Amitte

My name is Amitte. I am originally from India but moved to Portugal when I was a child. My education is a Ph.D. in Technologic Chemistry from the University of Lisbon. I started my career as a Research Technician at the Laboratory of Organic Technology at the Institute of Chemical Technology in Prague. I also worked as a Superior Technician of Research at the Institute of Nuclear Technology at Lisbon before joining Solvay, an advanced materials and specialty chemicals company.

My education ensured that my career took shape in a very technical environment. But after over 13 years at Solvay, I realized that the time for a change was here. I decided to aim for a career switch into a more managerial position probably a business unit manager and I felt that without a proper education in business this career switch would not be possible. I chose INSEAD as it has a unique EMBA program in that it has three advantages. First, INSEAD has an incredible network both within and outside of Europe. Second, it is a dual management program that prepares its students for a leadership position and third, its location of INSEAD is perfect for me as I could easily work and study during the weekdays and travel to Portugal to be with my family on other days.

The first difficulty I found was finding the time to prepare for the MBA. As I mentioned, I work in Brussels during the week and travel to Lisbon during weekends to be with my family. So finding the time to work on my GMAT and the applications in the midst of my schedule was quite difficult.

Another difficulty I faced was the application process itself. INSEAD has a management test that you take on campus on the day of the interview. Both these were problematic for me but I get the support of Dr. Hubert Silly and the MBA Center who guided me well and helped me be very productive. As MBA Center has a very close collaboration with INSEAD, the coach I worked with had deep knowledge about the management test and gave me lessons and practice and put me in a situation where I was prepared and not surprised during the day of the test.

Being a part of the student body at INSEAD was a wonderful experience. I got to experience first hand the quality of the program and was very impressed by the material. I have also managed to create my own network of professionals through the various programs that were organized by the student body for that benefit.

The MBA is a big commitment. People need to understand what they are putting their feet into. One of the biggest problems will be to reconcile work, family life, and an MBA. Of course, there are big names in the market but being a part of those might be impractical for you for various reasons. SO find a practical program for yourself that will help you in your personal and professional growth.

Look for a program that is in line with what you are aiming for professionally. I was also accepted at Chicago Booth School of Business but I found out that the program is mainly for people working in London and aiming to work in finance, not what I wanted to do. Also, Chicago would not have helped me to reach my target.

I was very pleased with my collaboration with the MBA Center as they were able to help me at each stage of the application process, right from GMAT to the interviews. I owe a great deal of my success to the great professionalism and help provided by MBA Center and Dr. Hubert Silly.