#MYMBASTORY Soumita Roy: The EDHEC Global MBA - A Life Changing Experience

Why EDHEC Business School?

Much before I appeared for GMAT, a very good friend of mine first introduced me with the Global MBA program of EDHEC Business School. As per his suggestion, I myself looked into the school website and found many such interesting facts as – short duration of the course, credibility of the school (over 100 years old school) and the MBA program (triple accreditation), diversity and high average experience of the class, very attractive scholarship policy, location of the school at the heart of French Riviera etc. – which all enticed me to the program almost instantly. I got my profile evaluated by the MBA admission team comprising of very kind and helpful people and took admission in the school with my initial GMAT score. The super transparency of the scholarship policy of the school became evident to me when I was able to secure a higher scholarship after improving my score in my second GMAT attempt which I had taken just before my class started. Today after completing the program, I am sincerely thankful to my friend who told me about this program and I am happy that I selected EDHEC for my management education J

Can you tell us about your “Life Changing Experience” at EDHEC?

On the very first day of our MBA class, our respected MBA director, Emmanuel Metais welcomed us by saying that the program would be a “Life Changing Experience” to us. After I completed the program, I believe it was indeed so! The list of incredible experiences is too big to capture within limited space, but I would like to discuss three of my most significant experiences during this program.

The very first thing I would like to mention is definitely the efficient way of structuring and conducting this short MBA program – all credit surely goes to the very well organized MBA staffs and the outstanding faculty from all over the world. I particularly liked the different methods of teaching incorporated in the program – starting from classroom sessions to case studies, presentations, team works, and take-home assignments and so on. The professors are very knowledgeable, approachable and kind enough to help us in exploring the topics in depth even after the courses get over.

The second thing in the list is the diversity of the class – our highly-experienced classmates from all over the globe (at least 30 different nationalities) enriched the program by sharing their own experiences obtained from their diversified work fields. We learned their business etiquettes and “Cross-cultural” knowledge, a “must” behavioral education for all the future managers in today’s “Global Village”, by interacting with our classmates on day-to-day basis.

Last but not the least, I would like to mention about the amazing experience gained during the two international business trips, one in Cape Town (South Africa) and the other in Singapore. I got to know about the business cultures of these two emerging economies and meet their budding entrepreneurs. The visits in those places essentially helped me differentiate the business cultures across different continents. As I have to frequently deal with the international clients, I am sure this experience will enable me to handle the clients and meet their needs in the best possible ways.

How was your experience with the job search?

As it is a small course, the program encourages every MBA participant to be very active in their job searching endeavors from the very first day. The career-smart department dedicated only for MBA program always kept us informed about the job openings and job-fairs. It also organized several career-smart programs throughout the course which help the participants, with the aid of different career coaches, to correctly write their CVs, restructure their LinkedIn Profiles and very importantly, prepare for the real interview by taking mock interview and presentation sessions. We also build strong network with the alumni who provided us with the necessary job related information in different geographies.

What would you like to say about staying and studying in Nice?

No matter how much I say about Nice, my words will always fall short and won’t ever be able to describe the beauty of this small and tourists’ beloved Mediterranean city, which is also famous for its food and rich French culture. Staying within the arm’s distance from the vast, turquoise green Mediterranean Sea and walking along the quiet beaches on the lovely sunny days is really a lifetime experience for each foreigner student. Our school, particularly the MBA class, is facing the sea and the International airport of Nice. Moreover, the cheap transportation cost and proximity of the city from the neighboring European countries also offer many weekend getaways during the busy study schedule. The best part is that though the city is very costly to the tourists, getting an accommodation accordingly to the individual need and within the budget is really not a big deal – courtesy the International Students’ Department of the school. Needless to mention, studying in this naturally-calming environment was not just a pleasure, but also helped us to get off the stress of the highly intense program.

How did you improve your leadership skills with your professors and coaches?

One of the best components of this MBA program, as per my opinion, is its emphasis on developing leadership skill among its participants – an essential skill for the prospective managers. There were couple of workshops during the program which were dedicated to build Team Building and Leadership skills. I was particularly benefited by the case studies we did during these workshops because they helped me to put myself in the leader’s shoes and take actions accordingly. Moreover, I would also like to mention about the very effective “Team Work Review” (TWR) sessions in which we used to get constructive feedback from our fellow teammates and the assigned coach on how to improve the team building skills. We were continually encouraged to work on those feedbacks and review our improvements in the next TWR session. I think this process helped me to work on my weak areas which were previously unknown to me.

Is there anything else you would like to share with our present MBA Participants and the ones aspiring to be?

“Try to remain as much stress-free as possible and enjoy every bit of the course with an undying passion and inquisitive mind” – I think it is the only mantra to sail through this intense MBA course. The course is too short and too eventful to waste any single opportunity to learn new things. And when it comes to learning, it’s not just limited to the managerial and financial topics, but to develop interpersonal skills, to study and appreciate other cultures and, most importantly, to build some precious long-lasting friendships – which all collectively makes this concise 10-months stay in the French Riviera a truly ‘Life Changing Experience” J