15 INSEAD questions

jandjshi

I saw some good Q&A about INSEAD on BW forums and posted a few here. A current INSEAD student gave his opinion for some of those questions on BW (see 2 lou). I don’t know whether he has the balls to say “sad but true” things about INSEAD or he’s rather negative. I hope INSEAD students or alumni, or those at other European schools, can offer their perspective (hopefully in unbiased fashion).  Questions 9 – 14 are my own. Thank you.

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From BW

One of the insead alums I met was still looking for a job 3 months after the school finished. He also said that we receive roughly 2200 applications in a good year. He said there were many like him who still have not found what they were looking for. He said his junior who had joined a 2 year b-school, Carnegie, was doing much better in terms of job prospects. I looked at the job placement statistics at insead, and it said 90% of the students who reported (82% reported) had found a job 6 months after graduation.

1) Could you please tell me about the job prospects at insead. I am open to working anywhere but I am not sure if insead is well recognized in US, or Latin America.
2) I have worked in Technology and want to work in Finance after my MBA. My second option is consulting at Mckinsey/Bain.. What are my chances of getting a job and what can I expect after insead. Should career changers apply to INSEAD? As I want to switch careers, what are the job prospects for career switchers in insead. Which promotion is good for internship and how are the placements during internships?
3) I heard Mckinsey recruits the most from insead. Does everyone have a fair chance at getting into Mckinsey?
4) I have managerial experience but no business background. You think 1 year course will be enough or should I go for a 2 year course?
5) Could you please explain why insead is falling from all rankings?
6) How is the academic standard at insead?
7) How good is the career management services at insead and is the recruitment process transparent?
8) I want to apply for the 3rd round for Jan 2008 and decide which school to join after Round 1 decisions of other schools are out. Should I apply in R3 or R1 is better?
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9) How flexible is the core courses at insead? For those who have advanced degrees or expert knowledge in a specific area, can they waive or substitute core courses?
10) what is the percentage of company-sponsored students at INSEAD. Who are those companies?
11) If you can go to any school in Europe other than INSEAD, which one will you go?
12) What are some weaknesses of INSEAD comparing to IMD, and LBS.
13) I’ve heard INSEAD doesn’t put as much weight on essays as US schools do. Is that true? If so, which aspect of the application is the most important - Academic records, recommendations, extracurricular, interview, etc?
14) How difficult is it for students from non-EU countries to secure jobs in Europe? Which countries other than UK offer the best chance?
15) INSEAD is considering open a third campus. Do you have any insights on where it will be?

jandjshi

Answers from Micky, a current INSEAD student

1) Its difficult to generalize about job prospects. Some did get their dream job. Many students worked hard a lot and still did not land a great job. Some of them joined back the firms they were earlier in and that too when the economy was booming. Hwever, for non native english speakers, (asians/indians/etc), London is the place to target for jobs in Europe. Considering that INSEAD is well known in Europe, you would be targeting the London market for jobs. London is also the most competitive market as students from US b schools, LBS and other B Schools in europe target the same place. Whereas the top US b schools not only have the vast US market, but also the Asian and the european markets as potential places of work. INSEAD is not that well known in US and Asia, but we are working on that!
As for the statistics u mentioned, yeah-- 90% of the 80% got jobs, that makes it 72% of the total batch who reportedly had a job. But my guess is %tage of radical career changers would be very less here.

2) If you have a technology background, and looking to come to finance- look at a 2 year b school. as for bain/bcg/mckinsey- it will be very tough to get there as they normally like industry background.

Typically, how the recruitment works in INSEAD is like this: suppose u join the January 2008 intake. A week after joining INSEAD, u wud be interviweing with Banks for 8 week internship (that starts in July/August). Internship in the best route for swtiching careers into finance as banks get to know u better before they give u a final job offer. But the problem is that Banks typically start recruiting for 2008 internships in Septmeber 2007. They come to INSEAD only with the slots that they were not able to fill earlier and that too for the European market. So your chances get diminished and as you are new to the course, it depends on you how u tackle the interviews. Also, typically banks recruit for a 12 week program and as INSEAD has an 8 week internship break, so there are not many banks that will come for internships.

If you join the September promotion, then your best chance of looking for a career change to finance is when banks come for internships in January. You can do an internship after finishing your course in June and hope that u convert that to a full time offer. But its tougher to do a switch in September promotion.

Note:  Internship is the preferred route for career switch to finance. It is not so in consutling or industry.

3) Mckinsey--- Umm.. Mckinsey Russia is always looking for candidates. So is Mckinsey Finland. Had u been from those countries, u get a good chance. its true mckinsey hires the most from INSEAD, but if you break up the numbers its a different story. Looking at ur background, It would be tough

4) If you dont have prior business experience, then INSEAD will be too fast paced for u. I would again suggest a 2 year b school. Simply because u have a lot to discover before u can choose what u want to do.

5) I dont know that but I have seen the fall in rankings!

6) Academically, its the best. Great students to work with, some great courses and great learning experience.

7) Thats INSEAD's achilees heel. Like many schools, its career (mis)management services are a big let down. And they have been a prblem for quite sometime now. one major flaw is that unlike say wharton, there is no limit on the number of firms u can target. Therefore, a stellar candidate may end up taking 7-8 blue chip jobs (from Mckinsey, Bain, LEhman, GS etc), thus wasting jobs that potentially others could have taken.

8) As for R1, R2 and R3, the earlier u apply the better.. However, keep in mind that if you apply for Jan promotion, INSEAD asks you to deposit 70% of the fees well before the results of 1st Round US b-schools are out. .

nnm

Hi,

I think another alumnus has also answnered these questions in the same post, off course, with different aspect.

just scroll down and you'll see them.

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btw, i think Mickey is a banker, who already graduated from INSEAD.

[此贴子已经被作者于2007-6-28 12:37:04编辑过]

inseadsh

I may not be able to answer all the Qs, but at least let me try to share some of my understanding.

1) Please take a look at the latest career report (http://www.insead.edu/mba/careers/documents/2006_Careers_report.pdf) . INSEAD will be able to open a door to the competitive Europe and asia job market but I think whether or not you can get a decent job upon graduation will again, rely on your personal capability. INSEAD is well recognized among the professionals in U.S and Latin America. The truly global student community not only reflects the diversity but also gives a hint that the school attracts top talents from everywhere.

2) If you work hard to build your network and professional skills in the 1 year program, I am sure you will have a chance to have your career switched (eg. from tech to finance or from finance to marketing) because I did see some successful cases around me. If you want internship, go with Jan promotion.

3) Yes, Mck recruits many inseaders every year. I think it’s another proof that the school remains to be one of the hottest spots for top firms. Actually, INSEAD and HBS are the top 2 schools in Mck’s recruitment list. Every inseaders will have a chance to do interview with top consulting firms and  if they get themselves well prepared, their chance to get in is also big. Based on what I heard, there were 7 Chinese graduates in one intake of 05 and 5 of them now work in Mck in different countries.

4) Many of our alumnus and students did not have business background before joining the school. Some of them came from typical engineering background, some other came from government and even musician background. It was hard for them to catch up at the beginning but after period 3, they really picked up and they got jobs in consulting firms, finance and industries like all the other students with business background previously.

5) I’m not sure which ranking you’re refering to specifically. For FT, insead is actually going up steadily from #9 to #7 globally. Of course, every school will have its up and down. I also admit that the school has some improvement to be addressed and I’ve already seen the school is doing its work.

6) The academic standard is truly one of the highest among all the top b schools. The school has strong faculty team to assist the students to embrace real business insights on top of their previous business or work experience. INSEADers will have to spend much time doing their homework because the program is condensed and the school always wants to stay competitive in academic perspective.

7) I cannot comment on this as I havent worked with them so far.

8) No significant difference between Round 1 and 2. The school almost has same amount of applications in the 2 rounds.  For Chinese students, I don’t suggest to apply in Round 3 because the seat is less and no scholarship available.

9) I don’t think you can waive core courses. However, the electives will be really flexible for your personal choice.

10) I don’t have the exact number, but usually consulting firms sponsor their BA-s to INSEAD program. The rate is also not high.

11) We may have different answers on this Q, but as long as we make a decision after thorough homework of program and school understanding, s/he is doing fine.

12) Everything has its two sides. INSEAD’s 1 year condensed program might be advantage for some people but may also be headache to some others. Also, I agree that  the school needs to further strengthen its competitivenss in finance area (but from the career report, we see a steady growth of job offers in finance from 19% to 29% over past 5 years). But at the end of the day, no school is perfect, just like us.

13) I strongly do not agree with this. INSEAD adcom actually values essay as one of the most important factors. I know some cases that the applicants had strong background but because they did not spend enough time beautifying their essays, the lost the chance. Also, I believe INSEAD is one of the top schools that have the most essay topics (8). It’s an indication that the school wants to know the applicants from different perspectives.

14) Please go to career report for this kind of information.  It really depends on what you want and how much effort you put to make it happen. What I’m sure is a degree from INSEAD will land you everywhere in the world.

15) No comment as this stage.

P.S: all answers above cannot represent official feedback from the school.

garonne

inseadsh,

wow, i just want to give you a big XIEXIE for your time.

jandjshi

a big Thank You indeed!

inseadsh

My pleasure.

invisible

Allow me to add a couple of comments.

11) If you can go to any school in Europe other than INSEAD, which one will you go?
My second choice in Europe is LBS. In my opinion, INSEAD has the best b-school faculty in Europe. If you really examine the resumes of the professors, you will see that the caliber of the faculty is on par with (in some departments even better than) Harvard and Stanford. My research shows that LBS's faculty is also top-notch, although not as top-notch as INSEAD's.

15) INSEAD is considering open a third campus. Do you have any insights on where it will be?
As far as I know, there is no official confirmation on this issue.
The popular "rumor" was that INSEAD might build a US campus. However, the alliance with Wharton is  working out pretty well. I don't think INSEAD US campus will come to life any time soon. One thing is for sure. INSEAD is a b-school with a global plan. It is going to continue expanding and increasing its presence/reputation internationally.

inseadsh

Hoho, invisible, finally you are here to help.

ex_xinxin

Does Insead do a very thorough background check on an applicant's past working experience after it gives the applicant offer?  i heard that Warton and some other US B-school hires local investigation firm (like FBI, haha)to check each student to whom they issued an offer.

thank you in advance!