Master’s in Management: Lucie Graewe, HEC Paris

Student Name: Lucie Graewe

Graduate Business School: HEC Paris

Describe Yourself In 15 Words: Ambitious, adventurous, extroverted, open-minded, energetic. And my grandma thinks I am funny. 

Master’s Graduation Class: 2020.

Undergraduate School and Major: Technical University Munich (TUM), Management and Technology.

Current Employer and Job Title: KPMG, Associate.

Describe your biggest accomplishment in your career so far: There are three main accomplishments I am proud of: First, I had the chance to be responsible for a large project, which included the internal development of a digital project portfolio tool, a competitive pitch on the client side, and implementation. Second, it was always my dream to work abroad, and working in Singapore for a while was definitely a career booster. Lastly, I had the chance to join a mentoring program and help a fellow student overcome the obstacles at the start of her career.

Describe your biggest accomplishment as a graduate student: Together with some fellow students, we founded a student initiative called HEC Paris European Symposium with the goal of promoting European integration. Being officially endorsed by the European Parliament, we organized several events, conferences and workshops with forward-thinking speakers. There, I had the chance to moderate our biggest panel discussion with several high-profile speakers, such as the French politician and former European Commissioner for Economic and Financial Affairs, Taxation and Customers, Pierre Moscovici. 

What was the key factor that led you to choose this business school and why was it so important to you? I wanted to join a business school that aligned most with my career goals. Several factors were important to me, such as highly qualified professors, a challenging as well as diversified schedule, an excellent reputation, an international student body, and great student satisfaction. 

What led you to choose a Master’s in Management over an MBA? I enrolled in a Double Degree program for Young Professionals with the HEC Paris and TU Munich, containing the Master in Management at the HEC and followed by a Master in Innovation Management at the TUM. Previous working experience was required and thus it was classified as a program between a master’s and an MBA program.

What has been your favorite course and how has it helped you in your career? HEC provides a wide spectrum of core courses and electives. While the former was designed to cover the core management topics, the electives were my favorite courses. I enjoyed the more technical course, Cybersecurity and Data Governance, which was enriched by external speakers who shared their working experiences. The class Change Management on the other hand took a more human-centric approach, in which we analyzed how digital transformation affects company culture and how to create sustainable change. Keeping both classes and the different approaches in mind has helped me to look at digital transformation from a data-driven and human-centered perspective. 

What role did your school play in helping you to land your first job out of the program? By organizing several events including career fairs, hackathons, business games, and learning platforms like start-up incubators, knowledge exchange and consulting seminars, HEC Paris helps its students to identify their strengths and identify which career paths could be the most suitable. Combined with the strong alumni network and an excellent reputation, HEC Paris opens up many career possibilities for its students.

How did your classmates enhance the value of your business school experience? As most students were living on campus, it was easy to form friendships. It was a highly diverse group of students who enriched every conversation and group with their unique point of view and experience. 

Who was your favorite faculty member and how did this person enrich your learning? All professors teaching at HEC are highly motivated. It was especially interesting to participate in the classes of Théo Rohfritsch and Sam Aflaki, as they were so invested in the material that students were always very motivated. Moreover, the courses were not merely theoretical; we were able to utilize our learnings by becoming CEOs of our own software-simulated supply chain organizations or by pitching our own social start-ups to a fictional board of investors.

What is your best advice to an applicant hoping to get into your school’s graduate Master’s program? Know what your goals are in life and search for the program that can best support you in reaching them. Then, you don’t only create the perfect learning environment for yourself, but also create a learning environment that enables other people to follow their aspirations. HEC Paris selects people where they see the potential and how they can best support those applicants.

What was your best memory from your Master’s program? There were barbecues by the lake, late night group work sessions, on-campus club nights, the farmers’ market, weekends in Paris, and cooking sessions with the whole hallway in the dorms. My favorite memory was the awesome trip that my fellow students organized to visit and experience their home country Lebanon.

DON’T MISS: MEET THE MASTERS OF MANAGEMENT