Did you know? Studying abroad can help you better adapt to diverse environments, be more satisfied with your job, and build valuable skills for the job market. All these were proven by recent studies regarding study abroad students. 93% of students who studied abroad even say it really helped them gain more confidence in new situations or when meeting new people. And those numbers don’t even fully attest to the amazing experiences and people you’ll get to meet along the way when going abroad.
At ESCP, students are able to study on six different campuses — Paris, Berlin, London, Madrid, Turin and Warsaw. And we believe diversity and opening up to different cultures can really help you achieve your dream career. Do you need proof? We have interviewed two of ESCP’s former MBA students that have managed to create for themselves a life where they work each day in the environment of their dreams.
Before attending the MBA in 2018, Gianmarco Guadalupi was working as an engineer in manufacturing. He entered the MBA without having a clear idea of what he wanted to do next, he just knew one thing: he wanted to enter a new sector and launch a stimulating career change. « Before entering ESCP’s MBA in International Management, I had no precise idea of what I wanted to do or what kind of industry I was aiming at. I’ve always been a little bit of a geek so I guess it makes sense that I work in digital transformation and tech now. I am a Consultant and Project Manager in a young company specialized in digital transformation: Cognitive Companions. Being an engineer in manufacturing before that, I can say the MBA was essential for me to enter a new role and sector. »
Gianmarco always knew he wanted to get to know the French culture a little better (who hasn’t got a liking for crispy baguettes, and a world-acclaimed heritage, eh?). Coming from Italy, he first entered the MBA on the Turin campus before moving to Paris, where his girlfriend lives too. Now he works in a field that fulfils his love for tech. A success he recognizes attending the MBA and some of ESCP’s infrastructures played a part in: « What I really learned from my time at ESCP is the importance of developing a great network. Before that, I was very task-oriented. I had no real idea of how to sell my previous experiences and it is ESCP’s career seminaries such as I-Leap that taught me how to get the most out of my profile and the people I meet. »
“ESCP’s career seminaries such as I-Leap taught me how to get the most out of my profile and the people I meet.”
Gianmarco Guadalupi, MBA Class of 2019
And if programs such as I-Leap helped Gianmarco get a clearer vision of his own skillset, the people he met inside of his class helped him get a broader vision of the job market: « The multi-cultural context of the MBA really opened my mind and helped me get a new perspective on my career. People were coming from very different countries and backgrounds. Some people came from Europe, others from China, the Americas or India and had studied Art, Law, Marketing, Engineering before coming to ESCP Business School and it really created an interesting dynamic. Thanks to my classmates, I gathered new ways of doing and was able to try different approaches in order to launch my career. Hanging out with people who had worked in marketing, for example, really helped me get a clearer vision of how I should talk about my own history and experience. I had a back-office approach, and they helped me get a front-office approach, they taught me their magic tricks if I can say! »
For Pragya Mishra, who used to work in the fashion industry and was part of the Sales department at Reebok in India before she attended the MBA in International Management, the cultural diversity of her classmates also helped her reach her career goal: « I am positive that the international exposure I got from my classmates really made a difference. We were very few students per class, more or less 30, but 18 nationalities were represented in my promotion. This really helped me connect with like-minded people from all over the world. » More than that, Pragya really capitalised on her time at ESCP by not shying away and by reaching out to alumni when she started looking for a job in Denmark, where she now lives and works: « After my MBA, I first got an internship in Denmark and when I got there, it felt good to be able to rely on the school’s network to reach out to ESCP’s graduates already working in Denmark. Thanks to that, I didn’t feel like I was coming to a completely foreign country and had to find a job on my own. I reached out to every alumni I could find in Copenhagen and they really helped me in my job search at the time. I would just contact them on LinkedIn as an ESCP student and say « hey, would you be available for coffee sometime? »
“I reached out to every ESCP Alumni and they really helped me in my job search.”
Pragya Mishra, MBA Class of 2020
A technique that has proven to be efficient since Pragya has been able to land a job in the field and city she was dreaming of. « My former education was in fashion designing and I had gotten a sales position at Reebok by showing the company what I was able to do throughout the years. But I did not have any classroom education regarding business nor a business-related degree. So I thought the MBA would be a great opportunity to gain those skills that I lacked back then. I now work as the Head of Marketing in a tech company that sells a SaaS (Software as a Service), and I am really happy. »
Both Pragya and Gianmarco have successfully operated an ambitious career change. And when asked if he would have a piece of advice for future students hesitating about initiating such a process and entering the MBA, Gianmarco is pretty clear: « Take that risk, if you can. Even if you don’t have a clear idea of what you want to do next, do it. And when you’re in doubt, Career Services will be there to help and guide you. I am very happy with my job, and, well, with Paris, where even though I haven’t really gotten to test out all the restaurants and cafés, I’m thinking of settling down long term! »
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