MY B-SCHOOL BLOG

My b-school journey, from GMAT to apps to interviews to ACTUAL BUSINESS SCHOOL. Lived in New York for 10 years then off to France to get my MBA...! Writing about school, careers, inspirations, learning French, and adjusting to a new culture. (function(i,s,o,g,r,a,m){i['GoogleAnalyticsObject']=r;i[r]=i[r]||function(){ (i[r].q=i[r].q||[]).push(arguments)},i[r].l=1*new Date();a=s.createElement(o), m=s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];a.async=1;a.src=g;m.parentNode.insertBefore(a,m) })(window,document,'script','//www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js','ga'); ga('create', 'UA-48769600-1', 'tumblr.com'); ga('send', 'pageview');

[bschoolblog]

Things people have said to me at my internship:

“I’m so glad you’re here! We need more Americans”

“You are moving from agency to corporate, from NY to Paris? At the headquarters? Good luck.”

“Do we HAVE to spell your name right on the e-mail address? It’s going to take another week to fix.” (after they already made a mistake the first time).

“It’s 7:30pm, and you’re leaving already? This is your first year there, you should stay later.”

“You’re leaving at 6pm? Why don’t you just take the entire day off.”

Beginning of internship: “We’re so glad to have you, we need more people with digital experience.” End of internship: “Well now that you’ve been in school, you’ve been out of the field for almost a year now. You’re out of touch.”

“I annoy everyone at work by showing up to all of my meetings on time.”

[bschoolblog]

Truths About B-School

· You better know what you want to do before you get here, because there isn’t a lot of time to figure it out. The people that make the most out of B-school hit the ground running.

· Researching / Interviewing / Recruiting for jobs is a full time job in itself. You can never start too early!!! 

· Don’t try to have a secret. People will find out. 

· Always err on the side of nice. You never know when you will be placed with someone again. Don’t want bad blood. Plus, just in general be a nice human being. If you have a problem, discuss it like an adult. 

· Nothing will be perfect. But, you have to make the most out of it. Sometimes that means having to say “no” to certain things, or a lot of things, or something you really want but just can’t make it work right now. 

· In the end, schoolwork kind of becomes the last priority... just don’t fail out of your classes :)

[bschoolblog]

My first recruitment event

Interviewer: If you could sum up your dream job in one sentence, what would it be?

Me: I just want to get paid to make cool things.

[bschoolblog]

Woohoo! One of the reasons I chose my school, it's at the top of the list for best ROI. Source: The Economist

[bschoolblog]

What? You're going to France?! That's a big change. You've been a good tenant. Call me if you move back to New York.

My landlord. 

Aw, I got the New York landlord seal of approval. Don't worry Joe, I got your back. I tell everyone to call you when they're looking for an apartment. 

[bschoolblog]

Commandments for Living (& Surviving) in New York

Advice from a 10-year New Yorker.

An ode to my home for the last ten years. Another blog I started in the cloudy inspiration of procrastination.

[bschoolblog]

I watched "The 100-foot Journey" last night. An indian family opens an Indian restaurant across the street from a Michelin-starred French restaurant. Cutthroat competition, cultural clashes, hijinks, and romance ensues. It is a film produced by high-powered Americans (Oprah, Steven Spielberg), directed by a Swiss man, shot in France, and featuring storied Indian, British, and French actors. It was completely picturesque and heartwarming, like how a movie made by foreigners about France would feel like, hahaha. 

Other good French foodie movies to watch: Haute Cuisine: based on the true story of the former private chef of Francois Mitterand Kings of Pastry: follow a pastry chef compete for the title of Meilleur Ouvrier de France (Best Craftsman in France)

Photos by Francois Duhamel - © DreamWorks II Distribution Co., LLC. 

[bschoolblog]

Preparations continue...

A week of farewells, saying goodbye and not knowing when/if you'll ever see someone again. A week of updating addresses, alerting credit card companies, closing utilities accounts, and more.

When i called my credit card co.'s to alert them of my travel, all of the representatives were REALLY psyched that I'm going to school in France! I think so far their reactions have been among the most enthusiastic of everyone! mort de rire. 

[bschoolblog]

B-School Countdown

Trains it took to get from my first interview in London to Paris to my second interview on campus: 4 (and 1 bus!) Months I have been studying French: 7 (depuis mars) Weeks it took me to get my long-stay visa: 7  Total hours spent waiting at the Fr. consulate: 4 Days left until I depart: 8 Months of the program: 16

IT IS NIGH! 

I have been meeting with a few alumni and a fellow incoming New Yorker, and the incoming class has been chatting up a storm on Facebook and Whatsapp from across the world. We even made a nifty little video to celebrate our diverse backgrounds.

I am equal parts terrified, nervous, excited, and uplifted to start not just school, but an entirely new chapter of my life. Everyone has been sincere and eager to help each other. I have a good feeling about the class of 2016. 

BON COURAGE!

[bschoolblog]

L’Oréal make-up goes virtual for selfie age - FT.com

"According to an annual survey rel­eased this month by KPMG, the professional services provider, digital strategy and data analytics head the list of concerns of consumer goods companies. The issue has supplanted last year’s big worry about how to get growth in the face of weak consumer demand.

Even though more than half the senior executives surveyed acknowledged the importance of digital, 32 per cent admitted being weak or having no capabilities in the field.

This lack of confidence partly reflects the industry’s relatively late adoption of digital technologies, following the telecoms, travel and other sectors. L’Oréal, for example, put its chief digital officer on its executive committee only in March this year."

[bschoolblog]

"These sectors are getting so close together that valued skills have less to do with specific product expertise than understanding how to push consumer buttons, create desire, communicate it and so on."

[bschoolblog]

I know rankings should be taken with a large grain of salt, but I can't help but brag a little bit more about the recent rankings from the Economist. #2 in Europe, and #8 in the world (ranked above Stanford!). Woo! 

Top 20 European MBA Programs: Small Classes, Big Money

[bschoolblog]

Vincent Cassel, French O.G.

This Friday, as part of the Masculin / Masculin Series, the French Embassy presents "La Haine" at Tompkins Sq. Park for an outdoor moving screening. 

[bschoolblog]

MOOCs (Massive Open Online Course)

I've been thinking of doing some initial accounting classes on coursera this summer to ready myself for the onslaught of finance classes at school. My future school just became the first in France to offer a MOOC. It drew more than 30,000 students on its debut.

Are MOOCs the trendy new thing in education? Can a digital learning experience be as enlightening as a physical classroom and interacting with fellow students? Will MOOCs change the face of developing nations as we know it? Are there future nobel peace prize laureates just waiting to have access to education? Will a MOOC change someone's life?

I am all for using digital technology to connect people and circumvent physical barriers, especially for arts and education (thus my adored love for Google Art Project & the Met Museum's Digital Collection). I hope that these digital experiences will inspire people to seek out art and education as physical experiences too. 

[bschoolblog]

Mobile Apps for Learning French

Here are some great ways to learn French on your commute or spare time. You may not become fluent playing these apps, but they provide a good base for initial vocabulary and basic grammar:

Mindsnacks (Free, but then you have to pay to upgrade for more levels) Fun graphics for a variety of mini-games, some of which I find slightly bizarre to be honest. I sometimes miss the simpler very old version of just matching pictures with words. But, helpful nonetheless, and keeps you very engaged. 

DuoLingo (Free!) Simple English to French and French to English translation exercises, plus some speaking (I get slightly hurt when it can't identify my accent). More straight forward and less game-oriented than MindSnacks, although you can unlock certain levels once you gather enough points. I unlocked French pick-up lines, it is hilariously cheesy! Try this next time you are at a bar: "Je ne suis pas saoul, je suis juste ivre de vous." Or maybe, don't. 

Besides fiddling with the apps on my subway rides, I'm currently taking a French class at FluentCity (locations all over the US) and Alliance Francaise (locations all over the world I believe?) is also a very popular option for learning French. 

My roommate also gave me a DVD by Michel Thomas. His voice is so soothing and almost hypnotic, he sounds like a kindly French grand-père. 

[bschoolblog]

Salary Survey: Creatives Are Most Sought-After, but See Smallest Raises

Creative talent is still the most sought after in the industry, but creatives' pay is rising the slowest, according to a survey by 24 Seven.

I have witnessed this first-hand: creatives stay at an agency for a while, they see little increase or reward in their salary. Then after being fed-up with company culture or burnt-out, they decide to leave and are offered a huge double-digit raise at their next job. The incumbent agency can either counter-offer, or just let the employee go. After awhile, we finally wise up and figure out that the best way to keep increasing our salary is to keep switching jobs. Not surprising in a field that has high turn-over. 

[bschoolblog]

Which Country In the World Best Fits Your Personality?

FRANCE! I'M READY!

(edit: so, 5 other friends who also took this quiz on Facebook also got the same result of "France." Is the quiz skewed? Do we all just like the same things? Should we all just move to France?!?!)