MBA Testimonials

I wanted to learn the true drivers of businesses today.

I chose the MBA because I realized that an engineering degree was not enough for my professional ambitions. I wanted to learn and experience the true drivers of businesses today. From finance to leadership, I wanted to understand both the economic principles and the rationale behind the minds of the leaders that shape our world. The IAE Aix Graduate School of Management offers a high-quality MBA program covering not only the basic fields of an MBA, but also stressing on personal development, which makes it more appealing for people who are looking to play a leading role in the business environment. France was also an excellent opportunity to learn a new language.

The program fulfilled my expectations and thirst for knowledge through the quality of the education and the international character of the teaching staff. At personal level I had to face situations that took me out of my comfort zone, and through individual couching I was able to face those situations and develop characteristics that I needed to be able to do it. Particularly I improved my communication skills and gained confidence to express my opinions working in teams. I also realized that competition, challenges and personal-growth are my drivers in the professional environment. Overall understanding myself better and working on personal development was a remarkable experience during the year.

The trainings that I value the most in my professional life are what I consider key drivers of business today: Finance, Strategy and Inter-personal Skills. The training in finance has been extremely important for understanding the financial statements of the company and conduct assessments of performance, which is one of my tasks. I am now working in strategy so all the theory and the business cases in this area are relevant for my current job. It has been particularly important to use some tools in the process of providing support to make strategic decisions. I also believe that communication and inter-personal skills are extremely important elements to succeed in business at every level and in every industry. At the end it all comes to us, the people who take the decisions that steer business.

In the MBA you can expect high quality of education, challenging experiences and loads of work! You can also expect very open-minded people, real team-work and helpful staff who will support you throughout the whole experience. In the end you will have the reward of a year well spent, learning about the most important issues in business today, and mostly learning about your own self.

From the MBA I will never forget the farewell dinner we had on the very last day with all the class was together for the last time. It was on the very same day of the final presentation of my consulting project. I had the feeling of success for the hard work and the excellent results achieved with the company, but also the feeling that it was the end of the year, the time to say good-bye to friends, colleagues, and professors, and the time to start facing a whole new kind of challenges in the life out of the classrooms...

I obtained my undergraduate degree in engineering at the National University of Colombia in 2006. I started to have international exposure back in 1999 when represented my country in the International Olympiads in Informatics in Antalya, Turkey, and then in 2000 in Beijing, China. I did my undergraduate internship in the headquarters of SAP in Germany in 2005 for a whole year. I have two years of professional experience in entrepreneurial start-ups leading projects to provide tailored IT solutions for clients across different industries in Colombia. During the MBA I built a business plan for a French start-up in aeronautics and was a consultant for SAP France providing strategic advice on the sustainability market. After an internship at the Corporate Development & Strategy department in the headquarters of Siemens AG in Munich, Germany, I'm now FEP Associate in this company.