As I embark on my MBA career planning and slowly refine my goals, I know that I will leave the program with a different perspective than when I arrived. With every new academic subject, I am reminded of my strengths and areas for growth.
The Copenhagen MBA is an intense time of personal growth and academic development, and it can be easy to lose sight of long-term goals and career planning. Luckily, we have a course on ‘Managing your Career‘ which focuses on the skills we’ll need as we move into the job market, and we receive plenty of personalized support from our wonderful careers team. While I am not quite ready to dive headfirst into job searching, it has been helpful to learn about the Danish market and how the application and interview process often works in Denmark. I’ve been especially pleased to discover that our careers course covers practicalities like refining our LinkedIn profiles, drafting that first email to a new contact, and reviewing how a CV aligns with a position description. This type of actionable support has made it much less intimidating to take those first steps in building my network here in Copenhagen.
As I slowly refine my post-MBA career goals, I know that I will leave the MBA with a different perspective than when I arrived. With every new academic subject, I am reminded of my strengths and areas for growth, and the ongoing conversation about careers prompts me to reflect on how new academic interests could fit into a potential career path. Our leadership coursework has been particularly valuable to me as I think about my next steps; a more academic perspective on my personality and leadership style has helped me to reconsider the types of companies and work cultures where I might thrive. Thankfully, my career coach has been a support throughout by holding me accountable to my research goals, offering ideas and suggestions for networking, and providing a reality check as I consider what is out there.
Going through this process with my peers has helped me feel encouraged along the way. In addition to offering insight into their diverse professional backgrounds, my classmates and I support each other as we reflect on what we want to do next and figure out how to get there. We are all going through this process together, and from sharing research and networking contacts to reviewing CVs and personal pitches, a culture of mutual support has proved invaluable. My classmates have provided new perspectives on my past career and future considerations, and I have found it be refreshing and affirming to hear an outside point of view. While I know our next steps will require persistence, I am looking forward to cheering each other on as we move forward these coming months.
Deborah has a background in art and association management. She chose CBS to launch her international career.
