Sven Mengering

HEC Paris

“Pleasant personality who loves basketball, travelling, cooking and spending quality time with his loved ones.”

Hometown: Wuppertal, Germany

Fun Fact About Yourself: I played competitive basketball for over 15 years and won a vice championship in the Zweite Basketball Bundesliga ProB (3rd-highest league in Germany) in 2013.

Undergraduate School and Major:

Undergraduate School: German Sport University Cologne, Major: Sports Management

Graduate School: Cologne Business School, Major: International Business

Most Recent Employer and Job Title:  PwC Germany, Senior Associate Delivering Deal Value

Aside from your classmates, what was the key part of the school’s MBA programming that led you to choose this business school and why was it so important to you? What convinced me to choose HEC Paris for my MBA was the overall outline of the program and the focus on leadership and real-world application. The overall duration of 16 months is perfect to deep dive into the curriculum, while not being outside from the job market for too long. Furthermore, HEC provides a great deal of flexibility to tailor the MBA with the possibility to conduct an internship or go abroad to an exchange university.

What club or activity excites you most at this school? The off-campus leadership seminar is the activity that I am looking forward the most, as you can really test and put your leadership skills to work, while creating a strong bond with your fellow MBA students. Furthermore, I am excited to join the basketball club on campus, as I will have the chance to play organized sports on a regular basis again.

What makes you most excited about getting your MBA at HEC Paris? What makes you most nervous about starting business school?  I am excited to start this new chapter in my life, meeting my fellow classmates and having the opportunity to study at one of the best business schools in the world. However, after four years of working full time, I am a bit nervous about the transition to study again. However, that is what is making it fun, to accept a new challenge and take full advantage of it!

Describe your biggest accomplishment in your career so far: Instead of a single event or accolade, I consider my biggest career accomplishment so far to be my contribution to the successful integration of a biotech company into a large pharmaceutical group and thus enabling access to vital treatment for numerous patients.

What led you to pursue an MBA at this point in your career? After four years in consulting, I felt that it was time to take a step back to reflect where I wanted to go in my career and profit form best in class business as well as leadership education before transitioning into a managerial position.

What other MBA programs did you apply to? IE Business School, INSEAD, Saïd Business School

What was the most challenging question you were asked during the admissions process? I did not perceive the alumni interviews as interrogations with challenging questions, but rather as opportunities to exchange and really make an informed decision if HEC Paris is the right place, for both sides. However, I spent a great deal of time on preparing my presentation on a topic of my choice.

What was your defining moment and how did it prepare you for business school? I cannot state a single moment, but the over 15 years I spent playing competitive basketball definitely shaped my personality and I greatly benefited from this in my professional life. I believe that this prepared me extremely well for business school, as I am used to quickly adapt to new situations and can find my role in teams extremely well, a trait that will be required during the MBA.

What have you been doing to prepare yourself for business school? I left my old business books on the shelf for now, but I really deep dived into all possible activities that I want to participate in during the MBA to make the most out of this exciting time.

What is your favorite company and what could business students learn from them? My favorite company is Actelion, a pharmaceutical and biotechnology company, which was acquired by Johnson & Johnson in 2017. The company is truly patient centric and every employee has a real sense of purpose to work for the organization and improve the lives and well-being of people treated with its products.

DON’T MISS: MEET THE HEC PARIS MBA CLASS OF 2022