The Touch MBA Admissions Podcast

How can younger candidates compensate for their lack of experience? What are admissions committees looking for in younger candidates? Darren covers 5 tips to show you belong and will be a valued member of your MBA class.

Season your application with these 5 ingredients and you'll improve your chances:

1. Strong academic track record
2. Contribution inside class and in student life
3. Atypical, exceptional impact
4. Professionalism
5. Maturity

Gilbert Chua, Deputy Director of Marketing, Recruitment & Admissions at Nanyang Business School, discusses what makes the Nanyang MBA unique, the school’s admissions process, career opportunities and more.

Program Highlights (2:30) | Admissions (11:50) | Scholarships (31:45) | Careers (34:20)

About Our Guest

Gilbert Chua is the Deputy Director of Marketing, Recruitment & Admissions at Nanyang Business School. Gilbert previously served as Head of Recruitment & Admissions for Singapore Management University's Postgraduate Programmes, where he also got his EMBA.

What is unique about the Nanyang MBA? What are its key advantages?

• 1-year program includes 9 core courses + 4 electives + 1 leadership module + 1 business study mission + 1 strategy project, with option to add a summer / fall exchange or get Double Masters with Waseda (Japan), St. Gallen (Switzerland) or Essec (France)
• Offers 5 concentrations in Banking & Finance, Strategy & Innovation, General Management, Marketing Management, Human Capital Management, and Strategy Projects
• Admissions looking for academic capacity, those with "T-shaped" leadership potential, ability to contribute in classroom, and cultural adaptability
• The Nanyang MBA was ranked the 35th worldwide by Financial Times (2020) and 73rd worldwide by the Economist (2019), and Nanyang Technological University was ranked 48th Worldwide in the Times Higher Education's World University Rankings (2020)

Episode summary, show notes and more at: https://touchmba.com/nanyang-mba-program-admissions-interview-gilbert-chua

Francesca Roveda, a member of the recruiting and admissions team for SDA Bocconi’s MBA program, discusses what makes the SDA Bocconi MBA unique, the school’s admissions process, career opportunities and more.

Program Highlights (5:30) | Admissions (28:26) | Financing & Scholarships (48:00) | Careers (55:30)

Francesca Roveda recruits candidates for the MBA, Executive MBA and Specialized Masters program for Bocconi University’s School of Management. Francesca has been with Bocconi for nearly 30 years, starting in the marketing office and then moving over to recruiting and admissions in 2008.

• Located in downtown Milan, which has the third largest economy among EU cities after Paris and Madrid and is recognized as one of the world’s finance and fashion capitals; Paris, London and Barcelona are a one-hour flight away
• SDA Bocconi MBA starts in September and lasts 12 months
• 100 students per class from 30 countries; 75% of students are from outside Italy
• Admissions is looking for applicants who truly listen and respect diversity and have strong interpersonal skills to work in groups
• Students can specialize in Finance, Marketing & Innovation, Entrepreneurship and Luxury Business Management
• SDA Bocconi is celebrating its 50th birthday in 2021

Episode write-up and show notes: https://touchmba.com/sda-bocconi-mba-program-admissions-interview-francesca-roveda

Get free, personalized school selection help at Touch MBA: https://touchmba.com

Darren invites Susan Bertulli, Director, MBA Career Management at Ivey Business School at Western University to discuss MBA employment reports. First, why and how are MBA employment reports produced? Then, what should you look for? Which employment figures and statistics matter? How can you use them to shortlist b-schools and plan your career?

The Ivey MBA has been ranked #1 in Canada for five years running by Bloomberg Businessweek for both student and recruiter satisfaction, so don't miss this inside look into how a top MBA career services team produces their employment report.

Questions

• Susan's background (5:00)
• The role of MBA career services (6:55)
• The challenges of MBA career management in a 1-year MBA program (9:12)
• What applicants should look for from MBA career management teams (12:16)
• The context surrounding MBA employment reports (14:30)
• The challenges of producing an annual employment report (18:00)
• Key figures for applicants to focus on (20:43)
• How applicants can approach career services with employment statistics questions (26:15)
• Does a business school's size affect diversity of industry recruiters? (30:17)
• Understanding a school's list of recruiting firms (34:00)
• How should applicants use employment reports to shortlist b-schools (39:40)
• How applicants can show employability in MBA interviews (42:30)
• MBA Career services: expectations vs reality (44:47)
• Actions of students & alumni that succeed in their career search (48:00)
• Have employers' criteria changed for MBAs? (50:20)
• Susan's recommended resources for career planning (53:05)

About our Guest

Susan Bertulli is Director, MBA Career Management at Ivey Business School at Western University, where she manages student engagement in career planning, from admissions through to job employment. Over her 10+ years with Ivey, MBAs have achieved 90% placement with over 90% of the students reporting on their success. Susan also serves on several boards including the Dorchester Minor Hockey Association and St. Peter’s Anglican Church.

Episode summary, show notes and more at: http://touchmba.com/behind-the-scenes-mba-employment-report

Why did an American Ivy League graduate decide to pursue an MBA in China?

In 2015 Jesse Miller decided to pursue his MBA at CEIBS, ranked #11 worldwide by the Financial Times in 2017 and China's top-ranked program.

Jesse discusses the pros and cons of pursuing a top-ranked MBA in Asia, his experience as a minority American student at CEIBS (Shanghai) and ISB (Hyderabad) where he studied one semester, and how he jumped from working in fashion to the entertainment industry. Jesse also shares his thoughts on the startup and entrepreneurship environment in China.

Listen to one applicant's take on using the MBA to chart your own path.

Questions

• Jesse's background (4:06)
• Why Jesse chose to study in China after graduating from a top US university (7:14)
• The case for and against getting an MBA in China (9:06)
• How Jesse secured his internship and job (14:50)
• CEIBS' alumni network and student clubs (17:26)
• Jesse's thoughts on CEIBS' reputation inside and outside of China (21:00)
• Exchanging for 3 months at the Indian School of Business (23:00)
• Jesse's thoughts on the startup and entertainment industry in China (27:20)
• Jesse's final thoughts on who should pursue MBAs in China (33:16)

About Our Guest

Jesse Miller graduated from Brown University where he majored in Political Science and Government. He then led the expansion of his family jewelry business into China. At CEIBS, Jesse was President of the CEIBS MBA Energy and Environment Club and played an active role in CEIBS eLab Incubator. Jesse speaks fluent Chinese and recently started working as an International Development Manager at Shanghai Media Group, one of China's largest media conglomerates.

Episode summary, show notes and more at: http://touchmba.com/charting-your-own-path-in-china-ceibs

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