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If you are considering pursuing an MBA at IMD then you are in luck. This week’s guest on Admissions Straight Talk is Lisa Piguet, Associate Director of MBA Admissions and Marketing at IMD.
Listen to the interview to get the details about IMD’s unique program, the admissions process, and some excellent advice for applicants.
00:02:05 – The (intense!) structure of the IMD MBA program.
00:06:41 – Work experience a must.
00:08:53 – Innovations of the new program director.
00:13:47 – Why the serious changes to the IMD application?
00:19:01 – The Day Long Assessment: what it is and why it’s here to stay.
00:21:35 – Career Placement at IMD: are the rumors true?
00:23:52 – Advice for IMD applicants.
Subscribe to Admissions Straight Talk in iTunes so you don’t miss any a single show!
*Theme music is courtesy of podcastthemes.com.
Relevant Links:
• IMD
• MBA Admission for Smarties: The No-Nonsense Guide to Acceptance at Top Business Schools
• 2014 Virtual Panel: Exploring European B-Schools
Related Shows:
• Dr. Douglas Stayman Shares the Scoop on Cornell Tech NYC
• The Stanford MSx Program for Experienced Leaders
• NUS: A Small but Mighty Academic Powerhouse in Asia
• Global Business Leadership at Wharton’s Lauder Institute
• Jeff Reid on Entrepreneurship
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Moderator’s note to readers: The posts from LBSer, INSEADisbest, and linda all come from the same IP address. There was another comment from the same IP address and yet another alias. It had similar message. It was removed for profanity.
Well Done Mate ! Sad though IMD rankings have nose dived again. Can rankings and reviews both be rigged ?
BIG IMD NEWS – entire marketing and career services team including Lisa, Claire, Janet, Julia quit or fired. Maybe you should put back the post which was deleted after editing or masking the inappropriate content. What did it exactly say ?
Actually they resigned.
As the saying goes” Good riddance to bad rubbish”
Linda, I am considering applying to IMD, but after the recent events there I am worried that the program isn’t what it used to be. Can you please do some investigate,? who will run the admission now? Is it true that the school considering exit the full time market? Thank you in advance, Rami, UAE
Rami,
The people at IMD aren’t doing a great job of publicizing the direction they want to take the program. My understanding is that Rafi Boschek, the current MBA program director, sees IMD’s MBA program more as a full-time EMBA program than a traditional MBA program. In my mind that would make it more akin to Sloan Fellows, Stanford MSx, or Trium. For a long time, it has aimed at a slightly older student than traditional MBA programs, even European programs which tend to be a little older than U.S. programs.
In terms of what you should do, well that depends a lot on what you want. If you want a one-year immersive program with a strong emphasis on leadership and industry, and you are seeking to move from a technical to a general management role within in your industry, IMD may still be great. Especially if you are sponsored or have a job waiting for you. And if you’re not sponsored, IMD may also be a little freer with financial aid this year given the controversy and bad press.
However if you want to use your MBA to change jobs, functions, or roles, then this may not be the time to attend IMD. Wait until the dust settles. And right now there’s tons of dust in the air.
For more on the turmoil and my thoughts on the matter, please see “5 Key IMD Officials Resign” .
Linda
Below is an extract of the chat I had with a
Chinese student who is a lawyer from a top US school. “IMD is a
sinking ship. Their leadership concepts are obsolete and companies don’t
recognize any of the fish shit or putting the fish on the table. But hang on !
what does IMD know about the real world ! Nothing at all !IMD has become a
shutter island. They provoke conflicts, mentally rape and morally impair sane
students so much so that eventually they get addicted to shrinks. Control freak
program director imprisoned students over the last few years in the study rooms
as a result of which it got converted into a wine cellar and whore house. The rooms
reek of alcohol and my friend has also shared pictures which show condoms
strewn over the floor everywhere. Their career services director disappeared
last year under the pretext of sick leave when the recruitment season was its
peak and the management had no clue about her whereabouts or well-being. Maybe
they never cared .The program director issued an apology to cover up the
pathetic state of career affairs. The career services staff have no
understanding whatsoever of what are the real world talent requirements. Nor
do they take the effort or interest to find out and feed it back to the program
for improvement. All that they do is sit and make phone calls to the common
companies which recruit on every B school campus in hordes like Mckinsey, Google,
Amazon . So what do they really deliver to a small lot of 90 students in terms
of differentiation or customization. Bullocks !! Their career service don’t
even know that recruitment requirements are different across different
cultures. They talk about being an International B school. What is alarming
that their career services team even has no idea about the difference between
various industries and functions in any organisation. How can they guide the
students ? This guy consulted a private executive coach and was shocked to hear
that all the coaching he had received on his CV and motivation letter at IMD
were redundant in the real world. Even Swiss and European companies have little
faith in IMD. IMD has recruited several students with GMAT scores less than 600
who come from family business or china and the latter cannot even speak
English. Some students were compulsive alcoholics like a black guy from Dubai
and even bribed the program director with alcohol. Their much hyped reference
checks are baseless. It would serve them better if they stop their excessive
marketing to gullible students and rather do some ethical marketing with
companies to increase their credibility and visibility and above all develop a
program which meets the real world requirement.
Guys its is so simple to discern the difference between IMD and the other top schools. Just look at the profiles of the students before and after IMD.
They super boring : HR Manager, Purchase Manager, R&D Manager, IT Manager, Construction Manager. These losers are not open minded, bring no diversity to the class and will never be leaders. IMD only recruits staff and professors who live in Switzerland so essentially they are sucking your funds to fend for themselves. ( They draw fat salaries from 200K CHF to 600K CHF)
IMD had advertised for a career service advisor and they eventually recruited someone who did not meet their basic criteria “At least 5 years of experience in recruiting/talent management in a multinational corporation or a recruiting agency; experience in training and coaching a plus ” !!! Someone should complain to the education ministry in Switzerland to investigate the ongoings at IMD.
Good job Linda in pulling up IMD. But they
sound unconvincing to even morons. Below is an extract of the chat I had with a
chinese student who is a lawyer from a top US school. “IMD is a
sinking ship. Their leadership concepts are obsolete and companies don’t
recognise any of the fish shit or putting the fish on the table. But hang on !
what does IMD know about the real world ! Nothing at all !IMD has become a
shutter island. They provoke conflicts, mentally rape and morally impair sane
students so much so that eventually they get addicted to shrinks. Control freak
program director imprisoned students over the last few years in the study rooms
as a result of which it got converted into a wine cellar and whore house. The rooms
reek of alcohol and my friend has also shared pictures which show condoms
strewn over the floor everywhere. Their career services director disappeared
last year under the pretext of sick leave when the recruitment season was its
peak and the management had no clue about her whereabouts or wellbeing. Maybe
they never cared .The program director issued an apology to cover up the
pathetic state of career affairs. The career services staff have no
understanding whatsoever of what are the real world talent requirements. Nor
do they take the effort or interest to find out and feed it back to the program
for improvement. All that they do is sit and make phone calls to the common
companies which recruit on every B school campus in hordes like Mckinsey, Google,
Amazon . So what do they really deliver to a small lot of 90 students in terms
of differentiation or customization. Bullocks !! Their career service don’t
even know that recruitment requirements are different across different
cultures. They talk about being an International B school. What is alarming
that their career services team even has no idea about the difference between
various industries and functions in any organisation. How can they guide the
students ? This guy consulted a private executive coach and was shocked to hear
that all the coaching he had received on his CV and motivation letter at IMD
were redundant in the real world. Even Swiss and European companies have little
faith in IMD. IMD has recruited several students with GMAT scores less than 600
who come from family business or china and the latter cannot even speak
English. Some students were compulsive alcoholics like a black guy from Dubai
and even bribed the program director with alcohol. Their much hyped reference
checks are baseless. It would serve them better if they stop their excessive
marketing to gullible students and rather do some ethical marketing with
companies to increase their credibility and visibility and above all develop a
program which meets the real world requirement.
Good job Linda in pulling up IMD. But they
sound unconvincing to even morons. Below is an extract of the chat I had with a
chinese student who is a lawyer from a top US school. “IMD is a
sinking ship. Their leadership concepts are obsolete and companies don’t
recognise any of the fish shit or putting the fish on the table. But hang on !
what does IMD know about the real world ! Nothing at all !IMD has become a
shutter island. They provoke conflicts, mentally rape and morally impair sane
students so much so that eventually they get addicted to shrinks. Control freak
program director imprisoned students over the last few years in the study rooms
as a result of which it got converted into a wine cellar and whore house. The rooms
reek of alcohol and my friend has also shared pictures which show condoms
strewn over the floor everywhere. Their career services director disappeared
last year under the pretext of sick leave when the recruitment season was its
peak and the management had no clue about her whereabouts or wellbeing. Maybe
they never cared .The program director issued an apology to cover up the
pathetic state of career affairs. The career services staff have no
understanding what so ever of what are the real world talent requirements. Nor
do they take the effort or interest to find out and feed it back to the program
for improvement. All that they do is sit and make phone calls to the common
companies which recruit on every B school campus in hordes like Mckinsey, Google,
Amazon . So what do they really deliver to a small lot of 90 students in terms
of differentiation or customisation. Bullocks !! Their career service don’t
even know that recruitment requirements are different across different
cultures. They talk about being an International B school. What is alarming
that their career services team even has no idea about the difference between
various industries and functions in any organisation. How can they guide the
students ? This guy consulted a private executive coach and was shocked to hear
that all the coaching he had received on his CV and motivation letter at IMD
were redundant in the real world. Even Swiss and European companies have little
faith in IMD. IMD has recruited several students with GMAT scores less than 600
who come from family business or china and the latter cannot even speak
English. Some students were compulsive alcoholics like a black guy from Dubai
and even bribed the program director with alcohol. Their much hyped reference
checks are baseless. It would serve them better if they stop their excessive
marketing to gullible students and rather do some ethical marketing with
companies to increase their credibility and visibility and above all develop a
program which meets the real world requirement.
Indeed Linda. Thanks for being socially
responsible. By the way Dominique Turpin is highly active in the marketing
circles and his posts on LinkedIn are inviting a good discussion always. Why
doesn’t Lisa take some free lessons from him. The basic principle of marketing
is to identify who your most important customer is and I can see that IMD has
got it all wrong.
If they become the top choice for employers
they will automatically become the top choice for students. Their most
important customers are the employers and that is where they must direct their
marketing effort !
This is such a no brainer!
Good job Linda in pulling up IMD. But they sound unconvincing to even morons. Below is an extract of the chat I had with a chinese student who is a lawyer from a top US school. “IMD is a sinking ship. Their leadership concepts are obsolete and companies don’t recognise any of the fish shit or putting the fish on the table. But hang on ! what does IMD know about the real world ! Nothing at all !IMD has become a shutter island. They provoke conflicts, mentally rape and morally impair sane students so much so that eventually they get addicted to shrinks. Control freak program director imprisoned students over the last few years in the study rooms as a result of which it got converted into a wine cellar and whore house. The rooms reek of alcohol and my friend has also shared pictures which show condoms strewn over the floor everywhere. Their career services director disappeared last year under the pretext of sick leave when the recruitment season was its peak and the management had no clue about her whereabouts or wellbeing. Maybe they never cared .The program director issued an apology to cover up the pathetic state of career affairs. The career services staff have no understanding what so ever of what are the real world talent requirements. Nor do they take the effort or interest to find out and feed it back to the program for improvement. All that they do is sit and make phone calls to the common companies which recruit on every B school campus in hordes like Mckinsey, Google, Amazon . So what do they really deliver to a small lot of 90 students in terms of differentiation or customisation. Bullocks !! Their career service don’t even know that recruitment requirements are different across different cultures. They talk about being an International B school. What is alarming that their career services team even has no idea about the difference between various industries and functions in any organisation. How can they guide the students ? This guy consulted a private executive coach and was shocked to hear that all the coaching he had received on his CV and motivation letter at IMD were redundant in the real world. Even Swiss and European companies have little faith in IMD. IMD has recruited several students with GMAT scores less than 600 who come from family business or china and the latter cannot even speak English. Some students were compulsive alcoholics like a black guy from Dubai and even bribed the program director with alcohol. Their much hyped reference checks are baseless. It would serve them better if they stop their excessive marketing to gullible students and rather do some ethical marketing with companies to increase their credibility and visibility and above all develop a program which meets the real world requirement.