salía de mi país por tanto tiempo. Renuncié a mi trabajo. Vendí mis propiedades. Pero me vine con la convicción de que es el paso correcto, tanto personal como profesionalmente y día a día veo que no estuve equivocado.

Mi nombre es Gerardo Lara y soy oriundo de Caracas, Venezuela, donde he pasado la mayor parte de mi vida. Y aunque estudié ingeniería mecánica, terminé en el mundo de las ventas de la mano de uno de los grandes como lo es Colgate-Palmolive. Luego de tres años de experiencia decidí que era momento de dar el siguiente paso, un MBA.

La búsqueda llevó su tiempo. Rankings, idiomas, ubicación, red de contactos, instalaciones, costo, entre otras. Hasta de alguna manera influyó la presencia de amigos en áreas cercanas. Un colega de Colgate y futuro estudiante del IMBA me comentó acerca del IE y de que se iba a inscribir en un futuro. Mi única objeción fue el idioma, ya que no lo quería cursar en español. Pero para mi alegría, el programa era ofrecido también en inglés. Luego de un evento organizado por la oficina del IE en Caracas, salí convencido que era la opción para mí.

Llegué a Barajas el tres de noviembre de 2012 y desde entonces no he dejado de disfrutar la experiencia. En primer lugar hablaría de Madrid. La capital española tiene un sin fin de actividades que ofrecer para todos los gustos: arte, vida nocturna, shopping, deportes. Aunque los primeros días estuvieron cargados de diligencias como la búsqueda del piso, contratación de servicios y otros, siempre saqué un poco de tiempo para disfrutar de la ciudad. Como buen fanático del fútbol, mi primer objetivo era asistir a los juegos. Pude ver la semifinal de la copa del Rey, donde el Real Madrid empató con el Barcelona. También asistí al juego de la Champions League entre el Real Madrid y el Manchester United. Ambas experiencias las recordaré para siempre. Y seguramente asistiré a unos cuantos más.

Y llegó el 19 de noviembre, fecha esperada desde hace varios meses, donde se daría formalmente inicio al programa para el ingreso de noviembre. Aunque ya había podido conocer a algunos compañeros en algunas salidas anteriores, fue en este día cuando pude apreciar uno de los grades valores que tiene el IE: su diversidad. 68 nacionalidades estaban reunidas bajo el mismo techo. Diferentes idiomas, diferentes culturas, diferentes backgrounds. Las diferencias eran mas que obvias. Aún así la nota del día fue la unión y la cordialidad. No había rincón del recinto donde no estuviese algún estudiante hablando con otro, preguntando por sus vivencias, por sus orígenes y a su vez comentando las propias. Ha sido una de las experiencias más enriquecedoras por las que haya pasado en mi vida.

Los dejo con algunas de las fotos del día de la ceremonia, así como un enlace para que vean el campus donde fue realizado.
IE Campus Segovia

Gain an understanding of the IE experience by reading what current International MBA student Jonathan Riskin has to say about IE after having become part of its family in November 2012. Don’t forget to also check out his other posts. 

Delivering on Diversity

Business school can often be perceived as a magical cure-all elixir, a quick fix to whatever we may be lacking in our careers. Students mistakenly believe that an MBA is a guarantee for a high salary, a replacement for work experience, or de facto expertise in every subject matter.  Unfortunately, this is not the case. As a general rule, business school is a complement to, but not a substitute for such professional experiences.

As a lawyer, I learned that there is always an exception to the rule.  In this case, the exception exists in the area of international business and diversity. IE has proven to be more than a substitute for international work experience, but actually a superior environment to develop the skills necessary for global commerce.  A six-month project in a foreign office or participation in a cross-border transaction could not possibly replicate the in-depth cultural knowledge that is transmitted every day here at IE.  The ability to communicate and achieve high performance with teammates sharing totally different cultural identities is truly a skill for the future.

Here, students are able to draw upon the type of knowledge that is only available from sources with real life experience in local markets. You want to learn about lean manufacturing? Three seats over is the Japanese student with five years experience at Toyota. And behind him is the student who worked at a Toyota supplier.  You want to understand emerging trends in tech? The Israeli student with two start-ups is to your right.  This type of network learning happens every day.

Additionally, this type of diversity creates personal networks that span five continents.  Need a supplier in Colombia for your family business? Your classmate from Bogota is an excellent place to start. Curious about consumer habits in Brazil? Call your former group member.  Lifelong connections across the globe are valuable no matter what area of business you may enter after completion of your MBA.

When my time at IE is done, I am certain that I will not remember every financial ratio or strategy framework. I am also certain however, that the implicit knowledge of international business transmitted through diversity will stay with me for many years to come.

Please take out your agendas, personal planers or calendars to update the key dates for the International MBA Program that starts this April 2013:

• Pre-Program: March 13^th to March 22^nd
• Opening Ceremony: April 3^rd
• Orientation Days: April 4^th to April 8^th
• LAUNCH: April 9th to April 16^th
• Graduation: May 23^rd 2014

Please remember that IE has a rolling admissions procedure which means that there are no explicit application deadlines. 

Por favor, preparen sus agendas personales o calendarios para actualizar las fechas claves del International MBA Program que empieza en Abril de 2013: 

• Pre-Programa: 14 de Marzo hasta el 22 de Marzo  
• Ceremonia de Apertura: 3 de Abril
• Días de Orientación: 4 de Abril hasta el 8 de Abril
• LAUNCH: 9 de Abril hasta el 16 de Abril
• Graduación: 23 de Mayo 2014

No olvides que nuestro proceso de admisión es continuo, es decir, no tenemos fecha límite de solicitud para ninguna de las dos convocatorias anuales.

On behalf of the Career Management Center we would like to extend our warmest congratulation to the 3 students that have represented IE and were first runner-ups in the final round of the Novartis Mastermind Challenge that took place on February 22^nd at the Novartis Spanish headquarters in Barcelona.

The CurIE team represented IE’s diversity and professionalism through the entire challenge consisting of three stages, the final stage included a dinner gala and the final presentation to the Executive Directors of Novartis on the 22nd.

Two IMBA students from the April intake 2012 (Maresuke Tanaka – from Japan- and Jose Maria Jr. Francisco – from the Philippines-) and a Master in Management student of the September intake 2012 (Adriana López –from Spain-), lived this amazing experience that exposed them to the current challenges of the pharmaceutical industry, and put them in touch with other students from top European business schools and key representatives of Novartis.

This post was first published on the IE Careers Blog.

Have you ever wondered what around 92 different nationalities can come up with when confronted with a new YouTube Phenomenon? Check out the links below to experience a typical Friday afternoon with a small segment of IE’s diverse student body at Area 31; a unique way of balancing work and play.

IE Business School has signed an agreement with Coursera, the leading international platform for free online courses known as MOOCs (Massive Online Open Courses).

 Thus IE Business School has joined 61 other prestigious international institutions involved in the Coursera initiative, including Brown University, Columbia University, Duke University, Princeton University, Stanford University, University of Pennsylvania, Berklee College of Music and The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology.

IE’s contributions will include a course led by IE Business School economist Gayle Allard headed Understanding Economic Policymaking, which will examine governments´ roles in influencing macroeconomic factors. Rolf Strom Olsen, professor of humanities at IE Business School, will teach a course on Critical Perspectives on Management, centered on different approaches to analysis and decisionmaking in the field of business management.