From international graduates to global talents

“The process of crafting a personal strategy was a transformative journey for me to align the actions and aspirations, make intentional choices, and pursue a fulfilling career.”

“The prospect of defining my personal strategy and mapping out my career path fills me with renewed purpose and motivation.”

“The process of crafting a personal strategy helped me to gain clarity about the future goals,aspirations, and the steps needed to achieve them. It gave me a clear sense of direction and purpose, which was empowering.”

“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 BE-EDGE method helped me even after graduation! In my current work, I have applied the same E-D-G-E steps when worked on solving a challenge of the shrinking market share of traditional bonds. This was not a typical consulting project, but the framework and business ideas I use were the same as what I learned in my final project. These frameworks, the importance of crystallizing my focus, understanding clients, and the ability of design thinking were the cornerstones that were useful for any industry and for any business. What’s more important was to use it flexibly and innovatively.

The case analysis of Cofem, S.A. to determine the next market for entry really provided the practical focus and basis to catapult my novice interest into a realistic venture. The whole process of implementing appropriate analysis and perspective really hit me as we worked towards the implementation method for the case. It became REAL!  It was that moment that concepts became reality for me, which further increased my interest. What’s next? The dilemma is determining what the current need is, when to act, how to do it, but most importantly are you ready and can you fill the need. Realism is important. Growth and success aren’t guaranteed. But having the courage and resolve to dig deeper, self-reflect, practically analyze, and make an initial move is what it takes to start something special. If nothing else, I realize this initial exposure is a start but there is much more to learn, experiment and apply. I’ve got to put myself into organizations and situations that provide the avenues for continued exposure. Looking forward to continuing that journey.

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.

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.

I think it was a wonderful idea of Dr. Ivy to let us choose a consulting case to work on for the master course, especially in biotech. The industry isn’t clear on how someone could move from a site to a corporate position and with an MBA that’s where students really want to be.  The professional capital perspective, this case helped me outline my biopharma trajectory. It also helped me improve in my love for solving problems and collaboration to learn different perspectives. On the social capital investment, I find people’s stories to be fascinating and working with four wonderful people who I would never have had the opportunity to work with otherwise was very interesting. I feel that when working on a project, if you can understand where someone is coming from or how they are looking at the same problem, then we can solve the issues of the problem more efficiently than if we were just strong-arming our own perspective. What’s next? I think I’m going to use this case in interviews when I move on from my current role. It covers a variety of situations from the PESTEL model that affect a drug going into market or a company building a facility in a country. Understanding social implications also help when being audited by different regulating countries while being a US manufacturer. Being aware of their values, norms, and beliefs will allow me to not make an error that could be seen as unprofessional.

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.

AYUDA is an organization I care deeply about. I think it is a necessary resource for diabetes communities who have limited access to knowledge about how to live with the condition and how to manage their life in a healthy way. I really feel strongly about wanting to enact positive change in the world, and I feel as though this organization works to do just that. Working on the case for this organization gave me the opportunity to get an inside look on how nonprofits operate as well as the challenges they face in their work. I learned a lot about the industry they operate in and if I choose to work in the non-profit sphere, this information will be extremely valuable. What’s next? I feel that this project was an important part of my journey in becoming a global manager. Having the skills to create a consultancy report such as the one we worked this semester is essential for understanding how to analyze different markets around the world while simultaneously understanding each area’s unique culture and customs. I learned so much about my organization as well as the two markets we studied extensively and will bring this knowledge with me into my future career. I am happy to have learned these various frameworks that I can use to breakdown various organizations and markets, and feel that these elements are some of the most important topics I have learned this entire semester

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.

On the BE-EDGE project investment to my personal capital:  While earning my graduate degree at Northeastern, I applied and expanded on my 5+ years of professional experience and growth within the field of Marketing. A crucial pillar of my learning experience, and what makes me the perfect candidate for my role in advertising can be attributed to a consulting case that myself and a group of colleagues completed for the software product LastPass, a password management and enterprise single-sign on solution. I played a key role in tailoring an international market entry strategy for LastPass, and due to the emphasis that needed to be placed on localizing a historically domestic product in a new foreign country, I am confident that I have the skills to work in a role that allows me to apply this same tenacious and thoughtful approach to advertising campaigns. Ultimately, this class exceeded my expectations for how I personally wanted to use what I learned to help my career. It helped me become more confident in what I eventually want to do with my career, which is to tailor informed marketing campaigns for different brands and companies domestic or international.

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.

The most rewarding thing for me was proving to myself that I can do complicated research about the industry I knew nothing about. I was able to communicate with the company’s executives and provide my recommendations based on my theoretical knowledge. I've spent a lot of time researching the industry, the company, and it's a new technological tool to be able to discuss it during the interview and get details for my case. I also realized that I really like to do this kind of project.

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