I have been using BE-EDGE to prepare for my interviews and I got my dream job! I use BE-EDGE to gain employers’ trust and enable them to picture themselves working with me in the future. Based on my personal experience and observation, people usually buy products that are emotionally related to them. It is the same rationale when hiring managers are making job offers. There are so many prospective job candidates who have the same degrees and the same years of experience as you do. This means that many people seem to be qualified for the job position.
Through my own experience, I have found Employers are looking for employees who can solve challenges and support company’s current success and future development, so understanding your core values and the industry that you wish to devote yourself to is very important. Following the advice in the Crafting Your Edge for Today's Job Market, I do heavy research on company’s organizational culture, evaluate main issues, find root causes, and devise action plans to address problems. I implement my plans, monitor the effectiveness and efficiency of the plans, and demonstrate the results to employers to solidify trusted relationships between us and achieve future goals. I have found that this strategy not only can be utilized when you are working, but also can be utilized when you are searching for a new job opportunity.
My biggest takeaway from the BE-EDGE journey with Dr. Ivy was the experience of interacting with real corporate problems and finding the means to better answer my CEO’s dilemma. The emotion behind researching, interviewing, and feeling that I can add value made this experience so enriching.
What is next? I am planning to implement the plan that I suggested, and the company is willing to sponsor my travel and put in place what was written
Mauricio Rey / “ZenithOptimedia, The Agency ROI” Case
Regarding the semester market entry consulting project, I found the experience to be quite unique because I have never been required to conduct a research project before, no less one that involves working with a real company and providing genuine recommendations for its operations and business model.
Besides the fact that I was able to apply information that I learned in the class and gained an understanding of how grueling collaboration can be at times in the workplace, I also enhanced my social and professional capital by learning how to apply my acquired knowledge to a realistic business setting, communicate effectively in a business context, and present a convincing analysis for a dilemma faced by a business.
What’s next?
I plan to utilize this capital by fostering relationships with as many people as possible in a working environment, communicating consistently with those in command, and offering a critical global-minded perspective when dealing with large-scale issues. I hope to implement these skills in my repertoire in order to pursue a successful career in the business sector, and I plan to further investigate world business affairs as well as experiment with my newly acquired competencies in future courses at Northeastern that require realistic evaluations rather than hypothetical solutions.
Joshua / “Threshold.world” Consulting Case
The space I envision for myself in the global market is in a Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) department for a large scale company to make positive, sustainable changes in the large scale. The AYUDA case was an excellent opportunity for me to dive into something that I care about and genuinely try to help an organization that helps others. AYUDA operates in the non-profit space which I am very much interested in. Although healthcare is not a particular field of interest for me, they are contributing to the greater good.
I wanted to really understand the issues that those that are in the company face in order to properly come to a recommendation that would actually be viable. One of the most important aspects of being a consultant and a leader is to also be a listener. In the effort to generate value, I did a deep dive of secondary research into the markets of Argentina and Mexico to see if these would be viable options for AYUDA’s next markets. It was important for me to make sure that I give recommendations that were based on supported logic.
What’s Next?
This project was a perfect example of how I can apply my international business knowledge to organizations that are trying to do work that results in a positive impact on the world. Going forward, I will be able to show potential employers that I have the know-how and skill to be able to do research and recommend strategy backed by this research.
Joshua / “AYUDA” Consulting Case
The Consulting Case in my Capstone course ended up being relevant in ways I didn’t expect. Working through this case brought attention to a different way I want to look at my future. I have always felt that by not fully understanding what I want to do with my career, I wasn’t able to make strides until I figured it out. This project showed me there are far more aspects to success then a defined vision. I understand now that an emergent strategy can truly set me up for success through analyzing my core competencies like we did with the consulting case. In addition, our topic was very relevant to the industry I am going into. Working with a distribution company and analyzing supply chain efficiency in a company will be part of my career moving forward.
Jessi / “Brewery Distributing” Case
Prior to this capstone course, I was still under a suffocating impression that to work on international growth projects (expansion via market-entry or via m&a), it involved a heavily financial-focused process that would eventually exclude me from opportunities to see the character of projects I would like to. The final project — a real-life consulting case for a company’s dilemma of which European market to choose for a further extension — changed my perspective.
I referred to this consulting project in my interviews and proved that I was able to connect with a client and add value to the company. I got the job of my dream!
I felt that after this project I had a new confidence and a new respect for the qualitative analyses required to work internationally at any individual or enterprise level. I gained a much more firm understanding of strategy frameworks we had breezed over in previous coursework as well as some entirely new ones. Together, they added up to a complex toolbox that could be used in a number of settings throughout my career ahead. I found it stimulating and was very appreciative to had had the opportunity to take this as my very last MBA course. I felt more confident going into interviews and it closed the program as a holistic learning experience with the project for a company that actually mattered.
Sarah / “WAYFAIR Consulting Project: European Expansion”
“Every student should take as it forces you to identify your current career options against your aspirational career options and finetune your reasons, rationale, and step to get to where you want to end up.”
The most valuable aspect of this experience was the opportunity to help an organization that I love to enhance its business. The most challenging experience was to fully understand the core of the problem, and start writing from it. Putting pieces of information together and connecting them directly to the problem was not an easy task for me. However, at the end, I felt completely satisfied when I realized that I made a big difference in people’s lives just applying what I was studying and writing about. It was the feeling of plenitude of helping people to become better ones, and organizations to develop their business.
Thaissa / “Instituição Beneficente Nosso Lar” Case
Being a recent graduate from the undergraduate level, I was absolutely terrified at what the future would hold for me. The biggest driver for me to pursue further education so early on was to feel more secure in myself and my abilities to perform in the career path I wish to pursue. Prior to taking a course with Professor Ivy, I had no idea where to start or how to start defining my path and creating a competitive portfolio of my characteristics. From day one in professor Ivy's program, I knew that I would find these answers. Primarily, I have been using the knowledge of crafting my EDGE to create a more in-demand portfolio for myself that is targeted at the career I want. Much like we learn quite early on in her book, I was able to define my industry, and then ultimately following those steps throughout the semester, I was able to envision myself at the point I want to get to in my career; something I was unable to see before. Also, beyond crafting my EDGE, I purposely chose to complete a second course with professor Ivy as the information from these classes directly enriched my professional goals.
Tamara / MSIM “Beyond Meets” Consulting Case
The consulting project was yet another way for me to get a hands-on experience of applying the concepts I have learned, especially considering my group chose to explore a very close family friend’s company. This meant that I was responsible for gathering the necessary data from my connection and I had a large role of responsibility for the project. This alone taught me how to properly communicate with high-level executives of a company, despite me knowing the said person for my entire life and being as close as family.
It really showed me how the business world operates outside of class and the knowledge I had learned in class helped me outline the project in greater detail and it gave me a solid foundation to pitch the project from. By the end of the project, I really felt as though I worked for a consulting company on this project. Ultimately, I felt that the project was a great way to demonstrate the importance that all the little, minute details that we explored in class and that all of the little things must be accounted for in order to successfully evaluate the “going global” decision. In my future, I can see myself referencing this project.
Nicholas / “Threshold.world” Consulting Case