Inside INSEAD: How INSEAD Helped Us Achieve Our Professional Goals

INSEAD Students

When I applied at INSEAD, I already knew where I wanted to land after my MBA. As a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine, I planned to leverage my time and energy to help people deliver a bigger impact in the world. To do that, I needed to fill my gaps in the business world. Nonetheless, I already knew that consulting was my target.

Indeed, the process started when I shared my need of challenge and intellectual renewal in my daily life to a former veterinary friend, who was working as a consultant in a top-consulting firm. I wanted to spread out of my comfort zone, doing a job where there would be perpetual learnings and challenges.

What directly triggered me was those infinite possibilities, being constantly stimulated while delivering impactful solutions to complex problems. Humbly, I noticed similarities with my job as a veterinary doctor working in a referral center. Here, I had to solve complex issues not solved by my peers. Often times, this meant starting over from a different angle, finding solutions under uncertainty and time constraints. In the process, I had the honor to work with motivated clients and teams. Consulting offers much more of that, as it encompasses a 360-degree horizon of potential issues to solve that can make a difference globally.

Cécile (far left) with her INSEAD classmates

COACHING SPURS GROWTH

Unlike many, I was fortune enough to already know myself quite deeply; I had enjoyed the time to reflect on my aspirations and the life I wanted to live, so I knew who I was. Nevertheless, not everybody has this luck. That’s why the amazing INSEAD team puts everything in our hands to help us to understand who we are and where we can go.

In the INSEAD career development center, we have a dedicated team of specialized career coaches available for as many appointments as we want. My career coach, Pierre Barny de Romanet, is an incredibly smart man with powerful ideas. Each meeting with him was a deep moment of reflection. He also helped me to grow up and reflect on myself. He helped me to navigate through the mist of the MBA, when I did not feel stressed or already knew which sector I wanted to work.

In contrast, there were many classmates who were in a drastically different position I was wondering if I was missing something. I wondered about the extent I had to fit in a box as I came from an unusual background. Pierre and I talked about my authenticity. We also had deep conversations about our values. We discussed how we should never betray ourselves to please a company and the extent to which it was acceptable to truly be “you”. Eventually, he had a huge impact on the psychological side of letting things we cannot control go, planting seeds with me to see how they would evolve. Apart from that, he introduced me different companies I did not know before and people who could share their own experience in specific fields.

Besides its main campus in France, INSEAD has campuses in Singapore and Abu Dhabi (above)

CAREER AND TEAM SUPPORT

There were other members of the team who are fully devoted to planning meetings with alumnus from different companies. Many times, they’ll stay with us during these meetings. Moreover, INSEAD has strong relationships with many firms (in my case consulting firms). This provided an amazing opportunity to attend various formal presentations and coffee chats with consultants. INSEAD also organized a full career day where several companies came to give a presentation and answer questions. On the career development center website, we even have access to all the offers the companies posted.

I know that MBA students feel stressed. They need help to find their way, to understand where they want to live, work, and what their aspirations really are. At INSEAD, they would always provide an attentive ear to help them navigate through the mist. During the recruiting process, they would walk us through our cover letters and the stories we could share during the interviews. INSEAD also offers a platform to improve our CVs and provide professionals for full service mock interviews. We also received a whole course on communication, presence, leadership skills, and story-telling, which helped us to develop soft skills to become a better version of ourselves.

At the same time, we had the opportunity to work with a personal leadership coach, both as individuals and as a working group. At the beginning of the program, we spent four months working with the same team. Occasionally, some issues or tensions would arise. Our coach knew us as members of the group and would analyze the dynamics within the group during our meetings. From there, our coach would schedule individual time in private with us. These coaches offer a safe place and know us deeply, as we were asked to share our personal story with them. My coach, Martin Vera, is a deep and wise man who always understood what happened beyond the words. He helped me to understand my behavior patterns and what triggered my reactions, so I knew how to handle some specific situations (based my characteristics and who I am).

Cécile Genty, INSEAD

CLASSMATES CHIP IN

Eventually, as INSEAD students, we are surrounded by people from all industries and backgrounds, who are always willing to share their experiences and insights regarding a position or a location. The substantial alumni network has been a powerful guide to help students clear their minds. For instance, I was also highly interested in working for an NGO.  A team member set up a meeting with an alumni member working at UNICEF. She explained to us about her journey within the different countries she had been living and gave a clear idea and powerful advice for anyone willing to target an NGO.

Moreover, as many students want to join consulting firm, many partnerships have been created to walk through the process specific to those firms. It was really easy for me to find a classmate to practice the case interview and receive feedback as how to improve specific areas. Also, many consultants doing an MBA gracefully offered their time and their feedback to help us to practice some mock interviews in preparation for the real ones.

To conclude, INSEAD offered us everything it could to help us understand who we are as individuals and professionals within teams and how to pitch a story that reflects the best in us. They connected us with alumni members and provided many conferences and meetings with a wide range of industries. With the huge network of alumni in almost every industry, you always have someone to connect with. We also had the opportunity to have a career coach and a personal leadership development coach, who were always available to help and guide us in various aspects of our leadership and career journey. We also had the opportunity to receive support while elaborating on our CV and cover letter. Plus, we could practice a lot of mock interviews with professionals and other students. Even if I already knew where I wanted to work after the MBA, I could not have imagined receiving so much support and tools to achieve my dreams.

Author Bio: French Doctor of Veterinary Medicine, I was previously working as a consultant vet in a referral center and have lived in many countries. I am passionate about humans and differences, driven by a willingness to have a bigger impact in the world. I am an INSEAD MBA, Diversity and Inclusion representative, deeply optimistic, curious about everything that could help me grow, and happy to share.

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