INSEAD Blog by Zanat0s the INSEAD(er) @ Tokyo ! The Biggest among INSEAD MBA blogs. Insead is over, blogging not.

Advices to a friend ragrading job search

Hey XXX,

 

Here are my tips regarding your job search saga. What I am writing here consists of my own personal experiences and what others with greater experience have told me. First of all landing your dream job is always difficult, more the less when there is a slowdown in the world economy. One should have always 3 choices: The dream job, a good alternative and what I call the compromise job.

 

First lets start with the dream job. For one a dream job may be a job in a specific industry, specific role or a specific country/geographic area. One cannot have it all. That is a very rare combination. One exception is Finance related positions which blunt the need for one to speak the local language since most transactions are done in English. The candidate must first determine what is more important to him. Make a comparison of different combinations to understand he/she really likes. This is a marketing technique which companies use to determine what customers want.

 

A good example would be this; Lets suppose we have this 4 different combinations: Marketing in a Bank in Dubai Versus Supply Chain in a retail operation in Dubai VS Supply Chain in a retail Operation In Shanghai VS Marketing in a bank in Shanghai. This is completely random but gives you an idea. Having clarity makes it easier to select companies/positions go after. The dream jobs shouldn’t be many in the end because more choice makes the situation a bit more complicated. Also try to understand that if one has a passion about games that doesn’t mean he will be good at the gaming industry. Passion and skills don’t always go together. My advice is try not to mix hobbies with work. One may end up hating his/her hobbies, an unwelcome transition.

 

The second level of jobs should be positions that are not as desirable as the first ones but still are desirable. If candidate A wants 100% to do Corporate Finance in Real Estate in Singapore and for him the industry is the most important the second level jobs will be the ones who are either corporate finance or based in Singapore but not in Real Estate. Again clarity is key!

 

The next is the compromise positions. For better or for worse everybody needs a job, an employer(unless he is an entrepreneur). In the end it comes down not to what one wants to do but what he can and what he must do. People most usually find them in positions they do not want or they didn’t truly desire. Different country, different position or different industry. I know a dad of 2 who in the end didn’t have the luxury to pursue his dream job and had to settle with another job(and use the time there for the next step).

 

I will write here the story of 2 classmates of mine. Both of them wanted to do management consulting post MBA, one in China and the other one in SE Asia. The first one got his dream job and now is in Shanghai for the employer of his choice. The second one has his dream job but in the end worked in Europe because during the MBA he understood he can do better if he uses his strengths and experience in Europe. The one who ended in China had one clear message: He had consulting knowledge , a very strong skillset, a clear focus on what he wanted. He knew how to communicate to the rest why he should be given a position.

 

Here are some advice to get your dream job:

l  Passion: Nobody will employ a candidate only based on one’s passion. Show passion but do not overdo it. You are not unique there may be many people who share your passion.

l  Skills: You should make a great case why the employer will benefit by hiring you. Past experience always plays a role. Transferable skills are key in this segment.  Every candidate must be aware of how he can add value

l  Behavior: Do not “beg” for positions. Be full with confidence in yourself but not cocky. Hubris is a cardinal sin. On the other hand remember that when you are after your dream job you are in the weaker negotiating position so try not to appear anxious. You need a job and also your self-composure

l  Know the questions and their answers: If you try to make a career change you ought to be able to answer steadfastly why you want this change and where you are planning to go.

l  Talk with people: Contact people who are working or know the industry one wants to work at. This kind of information will form the basis of your arguments. Even if those people do not have the correct information ask them with whom you should talk

l  Avoid: sending obscure emails saying that you want to work in a company and that it is your passion. Send it to people whom you know or have been introduced to you. On top of that in no case try to contact recruiters at a company asking information. They do recruiting not give out information. You should contact them when you are ready, not before though.

 

 

There are more advice that can be given but this is enough for today  

INSEAD on Second Life : Post By Guest Author

original @ www.inseadblogger.com

This is the first article by a guest author @ our blog.

Cheers! Thank you Susan Jacobs

INSEAD on Second Life

Many businesses and schools are finding success on Second Life, the popular virtual world that has taken the planet by storm. Although various undergraduate programs have had a virtual presence on the site for years, INSEAD had really broken new ground for management programs and business schools in general.

Botond Molnar, Balint Halasz, and Peter Vikar are the three architecture students who designed virtual classrooms for INSEAD's Second Life campus. It is there that students can receive supplemental education from virtual lectures. The Second Life campus also serves as a social networking tool for students, professors and potential employers.

There are three main areas in INSEAD's virtual campus: Lab, School and Public Campus. Once an avatar lands in the middle of the campus, he or she can walk down to one of the three areas. The campus is still a work in progress, mind you, and will only improve from here.

Miklos Sarvary, Director of the International Centre for Learning Innovation, says:

As an educational institution providing high quality education, we try to give a lot of information in a very short period of time to very busy people. One barrier that we face is taking executives away from their daily work. Their absence can cost the company a lot of money, on top of travel and hotel expenses. Second Life can dramatically reduce these costs as our virtual campus allows faculty to keep in touch with participants, helping them to implement skills and knowledge learnt from attending a programme at INSEAD for a fraction of the cost.

For a better idea of what INSEAD's Second Life campus looks like, there is currently a video tour on YouTube. More business schools are following in INSEAD's footsteps by creating a Second Life campus, as well as other online communities. Financial Times recently touched on this new trend, giving credit to INSEAD for its groundbreaking virtual campus. At this rate, perhaps all colleges will be attended virtually in the future.

By-line:

Susan Jacobs is a freelance writer as well as a regular contributor for CollegeDegree.com, a site helping students select an online college degree. Susan invites your questions, comments and freelancing job inquiries at her email address susan.jacobs45@gmail.com.

Zani takes a break

original at http://www.inseadblogger.com

Hi guyz,

Unfortunately I am very busy at the moment and I am in no mood to post at the meantime. I would like to write about the insead application period and other subjects but it will be at least 1 week until my next article appears.

Cheers

todays' discussion with Frank

original at http://www.inseadblogger.com

Zanatos is on his way to the airport. will he be on time? time will tell. On the train now looking at the clock and also blogging.

China is waiting for me like always. i just learned I will have to stay at the same hotel like the last 4 years.

Today although it was my day off I had to wake up earlier than normal and attend an Insead event in Ark hills. It was a breakfast session with our Dean. What was really interesting and a bit over the top was the place.

it was an insead event but the hosts wouldnt let anybody enter unless he was wearing a full suit and a tie. I found that rule inflexible and a unecessary. thanl god i always carry a tie with me just for these cases.

Frank, the dean started the session by telling us about Insead, how it is doing and some changhes it is facing. What really surprised me was the emphasis he had on faculty and endowments.

He said that out of the worlds top ten phd programs, 8 of them are in the US and only 2 outside. There is big competition for talented faculty because all the top schools try to get people from those programs. Frank promised even better faculty in the future.

The second issue he reffered to was scholarships. He said and he has a point that Insead, only a business school cannot have a very big endowment compared to harvad, eg. that makes INsead Not able to compete when it comes to scholarships. that rings true for african applicants. INSEAD he said needs to avoid becoming the BUSSINES SCHOOL for the rich world.

Having said he let us know for many new developments. first of Americans are learning hopw to pronounce Insead. This year 10% of the student body comes from the USA. there is a new public relation office in New York.

The abu Dhabi campus has started its function. Insead is going up the rankings. Still the only business school that has two autonomous and independent campuses in 2 different continents.

Here is the hot piece of news though. Remember u heard that first at Zanat0s blog. Singapore campus will start having 3 sections. that means more people will get to start in Singapore. And also according to Frank the taxi drivers now pronounce Insead correct.

The executive education is booming in the singapore campus and everything is according to plan.

By the way i got on the train at the nick of time.

cheers

Brekafast with Frank Brown, Insead dean

In Tokyo Listening Live to frankie, our dean. i am having breakfast with Insead japanese alumni with a view to kill.

i am the only one who is flying to China later today so that means no blog access. He is talking about Phd programs. there is a war for professors with skills.

Preparing for Job INterviews how to land your perfect job after MBA

Original at http://www.inseadblogger.com

After a long time of silence(give me a break) I am back to provide information especially for INSEAD and other MBA students.

When you are trying to make it to the Big League—the one that places you closer to the power centers in a company — after the MBA(or even without it) it is quite probable the interview process will be different. The more senior or powerful the person or people you're interviewing with, the more definite their ideas are likely to be about what they're looking for. They are aware their own success/ accomplishments depend on the people the will give responsibilities to

So how do you prove your ability to enter the big leagues? How do you show that your previous experiences and your newly acquired MBA are a definite plus? By thinking like you are already part of the big league. This interview will be different from others, but it will be your best(and only) chance to impress the gatekeepers, so there are some agreements you want to be certain you get across. Here are what to do during the process:

See the forest, not the tree

Many number of interview candidates may possess specific subject-knowledge valuable to a business. But the candidate who goes beyond mere information and displays an ability to use it well is more likely to get the job. Leaders are the ones who “understand” the big picture and do not get lost in details

advice: Prove the ability to see patterns and understand their relevance; that you know how to take advantage and amalgamate information.

Think like your boss may think

Do your homework so you comprehend not only the position you are applying for but also the job of the one you will reporting to. Do you know what challenges you boss faces and what his boss faces?

advice: Be pro-active do take the discussion there. Show an awareness not only in the semantics of the job, but in the industry you are focusing on. Ask broad questions: "What do you think will influence our growth in Europe in the next 3 years?"

Have answers not questions

Nobody will pay you if you go to them with questions. Every executive wants its direct reports to face challenges and not give up. Have answers to questions and solutions to problems. To understand the problem won’t bring any value unless one can also offer an answer

advice: Be ready to show that you have been there before and that you have the capability of tackling difficult issues who are not yet concrete.

Do not be timid

Speak up. Do not be intimidated. Probably the interviewer will try to corner but never lose composure. To know how to regulate emotions is a must and a skill ones has to master. There will be some tough questions. They can only be dealt with good answers.

advice: Think of it as a game. If you lose your clam you lose your job.

Hard skills are important but they are not the ones one focuses on

Hard skills are a must but not forget that PCs are unbeatable. Humans though have soft skills. Prove it!

advice: People skills are of the essence so that you get people. Most definitely you will be responsible for a team or a division. Without the ability to lead people you will be in trouble

Listen

Just as you want to make it plain in an interview that you are not too timid to speak up, you want to make it clear you are a snart-ass or a guy-who-knows-it-all. Listening is more difficult. Do not be an alpha male(female). Remember what germans say? Speaking is silver, silence is gold.

advice: Ask questions and try to be liked. Ask for advice or try to make the interviewer speak more.

Do no be a cry baby

If there's one thing managers detest with all their heart, it's complaining. Remember, every hiring manager wants to bring in a team player who will bring positive energy and real initiative to the job. Stimorol add: When you have nothing good to say get a stimorol and just chew. Be positive but up to a point.

TIP: Steer clear of any criticism of prior managers, do not point fingers. They will forgive your past if you forgive others’ past.

Insead Career fair 2008. Impressions, Career Decisions

read original at http://zanat0s.typepad.com

Zanat0s back in Tokyo!

It feels strange to go the office when you travel non stop. the office is not anymore a place nor a function, just a location.

Last week at Insead I stumbled across the career fair. I can easily say the event was better than the one our promotion had.

The career services pointed that fact clearly to me. It was good last year that we expressed some concers and pointed to some factors which needed improvement.

Career services listened to our feedback and this time they did a better job. still though since the singapore campus is new there is room for improvement; especially for the july promotion.

What was better this time? first of all there were more companies coming to recruit. Not only there were more but of better quality too. i saw some old classmates who were recruiting now and i had a chat with them.

The whole ambience was better and the companies had interesting position to offer. It was more professionally done and a cocktail followed after the event to allow or some more casual chatting.

zanat0s wants to congratulate the career services for theior efforts. but he now has even higher standards.

Jobs, interviews and rumblings

read original at http://zanat0s.typepad.com

Previous meeting is over. Now going to the doctor through the manila traffic. this post will be the frst one i wrotte and pusblished in different time intervals. I have to say I enjoy mobile blogging, adds to productivity.

Starting with where I stopped. I will examine the students' claim and build upon that. The students say there are not enough jobs. The above statement may be a bit immature.

First of all I have already explained in previous posts that the July promotion always has a more difficult time than the December one. simple... The companies have their hiring cycle and in most cases it is around the 3rd quarter. Not many companies have standardised hiring processess around April. The july promotion also faces hurdles in getting into finance.

by the way Manila traffic sucks..

Insead students have a shorter time frame than other mbas to find a gd job. More pressure leads to stress. A lot of students find their job after graduation or close to that.

Now to give credit to the students.... There was a record of apicants to Philips this year. 70 applications! Broke all previous records.

Is this application overload justified? one must not look at micro level but at macro. 3 situation1: USA mbas are feeling the pinch so they start looking for jobs outside the states which drives up competition and demands for positions in Europe and in Asia. Also a lot of international MBAs prefer to be outside a dollardenominated country for their own sake.

2:) Companies have stopped hiring not only in the states but also globally. This is the worst scenario possible. This can resemble 2001 and 2202 where it was a buyer's market.

3:)students just believe the hype

Insead & Internships

Read original at http://zanat0s.typepad.com

During my Visit to Insead last week I was approached by many December 09 students who had one single question running in their Mind: How to get Internships and how to make those internships a full time job. For the ones unrelated to Insead I need to state that the January Intake have the extra benefit of doing an Internship during the summer vacations. It is a good way to land a job. The company can screen you and see you on action, while the applicant can try the environment and make a more informed decision. I know people whose “dream” was to be an IBer but after 2 months they found out that that career step would be a really bad idea for them.

More companies are treating internship programs as extended job interviews for full-time positions. But unlike a straightforward interview, it's not always clear who you have to impress or how the decision maker will evaluate you. To assist the readers I talked with some December 06 and 08 who got their jobs after their summer internship. I have included their tips in the following post

First of all ASK QUESTIONS. As simple as it sounds it is simply essential. A well rounded candidate must be able to profess his mastery of the business as well as what the company expects from its employees.
TAKE INITIATIVE. If you are waiting to be told what you need to do then you are wasting your time and the company’s. Try on your own to do things(just avoid Jerome Kerviel’s steps). Be bold and show you have leadership traits. Do not be led but LEAD.
Sometimes interns don't get the most glamorous jobs, but don't complain. If you can STAY POSITIVE in any environment, it will help you when it comes time for th

INSEAD scholarships

this post is done within a taxi stuck in the rainy parts of Manila.

road warrior. blogging on the road is becoming me. I got mails and messages from students, accepted, in the july 2009 promotion. It seems there is application fever for scholarships.

I am not the right person to ask for this as I was admitted in June after the deadline. for better or for worse i didn't have to go through the fear of more applications.

I understand that prices have gone up since I studied. for europeans the increase is manageable, 10%. people who use dollars thought may be in for a pinch. therefore a scholarship will b more than wellcome.

unfortunately now insead applicants are competing with their classmates as the number of scholarships is not enough to go around. what i can suggest is this...

apply for the scholarship you stand more chances of getting. for example a female lady from new caledonia stands more chances than a german guy to get the diversity scholarship( i assume).

DO NOT send the same essays to different scholarships. I believe it is the same guys who go through them, same comittees.

look for special scholarships that go around. for example swedish apply for some national scholarships provided by institutions, greeks get them from shipping tycoons. just use google, the best source of information.

try to avoid scholarship which come with strings attached...

the taxi arrived at its destination. let me just say that it must be a global phenomenon taxi drivers in developing countries(including greece) trying thier best to rip off the white guy( or tourist, or wearing a suit) as much as possibe. havin a fight and i never enjoy being ripped off, even when it is expensed.

now i am at the place i am supposed to have my meeting and it is closed. that sucks. anyway more time to blog.

oo now i remembered. you asked about loans. I think you should contact insead but our class used a special loan from HSBC and the next one applied to BNP. what will you do? now interest rates are falling in the states.that is good. try to get a loan which starts getting repaid after 1 year post graduation.

cheers.