The effectuation process is a method that suggests building a project by starting to evaluate three key elements: who am I, what can I do and who do I know?
It also was the starting point of our journey when as a group of students of the ESCP Europe MBA in International Management we decided to organise an event dedicated to bringing together our classmates and companies interested in MBA profiles.
As members of this talented group of people our background, if diverse, had one thing in common: the ability to make things happen!
Our network of MBA students, ESCP Europe staff and companies were all we needed to make this project a reality. And so, we started putting together a plan to organise a student-led ESCP Europe MBA dedicated career fair: ESCP Europe MBA Connect 2019.
Many MBA students aim at transitioning to a new industry or a new position. They hope to capitalise on their previous experience and the knowledge they acquire during their studies to reach top management positions where they will apply their know-how.
The effectuation process insists on the importance of self-engaged stakeholders. Being able to understand each and everyone’s motivation and pain-points is key to achieve this result.
Explaining to companies the importance of taking one full day and come to the campus to meet and organise short interviews with the profiles that would fit their need would prove more difficult.
The limited time frame we had would further increase the difficulty, but the quality of the students of the MBA in International Management 2019 cohort allowed us to exceed our goals.
On June 12, 2019, we welcomed 8 companies at the ESCP Europe Paris République campus to spend the day with us including; AXA, Groupe Roullier, HSBC, Richemont, Equancy, Capco, Erneste, EY Parthenon.
77 interviews were scheduled throughout the day giving each student the chance to meet at different companies of their choice. Indeed, we carefully made sure to match companies and students according to their profiles and interest.
The attendance rate and positive feedback confirmed the importance of smaller and tailored event where the organiser takes the time to do the first screening along with participating companies.
This process allowed for rich conversation and productive interviews from both students and companies perspective. Students were delighted to have genuine conversations with recruiters who understood their profile. Recruiters were pleased to meet students with a good understanding of their needs and an added value they could easily communicate.
This event was rewarding in many ways. The enthusiasm showed by all participants was a testimony to their engagement and appreciation. It gave many students the opportunity to be short-listed for further interviews and companies a better understanding of what the ESCP Europe MBA stands for: diversity, excellence, experience and of course camaraderie.
The ESCP Europe MBA Organising Committee
