The London Business School Q&A

London Business School MBA student Peter Roos, an Austrian national, has enjoyed a career that has taken him through Germany, Austria and then to China and India. Now, Roos heads up his own consultancy in Hong Kong in addition to pursuing his MBA at LBS.

 

The international connections of LBS made the school feel like a natural fit for Roos, he said, because he has already spent time studying and working abroad: he spent his secondary school years in the US, went to college in Switzerland before beginning his international career. We caught up with Roos to hear more about how he ended up at LBS and how he landed an internship at Johnson & Johnson this summer!

 

I started my career as assistant to the CEO of a German company and worked there for two years and then joined an Austrian industrial group. I later became a sourcing director in China, which was very exciting working with suppliers in the Chinese countryside. Then I became managing director of one of their subsidiaries: a furniture company with customers in 55 countries.

 

Prior to joining LBS, I went to Hong Kong where I set up my own business which is a small consulting company that helps SMEs find their way through the jungle of Chinese manufacturers. We help them conduct quality control, assist them in selecting the right suppliers; basically, what we are doing is helping companies that are small, but still want to source in China. I, more or less, combined the knowledge from my previous jobs to set up this company called VAMOAS Advisory Services; it’s a two or three-person operation at the moment.

 

I wanted to gain access to opportunities, to meet new people from all across the globe and to learn about new companies and exchange ideas. Working on my own for small and medium-sized enterprises, I knew there is still an opportunity to fine-tune my personal and professional soft skills. An MBA is a great opportunity to do it. Also, after seven years of working, I wanted to academically challenge myself again. After being in the routine of working, you really don’t have the time to challenge yourself academically.

 

First of all, what I realized is that LBS is international in a different sense. Just in my study group, there is an Indian entrepreneur, a Russian scientist, an Italian consultant and an American media specialist. It is really international and really diverse. The other thing that I really enjoy about LBS is the programme’s flexibility. At the beginning, I wasn’t really sure I wanted to commit for two years. I was actually more keen to do a one-year programme, but now I am realizing how valuable the two years are. It gives me the opportunity to do an exchange and a second internship if I want. I can finish in 18 months or 21 months, which gives you lots of flexibility.

 

My summer internship is with Johnson & Johnson in Dubai. Without LBS, I wouldn’t have had this opportunity. The relationship of the school with employers and, obviously, the brand of the school gives me an advantage. It’s definitely easier to get employers’ attention than before my MBA.

 

A good school and a good candidate don’t necessarily fit together, so I would recommend first for you to find out what your focus is. So find out if you want to work in the US or internationally, what industry you want to work in, etc. These questions should narrow down the choice of schools, but if you still haven’t narrowed it down completely, I would recommend relying on your gut feeling. Meet people from the school, go there and find out what feels right. Don’t go by rankings: you have to be comfortable. These are the people you will be working with and hanging out with and, in the end, they will be your network.