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Tag: MBA
The Runaway MBA: Insecurity and immaturity made me join the MBA masses. Don’t make the same mistake
I can’t remember the exact point at which my interest in pursuing an MBA first arose. But I know it was sometime during my undergraduate years because I attended an institution that housed one of the best MBA programmes in the world, so I thought “perhaps someday”. My school’s career services instilled in us the [...]
Q&A: Mike Connarty, director of international investments at Standard Life, advocates learning Mandarin if you want to get ahead
Mike Connarty is based in Edinburgh but he’s an international figure in financial services. As director of international investments, Mike manages Standard Life’s fast-growing joint venture investments in India and China. If you want to work for him, you’ll need a genuinely international outlook – and ideally the capacity to speak Mandarin. Q: How long [...]
The Runaway MBA: Here are four groups who will benefit from doing an MBA (most of them are people who like to party)
I realise that many of my MBA-related posts haven’t exactly been positive about the degree. I do love my classmates, but I don’t love the price tag that the MBA came with. For those of you whose dreams I may have dented, I want to offer a contrary perspective (at least in the first half [...]
The Runaway MBA: When employers hear “MBA”, they assume you are overpriced and inexperienced. My advice to prospective students…don’t do it!
The admissions department of my MBA school called me recently and asked if I would attend a reception for the new batch of prospective and accepted students. I responded to the request politely: I could not come. After all, if I did show up, I would not be able to provide romanticised answers that were [...]
Sectors explained – Alternative Investments
A ‘normal’ investment is usually in stocks, bonds and cash, made with a view to earning interest or dividends, or because the value of the investment is expected to rise over time. Alternative investments cover a broader range – from wine to art and real estate. We will look at hedge funds and private equity. [...]
The Runaway MBA: I calculate that I need to make 1,000 contacts just to get one good job offer, but I’m not giving up hope
It’s 11am and I have already received three rejection emails. I want to crawl back in bed. But I go for a cup of coffee instead to provide some comfort. Coffee is safer than a cookie. Sleeping in this morning would only waste a few valuable hours in which I can get hold of people [...]
With markets in turmoil, there’s no better time to do the CFA, says Ashvin Vibhakar, MD of Asia Pacific, CFA Institute
Ashvin Vibhakar, managing director of Asia Pacific operations, CFA Institute, talks to us about ethical investment, the importance of a global qualification, getting through all that study, and the remarkable popularity of the CFA charter in Asia. It’s all about ethics Vibhakar says the CFA programme is developed through “practice analysis”, which includes surveys of [...]
The Runaway MBA: Always remember that your MBA is a rat race – if you don’t network, you’ll go nowhere
On the first day of my MBA, the dean advised us to prioritise. He spoke about the many opportunities that would be placed in front of us and how the hours in the day were limited. In the previous 10 years of my career, I had prided myself on being able to multitask, juggle, and [...]
The Runaway MBA: Don’t make my mistake – only apply to MBAs which will get you a finance job and won’t turn you into a consultant
It’s autumn. Thousands of prospective MBA students are out there canvassing campuses, studying for their graduate management admission tests, and asking former colleagues to write them recommendations that could possibly change the direction of their lives. They are in pursuit of the dream embedded in glossy brochures that a MBA degree will lead to better [...]
I was nearly an MD at Credit Suisse, but I gave it all up to teach Pilates
We speak to Thicha Srivisal, a Thai national and Singapore permanent resident, who gave up her well-paid director job at Credit Suisse to run her own business, Breathe Pilates. Ballet not banking I never grew up wanting to be a banker; instead my dream was to be a professional ballerina. When I was 12, I [...]
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