Meet IE Business School’s MBA Class Of 2018

Omar Rodríguez 

IE Business School 

Describe yourself in 15 words or less: Madrileño in love with the world and new business experiences.

Hometown: Madrid, Spain

Fun Fact About Yourself: You will never see me on my birthday in my home town Madrid. For more than 10 years, I celebrate it elsewhere since I believe it brings me good luck for the new year!

Undergraduate School and Major: Business and Management, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid

Employers and Job Titles Since Graduation:

  • SwissRe (AVP, Asset Management audit)
  • Santander Bank (Financial auditor)
  • PWC (Assurance consultant)

Describe your biggest accomplishment in your career so far: During my time in SwissRe, I had the opportunity to lead, manage and mentor different project teams across the globe in locations such as UK, China or Switzerland. This experience gave me the understanding of how to utilize time and manpower resources in an optimal way. Reward in terms of recognition from peers and line managers was crucial to maintain self-motivation.

Looking back on your experience, what one piece of advice would you give to future business school applicants? Do a lot of research and make sure that a management role is what you really want in the future either in a corporation or in your own business. There are sufficient quality programs on finance, engineering or IT in case you want to develop your career in a technical field. Another piece of advice is to take very seriously the application process and give it enough time. Sometimes essays must be started from scratch until you feel fully confident.

What was the key factor that led you to choose this program for your full-time MBA and why was it so important to you? The main reason I chose IE was its original program structure. I visited other European campuses and attended MBA presentations but their structure was very old school and non-customizable. The IMBA at IE gives you the opportunity to create your own puzzle with many different pieces. To be able to go deeper in areas of my personal interest was a key decisive factor.

What would success look like to you after your first year of business school? I would like to look back with joy and pride of my MBA experience and being able to recognize the new skills, friends and experiences I obtained during the period. Professional success can be judged after 5 or 10 years, but in the short term it is the MBA experience what matters.

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