460 Santas

Santa Pub Crawl is a great LBS tradition - all students wear Santa costumes and hang around the city centre to share the Christmas spirit, party and have fun. Here are some pictures from this year's event:

- Accepted Admissions Almanac - GMAT Volume Hits Record High

- Accepted Admissions Almanac - GMAT Volume Hits Record High

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What is a students club at b-school?

We're back to Israel for a short vacation between the autumn and the spring semesters. It's really nice to be back, especially when we have two weddings to party on with family and friends :)

Before I started my MBA I had a very vague clue about what is a students club at a business school. People talk about them so much, but not many truly know what stands behind it. I'll try to solve this riddle for you, in case you are interested. One small disclaimer - I will describer the way clubs are ran at LBS, assuming that it's not much different from other top business schools.

The whole administration of the communication is based on the LBS portal, where we have access to all information we need, like courses, career-services, room booking and discussion boards. The clubs are organised in form of discussion boards, so all you need to do to become an official member of a club is to sign up to the relevant discussion board. From this moment on, and until you cancel your subscription, you'll get every message posted on this board to your LBS e-mail.

On the other end of this discussion board is the executive committee elected every year. When we started our studies, we could apply for roles in these committees and this way become an influencing and active part of this club. The executive committee's role is to organise events, workshops and alert on relevant job posting. For example the Finance Club organises presentations of different banks and other financial institutes, visits to trading floors, workshops (for example: "Evaluation Workshop") and CV reviews by 2nd year students. The Consulting Club organises crack-a-case mock interviews to prepare you to the recruitment process, presentations by leading consulting companies and CV reviews.

I, for example, took the role of VP Marketing of the London Technology Summit that will take on February 19th, and is organised by the Technology Club. You can read all about it here.

There are two types of clubs: professional and social. You can find here the list of the clubs. I noticed that some are missing, like the Volunteering Club. But the list is long enough anyway ;)

For me the clubs, so far, have been an open door to explore different areas and cultures, even areas that I'm not necessarily wish to work in. It's another great opportunity to use the 2 years of your MBA to learn and to grow.

Good luck to all 2nd round applicants! ;)

Just another day in paradise

The term is now officially over for MBA2011 class and I have just finished my Economics home-exam. I can say with full confidence that it was a life changing period from the very first second. The challenge is to realise what's happening to you. In those four months, I feel that so much has happened. I live in a new country, met lots and lots of different/smart/driven/fun people, dream whole new different dreams (on the professional level of-course ;)), learnt new things (especially for career switchers like myself), eat different food and even wear new clothes once in a while - the locals call it a suit???!!

I was thinking of a way to pass to the readers of this blog the intensity of the programme and to reflect the eye opening experiences I've been through. So I decided to post my calendar for November 2009:

It was a really crazy month... In case you ask what have I done in between the meetings scheduled above, I have an good answer: homework, homework, homework, exams preparations, CV rerere-write and job research.

What's next? Milk-round. This is that happy time of the year when first year MBAs officially start applying for summer internships. Good luck everyone! :)

I'm Bob the Sponge!

Honestly.. that's how I feel these days! The amount of data that goes through my brain and needs to be processed is enormous. It's not only the different cases and textbooks that we need to read before classes or for homework, but also the people we get to meet, the speakers that come to school to present their companies, the visits to different companies, newspapers, articles etc.

In a way MBA is like a time-machine. You go back to the time you had to decide on who you want to be when you'll grow up. But only this time, you have already something to refer to. Most of us come with successful careers and understand the importance of not only the reward, but also of the cultural fit, the potential growth and the exposure to new opportunities. But there's also one more thing I think we should consider.

I would like to use this post to present a concept that I've been thinking about lately: "Excitement Management". In a sense, this is what we are doing when we make decisions related to our career or personal lives. This is what drives us to go to a trip to Kenya, try an ice-cream we've never tried before, buy a new suit, change position, change working place, and even write a blog ;).

I think that this is also an important tool for us to understand the way other people think and behave. This is especially important for managers who are responsible for working with their subordinates to shape their careers. In my experience as a manager, I found that managing the excitement of my team reinforced the motivation and created a better team work. By saying "managing the excitement" I don't imply turning the whole thing into a carnival, but rather to realize that once in a while every person needs his dose of excitement. Some people like big ones, some prefer small ones. So it has to be tailor-fitted or in other words: managed.

What do you think about this idea? Feel free to respond to this or any other post.

Linkedin Profile Enhancement In Less Than Three And A Half Minutes

Being visible, in my opinoin is very important for MBAs. I know that there are many concerns about the digital footprint and that by exposing yourself you can harm your image or limit your opportunities. But like a corporation, each and every one of us must run his own small PR department and another department for Marketing & Sales. Keeping your LinkedIn profile nice, professional and informative has more advantages than disadvantages:
- You are exposed to more opportunities
- You have the chance to tell your story to more people
- You might get an advice from a colleague that knows someone who knows someone who might be interested in a person like yourself.

Recently I found this nice article: Linkedin Profile Enhancement In Less Than Three And A Half Minutes. That explains really well how to get & use the LinkedIn profile button. You can use it not only on your blog/website, but also add it to your email signatures.

Enjoy! :)

A quicky :)

I know I know... haven't written for a long time... I do think about it all the time... what to write... and when I do get a good idea, I realize that maybe I shouldn't write about it, just to be on the safe side.

Anyway, we're having good time at LBS so far. Having finished our orientation courses, we're starting with the real stuff - all the finance, economics, accounting, strategy and organisational behaviour I've been waiting for. Most of the lecturers are great. I've been to a lecture or two in my life, and these is a different level. What I like the most is that the examples are up to date and every piece of theory is getting connected to the real world and real-life situations. Another very impressive aspect is the feedbacks. We get to provide feedback on the professors almost every session. And even more impressive is the fact that they actually listen to what we have to say and adapt heir methods. Sure there are boring parts, and the weather has an impact on the mood (November Blues they call it here), but with so much to do, you get over it really quick.

In the meanwhile, the local newspaper for Israelis got interested in the biggest ever bunch of bamba-eaters (probably the only Israeli national food). Have a look.