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MBA - New Visions, New Ambitions

There are many reasons for deciding to do an MBA programme but with a strong insistence on personal development, personalised career coaching and managerial competencies, sometimes original plans can give way to new ambitions. Welcome to the Theseus-EDHEC MBA!

As the programme enters its final lap, several MBA participants have already lined up high-profile jobs and taken on new challenges. Others have adopted the entrepreneurial spirit that the MBA encourages and are already working on their own start ups and takeovers. For many, this life changing experience has meant a reorientation towards a direction that they would never have dreamed of at the start of the programme but one to which they have become drawn as the programme developed.

chrisG "I was an engineer in the food industry until I started my MBA." explains current participant Christophe Gilles. "Now I'm in the process of building up a new company based in Cannes, France; Algovital, in Essential Oils and Wellbeing. I knew I wanted to take over a company one day and I seized the opportunity when it presented itself. While there are many similarities in the two industries, there are countless differences too! I used my network to find private financial partners and bought a business. I'm now creating my own business based on the brand name, goodwill and formulas. The MBA really taught me a lot about elaborating and presenting a business plan and how to approach financial partners. Now I'm looking at how to get a 0% loan and the courses we had on Finance really make me more convincing in these negotiations."

career options

Careers changes can sometimes also mean participants returning to their company but in another position and MBA participants now have a degree that provides them with both the skills and the arguments to move into new fields. Some participants have embarked upon major changes in activities such as the event manager turned private banker or the physiotherapist who turned to marketing. Of course there is still a high percentage of participants who have stayed faithful to their original plans and companies such as PriceWaterhouseCooper, Cap Gemeni, Amadeus and Samsung have either hired or are showing keen interest in these graduates-to-be.

specialised careers programme


careers serviceClosely accompanied by EDHEC's Careers Service from Day 1, the careers team has adapted its service to fill the specific needs of the MBA profiles. Sandra Richez - EDHEC's International Career Advisor develops further. "MBA participants are often in the process of re-thinking their career orientation and use their course as a catalyst for changing their career paths, launching an entrepreneurial project, or discovering new sectors and locations. To accompany them, EDHEC pools the resources of both student and alumni Careers Centres. With the MBA participants, we take an individualised approach, since there is an extremely broad diversity of profiles and career orientations."

All through the academic year, a Careers Centre programme is integrated into the MBA programme. Each MBA student will participate in 10 days of career-related sessions over the year, in areas such as Case Study interviewing, preparation for psychometric tests or competency interviewing. Furthermore, MBA participants will benefit from two personal coaching sessions with a high-level professional coach in addition to Career Advising services available to them throughout the year. These reinforced career services are complemented by MBA-specific on-line resources like Vault, MBA Exchange, Going Global, Top Consultants, Career Leader, and the Carnet Alliance. An annual international recruitment fair, major job forum and ongoing corporate events on campus complete the programme.

new in 2008

metaisTheseus-EDHEC MBA Programme Director, Professor Emmanuel Metais explains the further developments aimed at increasing the students' job prospects. "Candidates are choosing our MBA with a view to developing their career and we have to provide them with a service that will help them move onwards and upwards. As such we have plans to further develop our relationships with multinational companies which will facilitate the transition to a new career.
As of September 2008, the Theseus-EDHEC MBA will be a part of the EDHEC Executive Business Unit so there will be increased synergies with EDHEC Business School Executive Education activities, as well as the Executive MBA located on our second campus in Lille.
Programme content changes include even more importance paid to personal development and coaching and more emphasis placed on entrepreneurship, finance and capital investment where EDHEC Business School's reputation is renowned on an international scale."

Programme developments
Already a much-appreciated course in the MBA curriculum, next year's Global Business Module will include new country visits while other novel modules will include the visits of atypical organisations to study different management styles in action.

As an active introduction to the Theseus-EDHEC MBA programme, the expertise of the renowned Dale Carnegie Training has been called upon to boost next year's participants' skills set in a fast moving intensive training course. This course incorporates coaching in managerial skills such as time management and high-impact presentations which will then serve them throughout the rest of the programme.

With all these changes forecast for next year's intake, the idea of New Visions, New Ambitions looks set to continue. Admissions for next year's MBA class are well underway and currently include 9 different nationalities with candidates of an average of 7 years professional experience.

Written by NIKKI HARLE
Date of update August 1, 2008

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