Meet The HEC Paris MBA Class Of 2022

MBA students after completing the Saint Cyr Leadership Seminar

P&Q: Your Off-campus Leadership Seminar ranks among HEC Paris’ most popular activities according to students and alumni alike? What happens during the seminar? What types of lessons do students learn from it?

Masini: “At HEC Paris MBA, we have a strong focus on leadership development and continue to expand upon our leadership offerings. Leadership training requires a rigorous combination of academic theory and learning by doing. We teach students the theories behind leadership, then provide the ideal environment to put those theories to the test.

During our Off-Campus Leadership Seminar, students spend two days proving – and improving – their team-leadership skills during a series of increasingly difficult field exercises supervised by military-trained professionals. Just as in the real world, the Off-campus Leadership Seminar teaches them to lead in situations where they don’t have all the answers, where they confront obstacles that they’ve never seen before. During the seminar, they stretch their limits and go farther than they ever thought possible, learning how to leverage the strength of their team to accomplish a common goal. After each timed exercise, their mentor provides feedback about their effectiveness at leading the group and their methods of problem solving.

The program develops participants’ confidence to lead in all circumstances and teaches them how to motivate others to work toward a common goal.”

HOSTING 1,500 MBAs

Without a doubt, leadership is a signature of the HEC Paris MBA. In May, the school traditionally hosts an event that enables students to practice it. The MBA Tournament – or MBAT for short – draws 1,500 students from 15 schools to Jouy-en-Josas each spring. Sure enough, HEC Paris MBAs are responsible for organizing the entire three day event, including nearly dozen sports ranging from basketball to running. At the same time, they are responsible for a closing celebration that includes a battle of the bands. Oh – and they have to pull this off with a $500K budget and 36 team members.

Sound insurmountable? Try exhilarating, says Luis Raul Martinez, a spring grad who helped plan and produce the 2019 event (with the coming spring’s event still up in the air).

“For HEC, MBAT reflects how empowered MBA students can be. It’s a student-run event, so if you’re core team or volunteer, you have all the freedom to be creative and to go as far as time and budget constraints allow you to do. I, for example, included paintball to the list of sports and added a touch of flamboyance by having Coachella and a masquerade ball as themes for two of the nights. However, this comes with tremendous responsibility: You must deliver because you owe it to your peers who voted for you and to the guest schools that have been looking forward to this event for months. MBAT requires leadership skills put into action and mastering how to work with different profiles and nationalities.”

HEC Library, Chris Gloag Photo

Along with leadership, the qualities most associated with HEC Paris are digital technology and sustainability.  Notably, the program offers a concentration in digital transformation, preparing students to use digital platforms to foster disruption and spur new business models.

“Clearly today digital is changing the way in which businesses operate,” notes Andrea Masini. “At the same time, you are going to be confronted by global challenges, including climate change, overpopulation, digital divides, and education gaps. We want our students to be fully aware of those challenges and to develop the skills to address them.”

Another unique wrinkle is the school’s prowess in luxury brand management. Think of it as capitalizing on the region’s strengths. After all, France is home to brands like Chanel, Dior, Cartier, and Louis Vuitton. As a result, the program has become renowned for treks to Reims, London, and Milan. Call it a home field advantage, in terms of quantity and quality, where students get a top-to-bottom look at how these top brands operate. Samuel Deason sees another benefit to the specialization.

A SPOT IN A TOP INCUBATOR

“Many luxury businesses and arts organizations successfully utilize both contemporary and timeless artistic elements as aspects of brand identity,” he writes. “I hope to be able to apply these learnings as an arts management professional.”

Let’s not forget entrepreneurship. The school houses a 12-month incubator in Station F. Over the past dozen years, the incubator has supported over 300 ventures in areas like artificial intelligence, digital design, cybersecurity, and electronic cars. These ventures have since gone on to attract over $90 million euros in funding.

“HEC’s partnership with Station F made the program even more attractive for me,” notes Ari Davidoff. “Given that I want to work my way into the Parisian tech ecosystem, it was a no-brainer seeing that it is the world’s largest startup campus with an ecosystem of big-tech companies, startups, investors and a highly diverse pool of talent.”

The HEC incubator is a tailored, à la carte, and participative startup support program. The school’s ambition “is to make entrepreneurs.” HEC Paris photo

BENEFITS OF AN HEC PARIS MBA

What are some additional benefits of an HEC Paris MBA?  These are other areas that current students and alumni cited:

1) Leadership Training: “HEC’s programming has a clear focus on leadership development through hands-on experience which was what I liked most. I learn best by doing and I knew that I would want options to pick the best path for me during my program. I applied to HEC for the January in-take, which not many schools provide as an option. Having that flexibility was important to me.”
Payal Saini (’22)

2) 16-Month Programming: “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.”
Sven Mengering (’22)

3) Global Mindset: “I was drawn to the international cohort at HEC Paris as well as its reputation in France and Europe. Since living in Paris as an undergraduate student, I have always wanted to come back, and HEC Paris offers a world-class education and a gateway to the French corporate world. In addition, the Global Network of Advanced Management and other partner business schools offer opportunities for dual degrees and international exchanges that further strengthen the global reach of the MBA program.”
Linse Rose Kelbe (’22)

4) Language Mastery: “You’ll be fluent in three languages by graduation (for those of us that came in speaking one language at least). Ha! It’s definitely different than what I experienced. You do need to graduate with at least a B1 level in another language, which is great. Naturally, a lot of people pick French and if you move into Paris you get to practice it a lot more, which has been my case. However, thanks to the amazing Latin American and Lebanese Communities, I do feel like I have Spanish and Arabic on lockdown.”
Nefe Etomi (’20)

HEC Paris team working together on a startup project

ADVICE TO PROSPECTIVE STUDENTS

What will it take to land a spot in the Class of 20223? This is what recent graduates had to say”

“Showcase your diversity (which could be in anything! Where you’re from, how you think, what you do – diversity cuts across more areas than we realise). HEC is big on this, they have rightly identified that individuals, companies, and even countries will do and be better if they embrace diversity so showing your willingness to add to and learn from the diverse pool should go a long way.”
Nefe Etomi (’20)

“At HEC, you have the chance to do countless things. The sky is the limit. Find what will help you more personally or professionally and build your application around that. For example, if you have little experience managing big teams, build your application around how much you want to become an MBAT core team member, and which skills will help you succeed in this role. This shows you’ve done your research and will allow you to test your leadership skills and have a proven record when going back to business. The same logic applies to career switchers. Then you might want to mention how leading a club, for example, will help you get there.”
Luis Raul Martinez (’20)

“Find your differentiator. You might be the star at your current job, but then you come here and realize you’re surrounded by incredible people with some of the same skills. Find what makes you unique, what will stand out besides your GMAT score or work experience. This will ultimately be the contribution to your peers and to your class.”
Luis Raul Martinez (’20)

MBA Student Hometown Undergrad Alma Mater Last Employer
Haneen Alkharashi Dammam, Saudi Arabia King Faisal University Saudi Aramco Energy Ventures
Katrina Brooke Lam Singapore Nanyang Technological University Ernst & Young
Ari Davidoff Mexico City, Mexico Suffolk University Isobar
Samuel Deason Saskatoon, Canada The Glenn Gould School Northwestern University
Williams Demanou Yaounde, Cameroon National Advanced School of Public Works Yaounde Sol Solution
Leonie Freigi Zahlé, Lebanon Saint Joseph University – Beirut Léonie
Carlos Hernández Caracas, Venezuela Simón Bolívar University Ernst & Young
Linse Rose Kelbe Rochester, NY New York University Goldman Sachs
Sven Mengering Wuppertal, Germany German Sport University Cologne PwC Germany
Payal Saini Cleveland, OH Penn State University PNC Bank
Stanislas Sebag Pontault-Combault, France ESIEE Paris MBDA, Le Plessis Robinson
Aleksandra Socevic Belgrade, Serbia Webster University Geneva Belina d.o.o.

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