MBA Diary: Remy Carera, IE Business School

Follow the MBA experiences of Remy Carera, a French MBA student at IE Business School in Madrid, Spain.

Each month Remy writes about his MBA experience, a great reference point for anyone considering an MBA. What is life actually like on an MBA course? How do people get themselves onto and through a course at a top business school? What can you learn from reading the experiences of others? "March 2008, and here I am in Madrid studying at a top business school. After five months of blood, sweat and fiestas there are plenty of things to write about, but I may as well start by explaining how I came to land in the capital of Spain, full of motivation, and a fair amount of trepidation if I'm honest. At the time I felt a bit like a football player poised to strike a decisive penalty kick in a world cup final, although right now I feel like a marathon runner who still has half way to go.

I'm originally from France, where I lived most of my life in a town on the French-Swiss border near Geneva. Much as I loved living in France, I felt the need to broaden my horizons both professionally and personally speaking, so on completion of my degree in mechanical engineering studies I headed to Sweden to specialize in solar energy engineering in a place that makes up for what it lacks in sunlight with boundless imagination and knowledge! This decision wasn't just a case of realizing how important all the energy issues could be in the near future, but also of wanting to gain a better overview of technologies and their implications. Hence I did my MSc. in Sustainable Energy Engineering at the Royal Institute of Technology (KTH/RIT) in Stockholm. I then had just enough time for one last fling with "solar" energy in the form of a masters thesis at the Federal Polytechnic School of Lausanne (EPFL), before ending up in Brussels working for a leading European technology consulting group.

To give you a brief idea of my professional background, my work over the past years has consisted of creating, developing and structuring an energy team. The team, which was dedicated to providing innovative solutions and services in the fields of energy efficiency, sustainable energy production and on-site continuous energy management strategies, rapidly grew from two to eight consultants, and that's when I found myself wanting a deeper knowledge of management.

Meanwhile, explicit signs of a booming market have led me to believe that I am going to see a growing demand among my clients for expertise in the field of energy. At the same time, there is a distinct lack of qualified people and experienced managers in this sector.

Hence the decision to take an MBA program. I needed to learn, understand and assimilate the best management skills available, and I needed to do it in the near future or the opportunity would pass me by, and I knew I would regret it for the rest of my life.

Personally, I strongly believe that the added value of an MBA program is particularly noticeable if it is from an outstanding school of management. Hence I did the same as most of you, I looked at the FT rankings and compared fees, minimum GMAT scores, deadlines for submissions, etc But by far the most useful thing I did was to meet alumni from these schools. It really helped me to understand the areas in which one or another school was better. We all have different reasons for applying to one school in particular and that is why it is very important to understand what you expect and how a certain school can meet your needs.

IE Business School has a reputation for being the world's best school for entrepreneurship and the most international in terms of number of nationalities on campus. That was exactly what I was looking for. One of my bosses had done his MBA there a few years ago and he confirmed this for me. He also advised me specifically to contact the Centre for Eco-Intelligent Management at IE, because they offer the kind of courses I was seeking. Moreover, my partner is Spanish and improving my Spanish was one of my priorities.

So all in all my first choice of school was a given. I think that's what it boils down to, making the right decision for YOU. And if the first few weeks are anything to go by, it would appear that I have got it right!"

Remy Carera, International MBA Student 2008, IE Business School