MBA Student Profile: Andreas Maier, IMD

Andreas Maier chose IMD for his MBA degree and tells us what led him to believe this was the best choice for him.

1. What were you doing before your MBA?

I worked as a Project Manager at Hyundai Mobis in Korea.     

2. What were your main reasons for deciding to attend business school?

After graduating with a PhD, I worked two years in R&D and moved than into project management. With this assignment I learned to manage one aspect of a company in that managed the establishment of a multi-billion production facility. Since my career objective is to go into general management, business school is the bets preparation for it considering my background and experience.

3. What research did you undertake in selecting your school?

At an initial stage I got a lot of information from the internet and friends who studied for an MBA. Then I attended MBA forums (i.e. World MBA Tour in Seoul) to meet representatives from the schools directly. On this basis I made my final decision which school to apply for.      

4. What were the main criteria in your selection?

The main criteria were the program content, experience and internationality of participants, average age of participants and reputation of the school. IMD was the only one fulfilling all criteria and the only school I eventually applied to.      

5. Why did you decide to study either in your own country or overseas?

I wanted to study with a highly international group and IMD is the best place to do so.      

6. How well do your think the MBA is regarded in your home country?

IMD has an excellent reputation in Germany.      

7. How are you financing your studies?

I received a loan from IMD to cover about 60% of the tuition. The remainder I cover from my savings.      

8. Did you apply for any scholarships? If so, which ones?

I did apply for the Wall Street Journal scholarshipat IMD. In addition, I considered applying for various scholarships in Germany. However, applying about two years prior to the start of the program in order to meet their deadlines I believe is impractical.             

9. Have you already been, or do you intend to become an entrepreneur?

After graduation I want to return into industry. However, if I have the opportunity I may want to become an entrepreneur with the knowledge I gained already at IMD.      

10. Are there any well-known and/or successful entrepreneurs that are alumni of your school?

I am presently working on a start-up company which is owned by an IMD alumnus who has already a successful company.      

11. How easy or difficult do you expect it to be to achieve these objectives?

Looking at the career of previous alumni from IMD, I see myself in a senior management position in 10 years.