{"id":11672,"date":"2018-10-03T11:38:14","date_gmt":"2018-10-03T06:08:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.reachivy.com\/?post_type=post&#038;p=11672"},"modified":"2024-08-17T14:21:07","modified_gmt":"2024-08-17T08:51:07","slug":"reachivy-exclusive-top-college-series-an-interview-with-iese-business-school-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.reachivy.com\/blog\/reachivy-exclusive-top-college-series-interview-with-iese-business-school","title":{"rendered":"ReachIvy Exclusive: Top College Series \u2013 An Interview with IESE Business School"},"content":{"rendered":"<span class=\"span-reading-time rt-reading-time\" style=\"display: block;\"><span class=\"rt-label rt-prefix\">Reading Time: <\/span> <span class=\"rt-time\"> 3<\/span> <span class=\"rt-label rt-postfix\">minutes<\/span><\/span><div style=\"float: left; margin: 10px 0 10px 0;\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-8866\" src=\"https:\/\/www.reachivy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Prateek-1-1.png\" alt=\"IESE Alumni - Prateek\" width=\"100%\" height=\"100%\" \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pinterest.com\/pin\/create\/button\/\" media=\"https:\/\/www.reachivy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Prateek-1-1.png\" data-pin-do=\"buttonPin\" data-pin-hover=\"true\"><br \/>\n<\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"blogbody\">\n<p><strong>Name: Prateek Choudhary<br \/>\nDesignation: Senior Product Manager, Amazon UK<br \/>\nSchool Name: IESE Business School, Barcelona- Graduated in 2015<\/strong><br \/>\n<span style=\"display: none;\">IESE Business School<\/span><\/p>\n<p>I\u2019m a PADI certified diver and avid traveler. Although I am still discovering my true passion, in the meantime, I want to start my own business and learn how to ride a horse.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Questions:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>a. Can you please give us a short description of your career?<\/strong><br \/>\nAfter my undergraduate, I worked in the investment banking industry in New York for three years and then in financial consulting for one and a half years in Mumbai. Post-MBA, I joined Amazon as Senior Product Manager in Munich, later moving to the London office.<\/p>\n<p><strong>b. Why did I choose IESE?<\/strong><br \/>\nAfter exploring and visiting multiple campuses in the US, Europe and India, it quickly became clear to me that IESE was the best fit for me. I was looking for a school with true diversity as I wanted to pursue an international career and develop stronger cross-cultural skills. I know the term \u2018diversity\u2019 is thrown around a lot, but IESE is truly diverse with less than 20% of students from Spain and no other nationality represented by more than 15% of the class. I found in the majority of US schools, 70% of the class was from the US and of the rest have usually completed their undergraduate there, of have been working there.<\/p>\n<p>I felt IESE opened the job market gates to almost anywhere in the world &#8211; all European countries &#8211; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.reachivy.com\/study-abroad\/top-countries\/Germany.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Germany<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.reachivy.com\/study-abroad\/top-countries\/UK.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">UK<\/a>, Switzerland, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.reachivy.com\/study-abroad\/top-countries\/France.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">France<\/a> to name a few (in fact, I started my post MBA career in Munich), to the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.reachivy.com\/study-abroad\/top-countries\/USA.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">US<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.reachivy.com\/study-abroad\/top-countries\/Singapore.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Singapore<\/a> and<a href=\"https:\/\/www.reachivy.com\/study-abroad\/top-countries\/Australia.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"> Australia<\/a>. <a style=\"display: none;\" href=\"https:\/\/wordpress.com\/\">IESE Business School IESE Business School<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Finally, if I could get one of the best business education programs in probably the best city in the world &#8211; Barcelona, IESE was a no-brainer for me. I wanted to make sure my MBA was world class, impactful and enjoyable.<\/p>\n<p><strong>c. What was the biggest take away I took from my <a href=\"https:\/\/www.reachivy.com\/study-abroad\/degree\/mba.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">MBA<\/a> expeience at IESE?<\/strong><br \/>\nFor me the biggest take away from IESE was the learning \u201cNever limit yourself\u201d. I think the combination of curriculum (case-studies) and the rich and successful experiences of your peers prepare you to take on any challenge. For example, when I was exploring business schools, there was much talked about rule about how candidates should focus on changing only two of three career aspects \u2013 industry, function and location. I moved from financial industry as a consultant in Mumbai to the retail\/tech industry as a product manager in Munich, thus changing all three. And by no means, was I an exception to this \u201crule\u201d<\/p>\n<p>My second key take away is my connections with so many people around the world. The friendships that you develop over two years at IESE becomes indispensable part of your life that serves you both personally and professionally. Our entire class is still on group WhatsApp chat helping each other out!<\/p>\n<p><strong>d. How IESE MBA impacted my career?<\/strong><br \/>\nI entered IESE with a slight inclination towards joining tech industry as my post-MBA career choice but I was open to exploring other career options. Whilst at IESE, I explored and interviewed with consulting firms and tech firms, with finally accepting an offer from a leading tech company. IESE essentially fast-tracked my career &amp; helped me develop the general management toolkit which has enabled me be successful in my chosen career path.<\/p>\n<p><strong>e. Any advice for those applying to IESE?<\/strong><br \/>\nI think it\u2019s incredibly important to determine whether IESE is the right fit for you. Talk to current students, alumni (both in your current industry and potential future industry), school representatives to gather as much information as you can. Determine whether a 2-year or a 1-year is more attractive to you. I was sure I wanted a 2-year program so I had time to explore career opportunities, do a summer internship &amp; develop meaningful relationships with my classmates. Finally, if you\u2019re really passionate about IESE, let it reflect in your essays and application. Don\u2019t be shy to sell yourself and show your passion!<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p><span class=\"span-reading-time rt-reading-time\" style=\"display: block;\"><span class=\"rt-label rt-prefix\">Reading Time: <\/span> <span class=\"rt-time\"> 3<\/span> <span class=\"rt-label rt-postfix\">minutes<\/span><\/span>Name: Prateek Choudhary Designation: Senior Product Manager, Amazon UK School Name: IESE Business School, Barcelona- Graduated in 2015 IESE Business School I\u2019m a PADI certified diver and avid traveler. Although I am still discovering my true passion, in the meantime, I want to start my own business and learn how to ride a horse. Questions:&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":11667,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_kad_post_transparent":"default","_kad_post_title":"default","_kad_post_layout":"default","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"default","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"default","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,299,377,456],"tags":[46,468],"class_list":["post-11672","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-study-abroad","category-mba","category-success-story","category-interview","tag-mba","tag-business-school-experience"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reachivy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11672","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reachivy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reachivy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reachivy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reachivy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11672"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.reachivy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11672\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":21867,"href":"https:\/\/www.reachivy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11672\/revisions\/21867"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reachivy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11667"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reachivy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11672"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reachivy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11672"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reachivy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11672"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}