Meet The MBA Class Of 2020: Profiles In Courage

Chen Kossover

HEC Paris

A creative free-thinker, fascinated with the potential of collaboration.”

Hometown: Rishon LeZion, Israel

Fun Fact About Yourself: Trained and competed in 110-meter hurdles as a teenager with my school gymnastics team

Undergraduate School and Major: Tel Aviv University, double major in Law and Economics

Most Recent Employer and Job Title: Associate, Labor and Employment Law Department, Meitar Liquornik Geva Leshem Tal – one of the leading and largest law firms in Israel

Describe your biggest accomplishment in your career so far: As an employment lawyer, I am most proud of my pro-bono work on behalf of low-wage workers. In one case, I represented an elderly employee at a bakery who was wrongfully dismissed and deprived of his basic employment entitlements. This case was especially challenging because the client was only fluent in Russian and we had to communicate through an interpreter. I helped this worker enforce his rights and noticed the immediate impact of winning the case on his sense of dignity and self-worth.

What quality best describes the MBA classmates you’ve met so far and why? Balanced and down-to-earth. The conversation with fellow classmates at HEC Paris is very open. It seems we all share the feeling that the MBA experience is a personal adventure and not just a professional opportunity.

Aside from your classmates, 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 sense of community. HEC Paris is unique and one of the few top MBA programs in the world to have such a small annual intake of 250 students, divided into two classes, January and September. This, together with the fact that 92% of the students in the program are international (and therefore will share the adventure of moving to another country together with me) creates a close-knit community, which I believe will help me find a sense of belonging and provide me with the best opportunity to grow as a person. Equally important for me was the location. I am excited to immerse myself in the French culture and I wish to join the thriving Paris startup scene.

What club or activity are you looking most forward to in business school? I am looking forward to the HEC SEED 2019, an annual entrepreneurship summit

What led you to pursue an MBA at this point in your career? The need to challenge myself outside my comfort zone after having received enough real-life experiences and lessons in my current profession.

How did you decide if an MBA was worth the investment? I think there are many factors involved in this decision. I will only truly be able to answer this question a few years after the program, but I can say it was more of a gut feeling.

How did you determine your fit at various schools? I visited the school, reached out to as many alumni as possible, and read a lot on Poets & Quants.

What was your defining moment and how did it shape who you are? Around the age of 10, my younger brother was born deaf. This has helped me better understand the challenges that we face as a society and the urgent need to address them.

What do you plan to do after you graduate? Combine my insights as an employment lawyer with the disruptive power of technology in order to level the playing field of job search. On a personal note, I hope to be lucky enough to visit each one of my friends from the program in their home country.

Where do you see yourself in five years? Working as hard as I can, using the knowledge gained at HEC Paris to make a global difference.