That five-year stretch is impressive. But surrounded by colleagues with degrees from prestigious business schools, Javier felt he needed an MBA to progress in his career.
He opted for EDHEC Business School over its European competitors such as INSEAD for, among other reasons, its strong employment prospects and mix of international students — there are more than 90 nationalities on campus.
During the degree, Javier has visited Singapore, met chief executive officers, inspiring entrepreneurs, and is currently delivering a strategy project for a Monaco client in Tanzania, the east African nation.
When and why did you decide to get an MBA?
My first contact with the letters M, B and A go back to 2009, when I was taking a management postgraduate course in London. Right after finishing the course I started working at Accenture Management Consulting. Many of my colleagues in strategy consulting decided to take an MBA at some point in their careers.
I decided to get an MBA because of three main reasons:
· To step out from consulting and think carefully about my next move, and to explore new career paths internationally.
· To acquire solid financial acumen, which I was lacking, and which I think is essential for anyone aiming for a managerial position.
· To take my leadership skills to the next level.
Why EDHEC Business School?
Well, I’ll share my rational with you in a few steps:
· Because of the concentration of good schools and potential MBA jobs, I decided to focus on Europe and the US.
· I then discarded the US because of the length and cost of the MBA program (2-years and around $250,000 total investment) versus Europe (1-year and €100,000).
· Within the EU, I wanted to go to a country where I had the opportunity to learn a third language, and so I picked France.
· I then looked at the MBA rankings to come up with a list of the top MBA programs in France — INSEAD, HEC Paris and EDHEC.
· Finally, I spent considerable time researching about the educational experience, potential employers, mix of international students, and value for money and location, and decided on EDHEC — the choice that was going to maximize my time and money invested.
What are your thoughts on the global leadership track?
I am beyond satisfied with the quality and organization of the track. I took courses on strategy, design thinking and managing global projects.
The week in Singapore was exceptional, with world-class guests on campus (like Pierre Verdière and Michel Beaugier, CEO of Hermes Asia and former president of P&G Asia respectively), visits to several companies, and the opportunity to listen to young entrepreneurs pitching their ideas at Finlab.
All in all, the track gives you a unique perspective on leadership, as well as the tools to lead and find alternative approaches in a constantly changing world.
Tell us about your MBA Strategy Project in Monaco and Tanzania!
It’s exciting and complex.
The project is about scaling up a business based in Monaco that invests capital and expertise in rural areas via franchising both nationally and internationally. So, our goal is to define a franchising strategy.
It’s a demanding project not only because of its short duration (two months), but because it requires us to become experts on franchising, as well as to develop an exhaustive benchmark of countries where the client could potentially expand.
Having a team of exceptional individuals from Armenia, France, Mexico and Canada makes everything much easier!
What are your key takeaways from working as an Operations Strategy Consultant with Accenture?
Attitude, attitude, attitude.
I have learnt that today, what you know is not differential. What does make a difference is how fast you can adapt and learn, your ability to keep evolving, to change when needed, to be fearless and make mistakes, to take decisions, to own your actions, to be proactive and to create new paths.
Knowledge and experience are unquestionably valuable assets, yet people solely relying on those fail to succeed when out of their comfort zones.
What are your tips for getting hired by Accenture?
Accenture constantly looks for exceptional consultants. You should be very familiar with what consultants do and prove that you could be one of them.
Consultants….
· Don’t know when the day ends, they just know when it starts.
· Will be expected to deliver yesterday, and be told about that today.
· Will be assigned to projects they don’t know anything about.
· Dream in slides.
· See matrices everywhere.
· Are the ones who speak when no one says anything.
· Do version 134 before delivering the final document.
· Are team players.
You’ll also have to do a case. For that, the book “Case in Point” by Marco Cosentino is helpful. Just remember, the purpose of a case is not to solve it, but to show your rational; how you structure your thinking to arrive at a conclusion.
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