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.

First things first - Getting a UK Student Visa

I apologize for not writing for long time. I have really good excuses! Since my last post I got to:

1. Celebrate with my wife her acceptance to MBA at LBS! Yes, she's going to be my classmate
2. Become a holder of a student visa (tier 4) to the United Kingdom
3. Get married(!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)
4. Pack and leave our apartment in Haifa
   
5. Enjoy a wonderful honeymoon at Costa-Rica and Guatemala
6. Complete all pre-leaving tasks (I'll elaborate on that in one of the future posts)
7. Quit my job at Intel and say goodbye to my colleagues
8. Saying goodbye to my beloved 15 year old dog, who is now living with my parents
   
9. Take a BMI plane to Heathrow
10. Look for and find an apartment near the school.
    

see... told'ya - really good excuses!

As I promised in my previous post I will dedicate this one to elaborate on the 'get a UK student visa' process. I will try not to miss anything, but it's been a while, so I might update the post if I recall any new details. As a general recommendation I suggest you to be super-ready when you come to the embassy to apply for a UK student visa. Flexibility is not a common phenomenon in these places, if you know what I mean. Some of the requirements need to be prepared couple months in advance (like financial state - see below).

Documents you'll need:

• Passport - where your visa will be added. The passport must be valid for at least 2 years (the time of your studies)
• 2 passport photos (35mm x 45mm) - DON'T smile!!! There is a very elaborated explanation on how the picture should look. One of the requirements is that the person doesn't smile.
• Bank letter (this is what worked for me, but you can try the other options as explained on the official UK visa web site) - now this is a hard one, so get ready to sweat. The UK Border Agency want to see that you have enough funds to pay for the studies. Sounds trivial - guess what, it's not. You have to show that you have money to pay for the first year + 7200 GBP (~30,000 GBP). But you cannot just print your bank statement. You have to prove that you had the money for at least 28 days prior to application. As far as I understand, the logic behind this requirement is to prevent false bank statements - like moving the money from someone who has it to your account for a minute, then giving it back. They probably assume that if you have the money for enough time, it means that it really yours. In addition, the money must be held in cash or in a saving account (פק"מ) but not invested in stocks or something like that. Every bank in Israel should be able to provide you a bank letter in English. Make sure that all the small details are mentioned:

Your name

Your account number

The date of the letter

The financial institution’s name and logo

The funds held in your account

That there is enough money in the account to cover your tuition fees and living costs

Branch manager's signature

Official bank's stamp

Printed on official bank paper

Here is how my bank letter (approximately/wishfully) looks like:

23 April, 2009
Mr. Alex Tzukerman
Acc No. XXXXXXXX (if you want it to send me some money, just drop me an e-mail)
ID XXXXXXX

Dear Customer,

As per your request, we hereby confirm that the total balance of your accounts held with us, as of the date of this letter, shows an amount of 1,000,000 GBP (It's my blog - I can write here any number! ) in cash to your credit since 14/01/2009).

• Your visa letter - the school will send it to you in a week or two after you get admitted. In my case, because of the transition to the points-based-system in visa application, it took more time.
• Original documents used to obtain your visa letter - I brought my original undergraduate degree certificate, original GMAT score letter, original transcripts and original TOEFL score letter.
• Printout of your visa application form - This is the first form you should fill. At the end of the form you'll need to chose a date for your meeting at the embassy where you'll submit all your documents. Note that the slots there are only open for the next one-two months. Additional slots are added regularly.
• Filled form called "PBS Appendix 8 General Student" - now this is a real headache, especially the 6.20 section where you need to state the sum of money you need for your studies. I filled there numbers only for the FIRST year - and it worked. If you have specific questions, I'm here to help.
• Printout of the invitation to the embassy.
  

Things to remember:

• Your passport will be taken away to prepare the visa. It means, that unless you have other passport, you will not be able to leave your country. So make sure there aren't any foreseeable trips planned during the month that comes after you submit the documents to the embassy. We could barely breath before my wife got her visa, because we had a honeymoon planed one month after her application day. Everything was OK eventually
• Make a copy of EVERY document you submit, and make sure that the person who takes the document from you understands that you want the originals back.
• Here's a link to a statistics on how long does it take to get a visa in different countries.
• There are different types of students coming to study in the UK. MBA students are defined as "TIER 4 General Student".
• No need to dress fancy. Jeans and T-Shirt worked for me and my wife

I got my visa about 2 weeks after I submitted the application, but as you can see in the statistics this is not always the case. Hope all the above helps, or at least doesn't do any damage . There are many other guides on the internet on that theme so you can do an intensive research on probably every aspect of the visa application process.

I will try to get back to a more frequent blogging from now on, so.... see you soon! Oh... and good luck for those who start their 2010 MBA application.

Saying Goodbye

I think that the hardest and the most ignored factor of the journey to LBS for me is saying goodbye. I don't refer only to the literal aspect of pronouncing the word, but to changing the mindset and leaving behind family, good friends, career, my natural environment and of course the life as I knew it up until now.

Last week I informed my team officially about the expected leaving. I still don't know how they and people around me at work will perceive it, but for me it was a really sad moment. A friend of mine says that I don't even realize that in a couple of months my future wife and I will be living a whole different life. Far far away from Israel. I think he is right...

You know, the moment that was the most significant in this transformation up until now was applying for visa to the UK, which is a very delicate process, and I will elaborate on it in my next post. Strangely, the bureaucracy around the whole process assists in repressing the actual outcomes, but that's probably part of the game.

As for leaving a working place with dignity, especially a place where I enjoyed working very much, and where I had the opportunity to sharpen my leadership experience and agenda, it is twice as hard. On one hand, you are thinking all the time about the exciting adventures waiting for you and how to make the immigration smoother. On the other, you want to make sure that the process is smooth for the team and the colleagues but feel tired after 4 years of hard work under pressure. This is very complex situation. 'Leaving a Legacy' is a phrase that I think about a lot lately.

George vs. George

The statistics show that some people really take the time to read what I have to say, which is a great deal of satisfactory for me, and I want to thank you for that. I also wish to have some feedback (which I'll screen in case I don't like it :)) and areas on which you want me to elaborate on.

I want to dedicate this post to explain the line of reasoning that has led me to prefer the London Business School over 3 other American business school I've been offered a place at. Please be VERY careful with making an analogy between the considerations that I had with those you have (see... now you can't sue me :)).

Let me first summarize my considerations, and then I'll elaborate on every item:

1. Ranking
2. Exposure to the world
   
3. Life in an exciting city
4. London's role as a key financial & business hub
   
5. Visa considerations
6. Proximity to family in UK
7. Proximity to family in Israel
8. Gut feeling
   

Now that we have the list organized by priorities, I'll try to explain my point of view on every item in it:

1. Ranking - I admit. The ranking is very important for me. You can say that I'm primitive or shallow, or any other accusation. However in my opinion, if the schools can rank their applicants (by GMAT score, years of experience, ...) the applicants should do the same. Numbers do matter. I'm not saying that this is the only factor, but I do say that it is a VERY important one. The problem is - there are just too many ranking charts, and each of these claims something else. So how could I decide? I looked for overall consistency - which means that there's a consensus over the school's rank. Here's the ranking summary of LBS (cited from Wikipedia)

   • Joint 1st in the latest Financial Times Global MBA rankings (2009). The program shares this ranking with The Wharton School82 of the University of Pennsylvania83.
   • 3rd in the international ranking by The Wall Street Journal84 (2007)⁸⁵
   • 5th (outside the United States) by BusinessWeek (2008); It is the only MBA programme to have been ranked in the top five in every BW international ranking.⁸⁶
   • 2nd (for two year programs outside the United States) by Forbes (in 2007)⁸⁷
   • 3rd in the latest Best Global MBAs published by CNN Expansion88 (2008)⁸⁹
   • 9th by the most recent (2008) Economist Intelligence Unit rankings

   I translated this consistency into the following insight: There's a wide consensus about LBS's place among the top 10 business schools. None of the other options I had offered this kind of consistency.
2. Exposure the the world - As I said in my first posts, and as the name of this blog implies, I look for a true international experience. What I mean is that I want to make sure I'm not leaving one bubble in favor of another. All US schools work hard to offer international experience and attract many international students. However, as I see it, the dominating mindset remains American. There's a big difference between being in a class where 15-20 percents of your peers going through the same absorptions difficulties as you do, and a class where 90% are outsiders just like you are (including the faculty members). My family and I came to Israel 20 years ago from the former Soviet Union. This experience has taught me that immigration is a cultural shock, and you'd better go through this shock with as many friends as possible. And there's one more point I want to mention about exposure to the world. If you see yourself as a future leader making an impact on people's lives, especially on the international level - you'd better do your homework getting to know as many as possible cultures, styles and attitudes. An empathy is the core skill of every leader, and it is based solely on the personal experience.
   
3. Life in an exciting city - I think that the 2 years of my MBA should also be exciting outside school. I really think that this is part of this bundle called top-notch MBA. Living in London seemed to me as the most exciting offer I had. This is a really very personal consideration, especially for candidates with families. I see life in a city like London a lesson by itself - a 2yr cultural festival.
4. London's role as a key financial & business hub - Maybe I don't know enough about the interaction between business schools and recruiters, but it seems to me that 'the closer the better'. In the last 10 years London become a crucial financial & business hub, therefore the amount of options for personal development and impact is very high in this city. Of course we live in the 21st century where you can be everywhere through the cyberspace & other communication means - but there's no substitute for the real face-to-face presence when it comes to recruitment & leadership.
   
5. Visa considerations - The visa related laws in the UK are much more subtle than those in the UK. Many applicants/admits have US citizenship/green-card, so they have other considerations, but for me this aspect is very important, especially in the current financial crisis. First of all your partner gets an almost automatic work permit, so there's no need to beg for J1 visa. Secondly, students may work up to 20 hours per week, which can help finance your MBA. Third, you can get a work visa without having a sponsor (which is attractive for both the employee and the employer). Then after 5 years, you can apply for "Indefinite leave to remain for a work permit".
   
6. Proximity to family in UK - We (my future wife and I) have family in the UK (near London), which will make our stay much easier and warm. I've never thought that this would be a consideration - but you learn new things as you grow.
7. Proximity to family in Israel - 9 hours door to door is an amazing advantage both financially and personally. Your friends and family will probably want to visit you here and there, so it will ease the trip for them too.
8. Gut feeling - At the end of the day, all considerations mean nothing if you don't believe in your decisions. I have a very strong feeling about London Business School and plenty of excitement.

I didn't refer here to all the educational and cultural differences between US and Europe because I think that both are very interesting environments to leave in. I wish I could enjoy both somehow (maybe through an exchange program). If you are interested in reading material about these topics try googling: europe vs us mba.

Do your research??? (or - How to choose b-School)

I'm sorry for not being consistent with my posting frequency, but let me assure you that I've been pondering about this one for a long time. I want to dedicate this post to discuss the way I chose where to apply and provide some personal philosophy for making this VERY important decision. I think I've heard the somewhat annoying phrase 'Do your research' too many times when deciding on where to apply. Here's a typical transcript of a talk I had with an expert (alumnus/admission officer/...):

I: "I really cannot decide which school is better for me: X or Y. All the top 10 business schools, even all the top 20 look very attractive. It's like choosing between 'great' and 'excellent'."

Expert: "Well.... you know... you should do your research."

I: "Oh... I see..." (nod nod nod)

As you can see... the situation here is difficult. Let me try to translate the expert's advice for you: "Look... I really don't know.... this is like asking which color do you like". I admit that I've never liked the term 'Do your research' because it is very confusing and unclear- maybe because I come from the technical world where research is a very structured process of experiments and analyses. I think that what they really mean to say is: "Once you have enough information and really deep understanding of what the school has to offer for you, combined with deep understanding of your future career path and your chances to get admitted - you'll know". I really believe that all the top 20 schools are TERRIFIC schools and you cannot go wrong with any of these. On my visit to the US two years ago I've been to 5 top-notch schools and they all looked to me like heaven. I remember thinking to myself: "How do 'they' want me to choose between all these???". However there is, I believe, a method to choose the schools you should apply to. It looks a bit like choosing a career (something I learned on the 7 Habits of Highly Effective People course - which is very recommended BTW). Here's the diagram of career choice translated to the MBA world:
I'll explain:

• Business schools that can take you to wherever you want - are those schools that have the profile that is highly correlated with your future goals. You'll hear many times that every school can take you anywhere - this is absolutely TRUE, but some of them can make it easier for you. For example, if you are into technology, and you have no previous experience in this area, you should choose schools that have more technology oriented profile. Like in every other aspect of life - the key to success is the correct balance.

• Business schools that you you are passionate about - are those schools that you would be proud to carry its name on your CV. The psychology has a very important role here, and I definitely suggest listening to your inner voice / your gut feeling. Making decisions with high confidence, I think, makes these decisions smarter ones - because you'll be more dedicated to what you've decided, thus achieving higher satisfactory. For me, schools that I'm passionate about are those schools that even if I could get the post MBA job without an MBA, I would still choose to invest two years of my life in the MBA experience that these schools offer to their students.

• Business schools that you have good chances to be accepted to - what I'm saying here is - acknowledge the reality. Make sure you know at least approximately what is your 'market value'. Choosing the schools for applying to is all about risk management, because you have limited resources (time/money/energy/patience/...) and high level of competence. This is probably the hardest part, because most us don't know how the business schools see them, and how they evaluate our leadership experience against our GMAT (for example). My advice here is: LISTEN to the responses of people you bump into on MBA fairs, schools' receptions, school visits and other MBA related gatherings when they hear your story. On one of the MBA fairs I decided to observe how admissions reps of the different schools responded when I showed them my CV - these responses gave me some sense on how the same people that will evaluate my application see me. In addition, talk with as much as possible candidates from the same background to hear their story, so that you have some kind of reference. Try not to over-estimate yourself but definitely avoid underestimating.

After you've shortlisted the schools where you want to apply, you'll have to be more methodical in making the final list. You should 'spread your risk' and not put 'all the eggs in one basket'. In my case, for example, I applied to 5 schools (and got accepted to 4). My guideline was that: 'I must have high confidence that I get into at least one of the schools'. So I chose schools with 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% of being able to get accepted to, according to my own estimation.

Managing your application process, is one of the most important lessons you'll learn on your way to the future leadership opportunities. It is a hard process, and it takes a lot of passion and endurance.

The 'prestige' pill

Lately I've been wondering about the amount of deeds we do in the name of prestige. Specifically, what weight did the prestige had on my decision to choose the top-notch MBA path. To be absolutely honest - the prestige was important for me. The glamor, the suits, the power and all the rest of the 'sweets' are very tempting, and I think that in times we wrap it up in big 'leadership & vision' words. But... Is it that bad? I mean... if it wasn't for the prestige chasing, where would we be? Would we ever had the chance to see great leaders come and go? How many of the Nobel laureates and famous artists enrich the world with their great minds and talents if it wasn't for the 'prestige' reward?

One of my friends said that 'the prestige should be a pleasant side-effect, rather than the mission'. I totally agree with this statement. When I started my journey towards a top-notch MBA (in 2007), the financial atmosphere was intoxicating. People I've met in business schools I've visited in had the 'I'm going to be rich' look and everything was pretty promising. However, since then, the financial atmosphere has been 'slightly' changed - and I find it very positive in the sense of 'prestige chasing', at least for me. Today the main consideration is the studies, the exposure to the world and building myself as an expert in the business world. Of course the 'prestige' is still there - but in a more adequate dosage.

MBA?

When I decided to pursue an MBA, I was on a promising way to a pretty safe career path at Intel. On the other side, my intuition implied that I will not be able to achieve my career goals to lead large scale processes and companies by just walking on that safe path. In addition, I felt that without a meaningful business knowledge, experience and skills I will forever carry the 'techie' tag. And, since I believe that highly talented people will follow a leader or a manager only if they can trust him or her, I chose to build myself into such concept. As an employee this is very important for me. I need to know that the managers above me make wise decisions and 'did their homework' to be able to take these decisions.

Back in my army time I heard from a friend that there were Israelis who studied MBA abroad, but it was like a science fiction for me. Especially from the financial perspective. Raised in pretty 'unsafe' neighborhood, I just couldn't believe that I will ever be able to take such step. It all started ~3 years ago when I heard that a colleague of mine is going to the US to study MBA. I was absolutely amazed that my dream is within a feasible reach and was ready to do whatever it takes to get there.

Let's go down to the basics. What is MBA? According to the Wikipedia: "The Master of Business Administration (MBA) is a master's degree in business administration, which attracts people from a wide range of academic disciplines. The MBA designation originated in the United States, emerging from the late 19th century as the country industrialized and companies sought out scientific approaches to management. The MBA degree has since achieved worldwide recognition." But.... besides reading the formal definition and brochures, I like the following approach, and I think it works for every career choice in life. Look at the people who choose similar path. Do you admire them? Do you like their approach to life? Will you 'bet' on their success? Will you enjoy just hanging around with these guys? If the answer is yes, then you are probably one of them (whatever 'them' refers to).

I read about the people in the top MBA schools, and discovered that these programs are a must-go-through milestone for those who see themselves as people who wish to bring a true change to the way the world looks. So how about YOU? Are you ready to take the challenge? Pause your career progress, take huge loans and live far away from your family to become an MBA grad? I like to think that these hurdles by themselves do most of the screening work for the admission officers. When you start this process, make sure that you know what you are getting into, and that you are ready to make the 'sacrifices'.

Now, don't get me wrong... I truly believe that a person can reach all his/her goals without an MBA, and there are great example for paradigm-shift leaders who don't have business education - the question is what's the right way for you. What path will give you the feeling that you are doing the right thing? I think this is very much like Dumbo's 'magic' feather :)