Thursday, June 27, 2013

Notes from the Career Services Q&A with Claire Lecoq

Yesterday I attended the Q&A session with Claire Lecoq, IMD's director of Career Services. There was a lot of useful information about how IMD helps students in their career pursuits, the benefits of the IMD MBA to students and recruiters, and what students should be thinking about as they go into their MBA.

During the first part of the session, Claire gave a quick presentation highlighting some of the features of IMD's career services approach. For the remainder of the session Claire fielded questions. 

Both the presentation and the Q&A revealed some interesting themes about IMD's career services, and how to successfully maximize the benefits of the MBA when it comes to the job search career management.

See below for my best shot at summarizing the session.


Tuesday, June 25, 2013

The Blackhawks are Stanley Cup champions!

A couple weeks after I first moved to the US, back in 2001, some of my new dorm buddies in Chicago invited me to go watch a Blackhawks game. I knew next to nothing about ice hockey, but I figured it would be cool to go check out a new sport.

From the first drop of the puck I was hooked. I was so impressed at how fast the game was, how the players were so tough and yet so skilled, and how passionate all the hockey fans were. Hockey became my new passion, and I've been a dedicated Blackhawks fan ever since.

At that time the Blackhawks were the worst team in the league. In a way it was a good thing, because I could go watch games for a mere $8 with my student discount. But it was also a bad thing, obviously, because the Hawks lost a lot of games, and the thought of winning the cup seemed like a complete impossibility.

Well, last night the Blackhawks did win the Stanley Cup, for the second time in four years. What a thrill it is to see the your favorite team win it all!




Since this is a blog about my IMD experience, I suppose I should try to connect the Blackhawks and ice hockey to IMD in some way. The cool thing is, there is in fact a connection!

Monday, June 24, 2013

Other IMD blogs

Ever since I got accepted to IMD, I've been on a bit of a quest to find out everything I can about what lies ahead for Ashley and I in 2014.

I've been joining IMD webinars, reading the school newsletters and twitter posts, viewing the youtube videos, joining discussions on GMATclub, and getting to know the my fellow classmates on "yammer", in the class of 2014's social networking group.

I have also been scouring the web for anything and everything related to the IMD experience. I've come across some great blogs from those who have blazed the path ahead of me, full of insights of what life was like for them during their year in Lausanne.

Some of my favorite after the jump.

Wednesday, June 19, 2013

Event heads up - Career Services online chat with Claire Lecoq

Today I received an invitation to IMD's Career Services Live Chat event, which will be held on Wednesday, June 26th at 3pm Lausanne time.

The event is open to everyone - link to the registration page here.

The email was sent by Claire Lecoq, MBA Director of Career Services, Marketing and Admissions at IMD:

I would like to invite you to attend our next Live Chat about Career Services. During this 45 minute online session, I will present our Career Services and answer all the questions you may have.

Personally, I think it is a good opportunity to learn more specific details about IMD's career services. I wonder if the recent placement report will be discussed. I'm planning to join the event and I will listen out for any interesting tidbits or changes in the career services approach.


Update: you can find my notes from this session here.

Friday, June 14, 2013

What makes a great leader?

A great article on leadership from the BBC today:

The keys to inspired leadership

It's always interesting to read some insight from some of these highly accomplished leaders like Jamie Dimon and Bill Gates.

I'm sure everyone who has even contemplating an MBA has spent a lot of time thinking about what leadership means to them. I know I have, from the very first brainstorming session, and throughout the entire busines school application process. In fact, I've probably been thinking about leadership more than ever, now that IMD is a reality!

Tuesday, June 11, 2013

We have a place in Lausanne!

Just like that, Ashley and I have found an apartment in Lausanne! Crazy, right? At this point there are still some logistical things to finalize, but for all intents and purposes we already know where we will be living next year. We're excited!

We know we'll have to be flexible, but thanks to IMD we were able to find an apartment that meets a lot of the items in our wish list:

- Close to campus? Check!
- Space for a home office? Check!
- Close to a grocery store? Check!
- Laundry in unit? Check! 

We even managed to get some "nice to haves" as well:

- Close to metro!
- Charming parquet floors!
- We may even have a "partial lake view!"

I have to say I am so glad to have figured this one out already. I was kind of nervous about the process of finding housing in Lausanne.



Tuesday, June 4, 2013

Breaking the news

One of the most interesting things about our decision to move to Switzerland so far has been the variety of reactions Ashley and I have received when we break the news to our friends and family.

The reaction has been overwhelmingly positive. Our friends and family are geniunely happy and excited for us. They have been so supportive, even if they aren't totally familiar with how incredible this opportunity is. It's been a lot of fun to share the excitement with everyone!

It has also been reassuring to know people have so much confidence in us. Ashley and I are 100% confident in our decision, but it's always comforting to know we have everyone's blessing.

Below are some of the different reactions we've encountered so far.