Arnaud

My name is Arnaud. I completed a Masters in Engineering, Mechanics from the Institut National des Sciences Appliquees de Lyon. I specialized in the aeronautical industry with a Master in Structures from the ISAE- SUPAERO. I worked in the same industry first as a Stress Engineer for GECI International, an Aircraft Structures Engineer at LATECOERE, as an Engineering Consultant for Airbus and as Senior Engineering Consultant at Denel Saab in Johannesburg over a ten year period. Apart from this, I played professional rugby in Lyon, France till the age of 24.

My education and career have been exclusively in the aeronautical sector. But I want to make a career switch as I want to work in business development in the space industry. Given my experience and my qualifications, it is impossible for me to make a career switch. That is why I decided to go for an MBA.

I chose London Business School because it is one of the few MBA programs that is a two-year program. As I want a career transition I need to be a part of a summer internship which is not something that I can do with a one year program at INSEAD. I have already attended pre MBA courses and I have found that the program, the people and the location are all very fantastic and I cannot wait to go there.

There were two difficult parts of the process. First of all, my English is good but having spent most of my life studying and working in France the verbal section of the GMAT proved a bit difficult. And to get the 700 that was necessary for LBS I had to work really hard on the verbal section of the GMAT. Fortunately, I received three levels of support at the MBA Center. First there was the Outstanding material from which I could really improve my grammar, second, the teachers were very patient and could see the problem the students were facing and explain accordingly and finally, MBA Center offers weekly GMAT tests in order to track the progress of the students which was very useful.

The second difficulty I faced was the application. As an engineer, I am not much of a writer. It was very difficult for me to explain my interests and motivation to the admissions committee having absolutely no experience in the field of entrepreneurship. Fortunately, I found the people who helped me with all this at the MBA Center.

I have not yet started my classes at LBS. but having attended the pre MBA program there I am eager to start my classes there. I am excited about the possibility of learning in a city that has a great deal of entrepreneurship and multiculturalism inherent in itself.

First of all, choose the right MBA program. I am the perfect example that the cheapest and most convenient MBA which is INSEAD was not the right program to make a career transition in my case. Be careful with rankings and networking opportunities. It means very little in the bigger course of things.

Secondly, study in the place where you feel that you will strive and develop. For me, it was in London. Also having spent most of my life in France it was important for me to go elsewhere.

Finally, I was recommended to the MBA Center by a friend of mine from school at INSA Lyon who got accepted to INSEAD and was very pleased with their services. It was a very good experience after which I recommended the MBA Center to two of my friends who themselves got into Yale and INSEAD. Needless to say that the MBA Center is the best place to go if you want to go to a great Business school.