It has been over a year since you graduated... how do feel about the HEC Lausanne Executive MBA looking back?
I keep wonderful memories about the programme and like to talk about it a lot! What I still remind myself every now and then is that what matters to move forward is not to know everything but to know how to ask the right question to the right person. I learnt so much personally and professionally, I am really grateful for this experience.
Have you kept in touch with your classmates?
Yes! I have met interesting people that I genuinely appreciate and whom I can call friends. We still see each other for drinks, brunches and on birthday occasions. Last November was the Homecoming, the annual reunion of the Executive MBA Alumni. It is a major rendez-vous that further gives us the opportunity to catch up. Besides, we also use our WhatsApp group quite frequently to share interesting articles and information. My classmates have been very helpful post-EMBA in recommending best practices for specific work situations I have faced!
What prospects did you get after completing the programme and how do you think it helped you succeed?
Only a few days after Graduation, I started a new position as right-hand to the CFO of an American healthcare technology company, worldwide leader in its market.
The company had undergone a merger only six months before I integrated the team. During one of my interviews, they asked me to project myself in the situation where the environment of the long-existing team was going to radically change. How would I apprehend it? Thanks to the Leading Organisational Culture and Change course I still had fresh in mind, I managed to show my interviewers I was aware and could anticipate the realistic implications that come with such a situation. I also directly benefitted from the Negotiation module because, just a few weeks before I had to negotiate the salary for my new position, I was in class role-playing this scenario case. Although I failed then, feedbacks from my peers and Professor Conti enabled me to be prepared for the real-life scenario enabling me to obtain my salary goal.
Finally, shortly after starting my new job, I found myself in a meeting with all the R&D managers to review the annual budget. I was facing only men and had to be convinced of what I was saying to be taken seriously. The Public Speaking & Presence course together with the Individual Coaching I benefitted from throughout the programme allowed me to do that and challenge their budget.
How do you see yourself in a few years' time?
My two kids will be in school and I will be able to dedicate more time to my professional life. I intend to take on more responsibilities and go back to working full time, learning as much as I can from my CFO boss. On the longer run, I would like to manage a Finance department for a smaller company, why not even a startup.