What are your post-MBA goals and how will your prior experience and the London Business School programme contribute towards these?
My post-MBA goal is to build an education company that helps international students to efficiently achieve their academic and career goals by leveraging technology to provide effective academic and career planning, process monitoring and long-term coaching services.
I am inspired to pursue this goal by my own experience. When I was an international student in Canada, I didn’t have sufficient information and guidance to help me navigate in an unfamiliar environment. I found it difficult to achieve my career and academic goals efficiently without necessary coaching or mentoring. I believe if I had been able to access the relevant information, coaching and guidance from someone with the relevant experience, I could have planned accordingly, avoided unnecessary mistakes and achieved my goals earlier. I have also seen many other international students sharing the same struggles.
To pursue this goal, I have been in touch with many international students to validate my idea and their needs. I have gained entrepreneurship experience by leading the user development arm of an early stage start-up in summer 2014. I have also connected with entrepreneurs within the education sector, gaining valuable insights, and creating connections to leverage in the future whilst growing my company. Through my current job, I have developed my communication skills by constantly collaborating with colleagues and pitching ideas to clients and managers. I have also volunteered with Imperial College’s consulting club, which gave me the opportunity to mentor students and develop my coaching skills. These skills and experience are valuable for building my company.
During my MBA, I will actively participate in the Entrepreneurship Club’s events to expand my network and meet likeminded people with complementary skills to potentially build a team. I will develop my skills of transforming ideas into a functioning business by attending the Start-up Bootcamp and the Entrepreneurship Summer School. I am eager to leverage LBS’ academic resources by taking elective classes such as Managing the Growing Business to deepen my understanding of how to operate a successful business model. In my second year, I am keen to participate in the LBS Hackathon to gain thoughts from successful entrepreneurs and investors on my business idea. I am also excited about the opportunity to join the Launchpad program, in which I will develop a detailed business plan, grow a well-rounded team, receive outstanding entrepreneurs’ mentorship and guidance and gain the opportunity to join the LBS Incubator after I graduate. Additionally, I am keen to leverage my experience to help LBS students whom are interested in consulting by providing them sector insights, interview coaching and case preparation.
By taking these actions during my MBA, I will have the skills, knowledge, network and potentially funding to pursue my goal. And I am confident that I will be able to build a successful education company that help many international students to achieve their goals. Eventually, I want to help more education companies grow by being an Operating Partner at a PE firm that invests in education sector such as Carlyle and CVC.
