News
KUBS News
[MBA Career Story] “You Need to Think about Your Strengths and Weaknesses When You Do Your MBA” - Hy
2017.12.06 Views 3331 경영대학
MBA Career Story
“You Need to Think about Your Strengths and Weaknesses When You Do Your MBA”
“You Need to Think about Your Strengths and Weaknesses When You Do Your MBA”
Q. What did you do before embarking on S³ Asia MBA?During my last term of my MBA in Singapore in November 2010, I was working in the Singaporean branch office of SK Chemical Co. Until last year I was in charge of exporting Korean manufactured petrochemical products to and trading the products supplied by the head office from South-eastern Asia/India. This year, I was relocated from "pure trading" to the risk management department. Before starting my MBA, I worked in a French pharmaceutical company where I worked in sales/marketing for 7 years.
Q. Why did you choose S³ Asia MBA?
Before starting the MBA program, I considered the NUS MBA because I was located in Singapore. By pure chance, I visited the campus and read a brochure detailing the S³ Asia MBA program. I was interested in Asian countries, especially China/Korea/Singapore, and I was fascinated by the fact that I could study in the leading university in each country. I hoped that the program will facilitate a deeper connection with the place and give me a first-hand experience of what it is like to live there. On top of that, I was planning on finding a job overseas (Singapore) so S³ Asia MBA was more suitable to me than the other programs.
Q. Which curriculum in S³ Asia MBA helped with your career development?
I had the opportunity to visit the local major companies while spending a semester in each country. As someone whose career was fostered in one company and a specific industry, I was able to gain a lot from learning about each company’s unique history and future plans (considering each country’s culture, policies and characteristics). Other than merely visiting the companies, I worked on various projects concerning the companies with the other students and the work we did together allowed visceral experiences and instilled new business perspectives. I think this type of work taught me a lot on how to conduct businesses with global partners.
Q. Could you tell us if you did any career development related activities while doing S³ Asia MBA?
On completing my MBA, I tried networking with people working in the field I was interested in, and actively sought consultation on finding a job. In the end, I managed to find a job through my network. The only regret I have is not being able to network as actively when I was in China and Korea.
Q. Lastly, could you give the other S³ Asia MBA students and prospective candidates an advice on building a successful career?
I started my MBA with the focus of switching career and furthering my career. My base is in engineering so I worked assiduously to catch up on the subjects that were all very new to me. But I feel I should have been more involved in networking or in internships which would have given me a deft hand in more practical affairs.
Before giving some advice on the MBA program, I would like to share my thoughts on leading a successful career. Primarily, I believed that an MBA would grant me quicker promotion and higher pay check. But now I know that doing an MBA requires you to develop your passion on a certain industry and improve your knowledge. It is crucial to think of it as a process whereby one can identify his core assets and in the long term, build on his career.
In the past, generalists who could do all sorts of work were praised. Nowadays, people are looking for insightful specialists who could bring a competitive edge to their organizations.
Even if it takes a long time, I hope the students can focus on developing a better understanding of themselves and finding a suitable career.