INSEAD Taipei Information Session Tuesday March 28 7pm

[imagenooks]

Thanks guys for all the valueble information.

Recently I have requested IMD brochoure and which contains class profile of 05 and 06. I am stunned by each admitted canadidate's profile. I hate to understate myself, but the cruel fact is that I AM NOT QUALIFIED.

I have also done a bit of google on KY Lee to study his background. When KY applied for IMD, he had became GM of a small division in Acer in 1990 with (if my memory serves me correctly) 12 years of experiences.

I guess with all given replies, INSEAD is more ideal for my situation. I was born and raised in Taipei, and immigrated to Vancouver, Canada 10 years ago. Have worked in Vancouver for 3.5 years. Currently (multicultural background), I am perparing my GMAT in Taipei and planning to apply for 2007 Sept Class.

If any of you guys can shade some lights on how the applying process works and how to position myself stratadgically in essay, I'd be much appreciate.

[Jayjay]

Sure, I am going to INSEAD this fall. If you have any questions, please send me a private message. Don;t underestimate yourself. I have known people who got into IMD with four years of experience. Remember, schools always put those superhumen profiles in their brochure.

[習慣仔]

Look beyond what MBA offers you... how you want to market yourself after graduation is perhaps more important than B-School...

For instance, if you want to develop in-depth with Marketing, take Kellog as first choice, rather than European schools...

INSEAD is also outstanding, but I learnt that it helps if you want to become consultant (high pay, high skilled ;-)

Jayjay: congratulations! I didn't know you are in ;-)

[MarkHsu]

Just wanted to make a few comments on some of the issues raised:

IMD vs. INSEAD
I spoke to Gopika (INSEAD's marketing person) who is an IMD alum and asked her to elaborate on the difference between IMD and INSEAD, other than the fact that both are good schools.

Like all b schools it comes down to what you want. Here is a summary of what I think her main points are:

1. Smaller network. IMD is a small school, so naturally you have a smaller network. With INSEAD, she can go anywhere in the world, including Taipei, and there will be alumni.

2. Broader base of recruiters at INSEAD. Basically IMD is excellent if you are looking into entering industry but doesn't have the mix of recruiters that INSEAD gets.

INSEAD vs US schools (this is entirely my opinion, but it is based on a lot of firsthand information.)

The reality is that if you don't have US PR/Citizenship or Canadian Citizenship it is extremely difficult to work in the US. Add to that as a Taiwanese student you have a cultural and linguistic disadvantage, so it pretty much means that you have to rule out the US for IB/MC jobs. The reality is that the Taiwanese students who do find IB/MC jobs are doing so in HK and Taiwan. If you are looking for corporate jobs, it boils down to function, location and pay. Again, as a Taiwanese student, you probably are not going to get the strategic corporate jobs in the US.

So this is how I see INSEAD:

1) It gives you the same opportunities as other top US b schools in getting a MC/IB job.

2) But, it gives you an additional advantage in finding Asia-based corporate jobs because of the opportunity to spend time in Singapore.

You may be asking, but with a 2 year program you have a chance to do an internship.

--Unless you get into H/S/W, MCs don't usually hire interns from other schools. So you are not going to find a consulting intern anyways. Also, the full-time hires often don't have prior consulting experience. In a way, MCs are better suited for Taiwanese students because it is more of a "meritocracy." MCs value raw brain power more than IBs, which I think looks more at other attributes.

--IB internships:
The good news is that more of them are available than MC internships. Bad news: it is extremely competitive. However, having said that, INSEAD also gets its fair share of IBs recruiting for summer interns. The key for INSEAD is that if you want to be a career switcher, you should be entering the Jan term because you will have the summer to do an internship.
If you're a career switcher who enters Sept, you still can get an IB job, it just requires more work and a bit of luck.

[imagenooks]

Hi Mark,

Thanks for the detailed replies on INSEAD v.s IMD matter. However, I am not sure if I understand what "looking into entering industry" means entirely. Does that mean IMD is more suitable for "career switcher" per say?

that being said, I am also curious about what you mentioned about the "career" situation. Based on what you have described that I can assume the following: INSEAD has an competative advantage over many of US business school is because INSEAD has its own asian campus and with close proximatity, Insead gets higher reputation than many other Business schools in US do. Is it safe that I make such an assumption?

[MarkHsu]

What I mean by industry is that if you are looking to enter Philips, Nokia, Unilever or other well-known large European industrials then IMD is a good option. On the converse, it also means that MCs/IBs don't recruite too heavily there.

Re: my assessment of INSEAD's placement in Asia

Basically there are 2 main ways to find a job, on-campus recruiting and non-campus recruiting.

On-campus recruiting:

1. IB/MCs: These companies recruit globally at all top business schools so it doesn't really matter which top school you go to.

2. Other on-campus recruiters: The main difference is that in the US many recruiters will tell you that they can't/won't hire internationals. So when you look at the career placement stats, it will appear that there are hundreds of companies that recruit from XYZ school. But, the real question you should be asking is how many of these companies can hire an international student. Chances are not many. On the other hand, the number of recruiters at INSEAD is less than a comparable b school in the US, say Wharton, but the advantage you have is that every company that comes to recruit can hire you. That is to say, if you are Taiwanese, you are not automatically prevented from applying because you are restricted to work in Singapore/HK/Japan.

Non-on-campus recruiting:

This is where I see the major advantage that INSEAD's Singapore campus has. Because you are in Asia, you are able to apply and interview with companies in Singapore, which is home to a large number of MNCs. That is advantage #1. Furthermore, there are recruiters who actively seek out INSEAD students. From a recruiter's point of view, if one candidate is 12 time zones away vs. another that is just 10 minutes away for a quick cup of coffee, the recruiter will go with the local candidate. This is an edge that INSEAD's Singapore campus offers that in my opinion no school in the US can compete on.

Hope this clarifies my initial posting.

[習慣仔]

Mark,

Thanks for your insightful analysis. I wonder if you are currently studying in INSEAD Singapore ;-)

After 10 years working in MNCs (Finance) I am looking forward to getting a MBA for a career shift to VC/PE. How do you see if chance of IMD vs. INSEAD. I have a friend who graduated last year from IMD and he told me the network and payoff is almost immediate.

Your view would be highly appreciated.

[MarkHsu]

I am not a student at INSEAD but I do know a few people who attend INSEAD, both current students and alum.

There's a good thread about PE/VC from the US board, but without knowing more about your background it's hard to comment.

My impression is that PE/VC are the hardest industries to crack. Usually they are looking for related pre-MBA experience and a stint at a major IB/MC is almost a pre-requisite.

I do know that there's a Japanese student this year who will be working for Carlyle Japan. There was a Tawainese-American student who went to Carlyle HK (Jul 05) and also there's another INSEAD grad at Carlyle Japan.

This is just a tough industry to crack, regardless of which school you attend. What does help is having pre-MBA experience in investments.