Darren talks with N'doli Jean-Hugues "Cherif," a French and Ivorian candidate who gained admission to both INSEAD and London Business School's MBA programs. Cherif, an older full-time MBA candidate with diverse experience across five roles - including audit, management consulting, investment banking and infrastructure project finance in the public and private sector - shares his five key success factors for MBA admissions.

Topics

Introduction (0:00)
Cherif's Background & Pre-MBA Plan & Goals (3:10)
How Cherif Found Career Mentors & Built Future Opportunities (10:40)
Cherif's 5 Key Success Factors

Unwavering Focus (17:20)
Strategic Peer Review (27:15)
Work with a Consultant (34:30)
Self-awareness (43:15)
Narrative Coherence (52:30)

How Cherif Assessed his Competitiveness (1:00:00)
Cherif's Interview Tips for Insead & London Business School (1:07:10)

Cherif's Final Tips (1:24:00)

About Our Guest

N'doli Jean-Hugues Cherif graduated from Cranfield University with a Masters in Management and Concordia University with a Bachelors in Political Science. He will be attending the Insead MBA program in Fontainebleau, France, focused on a post-MBA career in infrastructure-focused private equity.

After getting his Masters, Cherif worked as an auditor for PwC, management consultant for Square Management, and then in Financial Advisory and Project Finance for the government of Côte d'Ivoire and then as an investment banker for Obara Capital. He then returned to Paris with his family to do Financial Advisory and Project Finance for Egis.

Show Notes

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#230 Five Keys to MBA Admissions Success with N'doli Jean-Hugues Cherif, Insead MBA '26