Setting a post-MBA career plan requires both patience and work. Santiago Bautista shares the steps that help him go through this process.
Sometimes, during our busy lives, we don’t have time to consider where we are going, and we can only focus on the next step forward. Taking a year off and dedicating it to an MBA is not only a good way to acquire knowledge and meet new people. It is also a fantastic opportunity to take a step back and look at our careers from the outside.
Understanding ourselves and defining our professional and personal goals can be a very challenging task. Setting a post-MBA career plan requires both patience and work. These are the three main elements that are helping me as I go through this process.
- Meeting new colleagues: Most of us, especially nowadays where jobs are becoming increasingly specialized, spend time surrounded by people who are similar to us, people who share the same interests and concerns. And although this can have many advantages, it can also end up narrowing our perspectives. During the Copenhagen MBA I have met and made friends with people from very different cultural as well as professional backgrounds and I am discovering new areas of interest that I had never considered before.
- Having an open mind: This is also something that improves during the MBA. When I started the program, I had been working in my own company for several years, so it was quite challenging to be in a learning environment again. Soon, I discovered the importance of being receptive and open to advice, and this has allowed me to question some of the parameters that I thought were “set in stone” when thinking about my future goals.
- Career mentors: As I mentioned before, figuring out our professional and personal goals is not something that comes just from reflection, but it also requires some proactive work. During our busy year, the career mentors are trying to help us through this process by giving us guidance and insights about the Danish job market. My case is a bit special because I already have my own business and am not looking for a job, so we have steered the discussion towards defining the future of my company and finding out what steps and resources are required to reach my goals.
I am only half way through the Copenhagen MBA and there are still many steps to take and things to figure out, but I already have a multitude of new ideas for my post-MBA career.
Santiago Bautista is a Spanish architect, designer, and entrepreneur. He is currently following his dream of starting his own design studio, Bau Design.
