My HEC Paris MBA: Five Things I Wish I Had Known From The Start

Want a top-tier global MBA on your CV? Keep reading. I wrapped up mine at HEC Paris a couple of months ago and I’ve put together a list of things I wish everyone knew going in. As a communications specialist and former journalist, I fell into the more exotic category of MBA applicant and had my fair share of teething troubles — but it turned out to be a valuable experience in the end. So here’s my five-point, no-bullshit take on the storied MBA life, spanning everything from career strategy to the inner game. (3-minute read)

START WITH YOUR POST-MBA VISION AND WORK BACKWARDS

You’ll set yourself up for a world of pain if your choice of school or geography doesn’t match your goals or capabilities. Going in, you need to see at least one clear path for your post-MBA career that neatly aligns your profile with your chosen program’s added value and its brand strength in the region you’re targeting. I chose HEC Paris because I was a C1-level French speaker, had previously reported to French managers, and was interested in working in France or a Francophone country. Even so, I was surprised by the degree to which France’s recruitment process was built around the French Licence and Master degrees. In fact, the MBA often felt like an invasive species introduced from the U.S. into a foreign ecosystem. Outside traditional MBA hunting grounds like consulting or Big Tech, finding a good fit as an experienced hire wasn’t easy.

YOUR PRE-MBA SKILLSET MATTERS MORE THAN YOU MIGHT THINK

Looking at promotional material for the world’s top MBAs, you might think that recruiters trade punches at career fairs in a frenzied attempt to get their students to sign with them first, and under multiple zeros — all just for the brand. Nothing could be further from the truth. Regardless of your high pedigree, recruiters ultimately want to know what value you add — and it’s certainly not about knowing a bit of accounting and finance, a smattering of strategy and operations, and oh, did we mention a pinch of ethics and sustainability? No, you will likely spend a significant amount of time preparing to explain to recruiters what you did in your previous career, how you went about it (S.T.A.R. format, please!), and why it matters for their open role. This is especially true if you hope to switch industries, functions, or geographies, or — bless your brave soul — switch two or all three at the same time.?

USE YOUR COHORT TO COMPLEMENT YOUR LEARNING

Whether you go to INSEAD or HBS or LBS, you’ll be expected to be able to read an income statement, draw up a structured plan to enter a new market, or identify the bottleneck in a process — and you don't need an MBA to learn any of that. In fact, you can give yourself a mini-business education in the next two months by auditing online courses on core MBA topics, from corporate finance to operations management. On the other hand, the value of an MBA lies in the opportunity to spend one to two years learning from a cohort of exceptionally talented, highly motivated people from nearly every continent on earth. My understanding of basic business thinking comes not from my classwork but from several dozens of consulting case cracking sessions I did with my classmates, including my case mentor Anurag Poddar . And the podcast I started from scratch for our MBA Energy Club, led by Ivan Kouoham , was an all-in-one internship in market research, communications and content strategy, brand design, and…well, podcasting! (PS — With respect to traditional learning, do complement your classwork with the many excellent resources available online. Pavan Sathiraju ’s YouTube channel is one example.)

DO AN INTERNSHIP, EVEN IF IT’S OPTIONAL FOR GRADUATION

The only situation in which you should completely rule out doing an internship during your MBA is if you intend to return to the same geography, industry and function — and maybe even the same company — that you currently work in. At a world-class MBA program, such profiles are obviously super rare. Students usually are looking for something different in at least one of these departments. And a good internship is hands down the best way for them to test the waters, learn with the training wheels on, and perhaps even lay the foundation for a full-time role. I came into my MBA with a CV that was very heavy on content and communications skills. But my internship at Via — a U.S. unicorn offering SaaS solutions for revolutionizing public transit — taught me how to use data-driven insights and storytelling to build client relationships, face client managers in one-on-one interactions, and collect product feedback through on-site visits in three countries. My CV now has greater depth and a strong analytical component thanks to this experience. ?

FINALLY, STEEL YOURSELF

From the outside, the life of an MBA candidate at one of the world’s top schools might look like a fancy corporate retreat. But those who’ve been through it will tell you just how hard things can get at times. It’s a masterclass in digging deep when your back’s against the wall. First, at no other time in your life will you face so many rejections in such a short span of time (unless you intend to head to your local nightclub and ask people to dance after covering yourself in dung). This is especially hard to take if you’ve largely gone through life being recognised as a high performer and achiever (which is how you get into an MBA in the first place). Second, it’s easy to feel like an impostor — and even like a loser — when everybody around you seems to have it all figured out, and especially when they start getting jobs or internships before you do. This is an illusion, but a very powerful and persistent one. Third, your personal relationships — especially those with significant others — are likely to be tested by the intense, uncertain, and highly stressful nature of your MBA and your job hunt. It’s better to be prepared for that possibility than to hope it won’t happen to you. Doing so could increase the chances for you and your loved ones to come out of the experience stronger. (I had tremendous support from my wife, my parents and siblings, and my in-laws throughout the process.)

I hope this helps. Whether you’re a newly minted MBA like me, an incoming student, or a prospective one in the process of prepping for the GMAT, I wish you all the best. And feel free to connect!?