It is said that “A wise man will make more opportunities than he finds”. And yesterday’s IMD MBA Global Talent Forum provided the same chance. We welcomed a variety of potential recruiters to campus and it was a platform for us to shine, network and demonstrate what we MBAs can bring to a company.
The day started with the keynote speaker, Keith McGlone, Director DBSO Growth from Danaher Corporation. He shared Danaher’s Philosophy on continuous improvement and leadership behavior and how it drives every aspect of their culture and performance. It was heartening to hear about the success stories of previous IMD MBAs at Danaher and it certainly reinforced our belief that the IMD MBA program is a perfect breeding ground for aspiring leaders. He concluded his speech with great tips and advice on the need for humility combined with confidence, the importance of building teams and helping others advance, capability to communicate effectively, power of persuasion and authority, ability and agility to go both deep and wide and honesty and candour as key strengths that a leader should seek.
The networking part of the day offered a plethora of companies across verticals from large organizations to start-ups. Danaher was joined by other organizations such as Hilti, AlixPartners, Logitech, JTI, Cisco, Co-Ro, Nexthink, Imperial Brands, Camper, See Your Box and Sunstar. Many of us used this opportunity to make deeper connections, learn about different corporate cultures, explore potential openings and in certain cases impress the recruiters enough to get an interview. What impressed me personally during my conversations was that it was an equal opportunity for not only the companies to evaluate us as a potential fit but also us to understand if the organization’s direction fits with our own value system and long-term goals.
Here are instances of how we leveraged the interactions through the Forum in furthering our journey towards our dream jobs and a few snippets of what my classmates had to say about the day:
Paula went with one goal in mind, wanted more specific info about target company – got the answers which helped prepare her for next steps with confidence. Matteo found it to be great opportunity to get to know companies he hadn’t spoken to before, explore companies outside plan A. While his focus is technology, he could talk to companies from pharma, construction, tobacco etc – all in one place. Fabiana felt that it was both a chance to connect with companies and meet the people who work there to get a feel for shared values, which surprisingly wasn’t a priority when she started the program but now is an important factor for her post MBA career decision. Jag was excited to see the number of people representing the different companies and thought it was impressive considering the small size of our MBA cohort. Sakshi quoted “all companies had their own space and there was room for everyone to interact. I even got a chance to reconnect with companies which had closed their deadlines for applications”.
Till next time ?
-Neharika
