The Touch MBA Admissions Podcast

Sachin Tipnis, Senior Executive Director of HKU's MBA, EMBA & 6 specialized Masters programs discusses the Hong Kong protests, curriculum changes, admissions, and picking the right Masters program for your career goals. The Hong Kong Protests - How Has this Affected Students? (2:45) Curriculum, Admissions and Career Services Updates with the HKU MBA (17:30) Full-time MBA vs. Specialized Masters vs. EMBA - Which Should You Choose (45:15) HKU MBA Highlights (last updated Jan 2020) 12-months, Fall intake, 55-60 students/year Typical Class: 5-6 years work exp / ~15 nationalities / 640 GMAT Has 3 tracks: the London track, the New York track, and the Hong Kong/China track. After finishing 9 months of core courses at HKU, students can study at Columbia University in New York, London Business School in London, or Fudan University in Shanghai for one semester HKU has 2 rounds of interviews. The first is similar to a job interview; those that pass the first round may be required to give a presentation in the second round Graduates get a 1-year visa to stay in Hong Kong and find a job post-graduation Placement, Class of 2018: 83% w/job offers w/in 3 months, $82,551 USD avg post MBA salary (Economist MBA Ranking 2019) Top Destinations, Class of 2017 & 2018: 47% Hong Kong / 21% Other Regions of Asia / 13% Mainland China / 9% Americas / 7% India / 3% Europe Top Industries, Class of 2018: 36% Financial Services, Insurance / 12% Consumer Goods, Retail / 6% IT, Telecommunications Top Functions, Class of 2017 & 2018: 29% Finance, Audit, Accounting / 27% Consulting, Strategy / 21% Marketing, Branding, Business Development / 10% General Management Ranked #1 Asian Business School by Economist for 9 straight years About Our Guest Sachin Tipnis is the Senior Executive Director of MBA, EMBA Global Asia (joint Executive MBA Degree with Columbia and London Business School), and six specialized Master Programmes at the University of Hong Kong. Sachin was part of HKU's first graduating MBA class and has worked for over a decade developing the HKU MBA. Sachin worked in branding and marketing communications for 7 years before working in higher education. Episode summary, show notes and more at: http://touchmba.com/hku-mba-whats-up-in-2020  

Gregory Wool, Cornell Johnson MBA '21, shares how he overcame a low quantitative GMAT score to win a prestigious scholarship at Cornell. He discusses his journey surviving the first semester, leading the student consulting club, and recruiting into strategy consulting. Topics include application strategies, overcoming low quant scores, surviving first semester FOMO, consulting club leadership, and social life at Cornell Johnson.

Around half of Insead MBA graduates end up working in consulting each year. Darren invites Massine Bouzerar, Insead MBA '19J, to share how he landed a job with Bain & Company AND made the most of his ten months at Insead's Fontainebleau campus. Questions Massine’s overview of management consulting recruiting at Insead (4:35) Differentiating yourself from thousands of other MBA students applying to consulting firms (7:55) How Massine's career plans evolved at Insead (10:30) Work visas in Europe for non-Europeans (12:35) How Massine explored consulting offices worldwide (14:46) What helped Massine prepare for recruiting in management consulting (18:00) The culture of recruiting at Insead (20:55) Student clubs and recruiting (24:10) Recruiting for non-consulting jobs (26:00) Dealing with FOMO in a 1-year program (29:20) Making connections at Insead (31:40) Academics at Insead (32:55) Massine's takeaways from his MBA experience (40:23) Outsead, Insead's LGBTQ+ student club (44:20) Dating at Insead (47:56) Massine's final thoughts (51:00) About Massine Massine Bouzerar worked as a product manager and e-commerce strategist in Canada before attending the Insead MBA. Massine served as President of Outsead, Insead's LGBT+ student club, and as the academic representative for his section. He currently is an Associate for Bain & Company in Brussels. Episode summary, show notes and more at: http://touchmba.com/management-consulting-student-life-insead-massine-bouzerar  

Gary Lo, Managing Director of Glo Consulting and former Head of Admissions for the HKUST MBA, shares three questions to ask before you make a career move - MBA included. Aside from working for 10 different companies in 7 industries, Gary has counseled hundreds of MBAs and professionals as a career coach, so don't miss this episode if you're thinking about making a career move. Questions Gary's three questions to ask before you make a career move (3:10) Is following your passion practical? (13:50) Why Gary believes 10-15 years a good long-term planning period (23:04) The power song exercise (26:55) Applying Gary's framework to the MBA: what should more MBA applicants consider before applying? (30:08) How MBA recruiting has changed (39:25) Gary's questions to help MBA students breakthrough career planning paralysis (42:20) Building your personal brand (46:20) About Gary Gary Lo is a seasoned trainer with extensive corporate experience. He spent most of his career working at Fortune 500 companies including LVMH, Apple, Unilever, GlaxoSmithKline and Nestle, with a scope covering the Greater China & APAC region. He was the former Head of Marketing & Admissions for the HKUST MBA Programs, and now serves as a Guest Lecturer for the HKU SPACE Institute for China Business and Nielsen University. He is also an appointed career coach for top Universities in the region, where he has trained hundreds of MBA and Masters students, professionals and corporate executives from all around the world. Gary holds an MBA degree from the HKUST Business School. Episode summary, show notes and more at: http://touchmba.com/three-questions-to-ask-before-you-make-a-career-move-gary-lo  

Darren recently attended a panel "Preparing Your Application: Advice from MBA Admissions Directors” at the MBA Tour in Ho Chi Minh. In this episode, he unpacks the application advice given by five admissions directors. Why should you get an MBA? (3:16) What type of experience are top business schools looking for? (7:20) How can you assess school fit? (10:12) What are your top essay tips? (13:00) What are your top interview tips? (16:37) Admissions Directors on MBA Tour Panel (August 2019) John-Derek (J.D.) Clarke, Ivey Business School Kylie Stewart, Arizona State University W.P. Carey School of Business Gulnura Rakhyshova, Asia School of Business Jessica Morgan, Schulich School of Business John Lee, UCLA Anderson School of Management Episode summary, show notes and more at: http://touchmba.com/five-takeaways-mba-tour-panel-ho-chi-minh-preparing-your-application-advice-from-admissions-directors

Cristian Molina Cornejo, Tuck MBA '21, shares how MBA applicants can take advantage of two programs that champion diversity and inclusion: Management Leadership for Tomorrow (MLT) and the Consortium. Cristian also gives his best application tips after getting into four out of five top 20 US MBA programs. Questions Cristian's background (3:20) What you need to know about MLT (14:25) What you need to know about Consortium (26:00) MLT's Professional Development program and its network (30:55) How to make the most out of MLT and Consortium (40:50) Cristian's best application tips after getting into four top schools (45:10) Cristian's thoughts on Tuck (52:50) About Cristian Cristian is a first year MBA at the Tuck School of Business. Prior to starting his MBA, Cristian graduated from UC Davis with a degree in Economics, and worked for Energeia, a research and advisory firm in energy technology and electronics. Episode summary, show notes and more at: http://touchmba.com/management-leadership-for-tomorrow-consortium-what-you-need-to-know

Hailing from Nigeria and having never visited the US, how did Ikechukwu Edeagu shortlist and apply to MBA programs? And what was his process for navigating internships and the job search as an international student? Listen to get a real-time, inside look into one international student's MBA experience at UNC Kenan Flagler. Questions Ike's background (3:53) How Ike shortlisted business schools  (8:02) Ike's application tips for international students (14:20) Ike's thoughts on financing your MBA (22:20) How Ike secured his internship and job with Microsoft (25:08) Ike's recommended resources and research process for your MBA job search (44:30) The importance of soft skills in building relationships and careers in the US (53:55) Ike thoughts on the UNC Kenan-Flagler MBA experience and culture (1:00:00) Ike's final recommendations to applicants (1:11:30) About our Guest Ikechukwu Edeagu graduated from the UNC MBA with a double concentration in Capital Markets and Investments and Corporate Finance. Prior to starting his MBA, Ike worked in KPMG's Risk Consulting practice in Lagos, Nigeria. Ikechukwu is currently working as a Finance Manager, Cloud and Artificial Intelligence for Microsoft in Seattle.  Episode summary, show notes and more at: http://touchmba.com/the-us-mba-experience-as-an-international-student-ikechukwu-edeagu-unc-mba

Do you feel like your MBA story is a bit bland? Or uninspiring compared to the applicant profiles you see online? What if you haven't overcome insurmountable odds or accomplished something amazing? Darren explores the possibilities of kishōtenketsu - a four act story structure used by Japanese and Chinese writers for centuries. What makes this story structure interesting is that it relies on contrast - not conflict - to generate interest. Kishōtenketsu in 4 acts: Ki (start) Shō (development) Ten (twist) Ketsu (conclusion) Listen on for ways you can use this Eastern story structure to keep admissions officers' attention AND demonstrate your self-awareness. Episode summary, show notes and more at: http://touchmba.com/kishotenketsu

Dr. Christoph Schneider, Associate Director of MBA Programme and Assistant Professor in the Department of Information Systems, City University Hong Kong, discusses what makes the City U Hong Kong MBA unique, the school's admissions process, career opportunities and more. Program Highlights (4:06) | Admissions (18:30) | Scholarships (33:58) | Careers (36:38) About Our Guest Christoph Schneider is the Associate Director of the MBA Programme at City University Hong Kong, where he has also been Assistant Professor in the Department of Information Systems for over a decade. Christoph has published in premier business journals as well as best-selling textbooks on management information systems and project management. Christoph got his PhD in Business Administration - Management Information Systems from Washington State University. What is unique about the City U Hong Kong MBA? What are its key advantages? 1-year program includes study trips to Silicon Valley (UC Berkeley), London (Imperial College) and an Asian country for a consulting project Offers (5 concentrations: Accounting, Finance, Information Management, Marketing, and Supply Chain Management The business mentoring programme matches students to 25+ MBA mentors according to their  backgrounds, experiences and interests; During a 6-month period, mentors and students meet through events, workshops, and 1-1s City U Hong Kong was ranked the #4 university for Economics and Business in Asia by US News and World Report (2019) and placed #55 worldwide by QS' World University Rankings (2019) Episode summary, show notes and more at: http://touchmba.com/city-university-hong-kong-mba-program-admissions-interview-christoph-schneider

Darren invites Susan Bertulli, Director, MBA Career Management at Ivey Business School at Western University to discuss MBA employment reports. First, why and how are MBA employment reports produced? Then, what should you look for? Which employment figures and statistics matter? How can you use them to shortlist b-schools and plan your career? The Ivey MBA has been ranked #1 in Canada for five years running by Bloomberg Businessweek for both student and recruiter satisfaction, so don't miss this inside look into how a top MBA career services team produces their employment report. Questions Susan's background (5:00) The role of MBA career services (6:55) The challenges of MBA career management in a 1-year MBA program (9:12) What applicants should look for from MBA career management teams (12:16) The context surrounding MBA employment reports (14:30) The challenges of producing an annual employment report (18:00) Key figures for applicants to focus on (20:43) How applicants can approach career services with employment statistics questions (26:15) Does a business school's size affect diversity of industry recruiters? (30:17) Understanding a school's list of recruiting firms (34:00) How should applicants use employment reports to shortlist b-schools (39:40) How applicants can show employability in MBA interviews (42:30) MBA Career services: expectations vs reality (44:47) Actions of students & alumni that succeed in their career search (48:00) Have employers' criteria changed for MBAs? (50:20) Susan's recommended resources for career planning (53:05) About our Guest Susan Bertulli is Director, MBA Career Management at Ivey Business School at Western University, where she manages student engagement in career planning, from admissions through to job employment. Over her 10+ years with Ivey, MBAs have achieved 90% placement with over 90% of the students reporting on their success. Susan also serves on several boards including the Dorchester Minor Hockey Association and St. Peter’s Anglican Church. Episode summary, show notes and more at: http://touchmba.com/behind-the-scenes-mba-employment-report