Meet The London Business School MBA Class of 2017

Gemma Doyle 

London Business School

Hometown: Cardiff, Wales

Undergraduate School and Major (Include Graduate School if Relevant): LLB Law University of Essex, Legal Practice Certificate at Inns of Court School of Law.

Employers and Job Titles Since Graduation: Banking and finance senior associate at Clifford Chance, London and Paris including a 6-month IBD legal secondment to Goldman Sachs, London.

Recalling your own experience, what advice do you have for applicants who are preparing for either the GMAT or the GRE? Based on your own selection process, what advice do you have for applicants who are trying to draw up a list of target schools to which to apply? Someone told me whilst I was applying,“This is the beginning of lifelong relationship with your school; you have to be compatible and there has to be chemistry.” I was a little unsure of what they were getting at until it came to attending mixers and recruitment events. Based on this advice, I found out very quickly by speaking to alumni, current students, and staff how compatible I was with the brand and the personality of each school. It is important to speak to as many people as possible who are involved with your target schools. They are, after all, ambassadors for the school and interacting with them will tell you so much about the school itself.

What advice do you have for applicants in actually applying to a school, writing essays, doing admission interviews, and getting recommenders to write letters on your behalf?  I cannot emphasise enough how important it is to be yourself. For example, it is far more important to choose a recommender who knows you extremely well, rather than the CEO of your company with whom you may have had only a few conversations. If every aspect of your application reflects who you are, then getting rejected from a school simply means you were not the right fit and probably wouldn’t have liked it there anyway.

What led you to choose this program for your full-time MBA? The vast array of courses available here and the freedom with which I could shape my MBA experience was a massive pull. However, the incredible diversity of the London Business School community was what sealed the deal for me and it didn’t disappoint! Nothing quite prepared me for the many nationalities, languages, professional backgrounds, life experiences, goals, and aspirations I encountered when I first met my classmates at the London Business School Admits Weekend.

What would you ultimately like to achieve before you graduate? I am here for a career change. I have a long “to-do” list and want to try as many things as I possibly can in order to narrow down the possible post-graduation routes. As I have come from the incredibly structured and hierarchical legal industry, I am curious to dip my toes in the start-up waters and get involved in the Entrepreneurship Programme at London Business School. I am also interested in the luxury industry and will look to be actively involved with the Retail and Luxury Club and the Walpole Luxury Management Programme. Above all, upon graduation, I want to look back knowing I really made use of the proverbial blank piece of paper London Business School offered me and, leave with a diverse network of fascinating people.