Archive for February, 2010
Term 2 Perspective!
After a hectic Term 1, one might have expected Term 2 to be slightly more relaxed. However there is still so much going on and so little time. From the very first days we had to prepare for the “Winter Career Week” when some very important multinationals would come meet us on campus. Big names such as Clinton Foundation, Johnson & Johnson, Luxottica, Nestlè, L’Oreal, LVMH and others were there. Doors of great opportunities opened to many students. Many of us had follow-up recruiting interviews and the preparation for those was – and still is – very intense.
Schoolwise, the two new subjects I prefer are Finance II and Strategy. I believe that understanding the principles of finance and risk valuation is key to becoming successful managers regardless the sector. I am very impressed with professor Luisa Alemani. Today we had our Finance II mid-term exam and most of the class showed a good understanding of the principles taught so far. Strategy professor Luis Vives is equally engaging. In his class we analyze business cases, comment on business decisions while taking into consideration all the various forces surrounding corporations. I am working with an Irish, Canadian, German, Mexican / American and another student whose number of nationalities, I don’t remember exactly…three of them were American / Polish / Dutch. In this term, we are obviously more organized and structured in the way we approach our workload. We all have to fit in our schedule the individual job search, so our time management is much more efficient compared to the previous term and duties are better distributed.
Next week some of us ESADE students will be part of the GSMA Mobile World Congress, the biggest mobile expo in the world, which takes place in Barcelona on an annual basis. This has been achieved thanks to the effort of the ESADE Technology Club and its president, student Daniel Helmhold. I am very excited about this event. More GSMA and club related news on my next post.
Hasta pronto!
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BARCELONA!
Although it is raining today, I have to write something about the “Barcelona advantage” here. Apart from cultural and culinary highlights the weather definitely contributes to this advantage. An example:
- Sunday, 7th FEBRUARY, 11.30 a.m., breakfast on a friend’s terrace at about 20 centigrade!
- Sunday, 7th FEBRUARY, 2.30 p.m., starting to go through my readings on the beach …
About the readings or classes in general this term: while the first term leveled the playing field (basic finance, accounting, marketing, etc) this term goes more into depth. Sunday’s readings for example were for Global Context of Management. A class I really enjoy because topics are discussed that I think every MBA student should think about. Today’s GCM class is about income distribution, last week we discussed corruption and next week we’ll find out more about international law when we look at Pinochet’s extradition. I really enjoy discussing these topics with my classmates, which is working out well in this class being split up into three groups (20 each).
And that’s it for this post. There are midterms going on and interviews are happening or are just around the corner …
Winter Career Fair
Last week came the much awaited winter career week; a number of leading companies from various sectors participated. Here’s a gist of the companies that that I find particularly interested in:
- Louis Vuitton
- Nestle
- Clinton Foundation
- Disneyland Paris
- Tradebe
- Loewe
- L’oreal
- Werfen Group
- Johnson & Johnson
There were a couple of pleasant surprises as well, with participation by Asian companies like Infosys and Wipro from India and the SK Group from South Korea.
Corporate presentations, once again, were very informative and gave us an idea about the corporate culture, business structure, career opportunities and address students’ queries.
The networking café was a success; it gave students the opportunity to interact with representatives from a diverse set of companies. All in all, I think the Career Services’ outstanding efforts paid off, and the career week was an excellent experience.
