International MBA student

Jacob Westrum

From pursuing an International MBA to ordering a café, what happens when you put an American in France in the middle of a pandemic? Just ask Jacob Westrum, MBA student (Class of 2021) who lived this experience and came out stronger, smarter, and ready to take on the leadership challenges of tomorrow.

In total, Jacob has more than 3 years of leadership, 6 years of tech, and 11 years of sales experience. Formerly, he was responsible as a Senior Manager in Business Sales Marketing Strategic Solutions at Verizon Business Group and presently, he is working at Aircall with experience in: CCaaS, UCaaS, SaaS, PaaS, IoT, Information Technology, 5G, Telecommunications, Hosted VoIP, Device & Enterprise Mobility Management, Fleet Management.

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With a scientific and technological background, Dr. Souleymane Diallo, Product Manager at Toptica PHOTONICS, is keen not only to produce knowledge but also to apply it for the benefit of companies. He chose emlyon business school’s International MBA to help him to accomplish this, and he discusses his transition from hardcore engineering to hands-on work in the industry as a result of his degree.

The newest rankings from The Economist’s Which MBA 2022 rankings have been released, where emlyon business school’s International MBA IMBA) ranked #3 in France (right behind HEC Paris) and #30 worldwide (following American ivy-league universities).

Find out from current students about all the ways leaving your home country to study an international MBA will enhance your MBA experience.

What’s your reason for studying an MBA? Along with securing a pay rise and becoming a CEO, being able to travel internationally during your career is one of the most popular reasons students give for considering applying to business school. Gaining international experience while you study can help you launch a global career. You’ll be introduced to diverse cultures, meet new people, and gain access to fresh opportunities. It can also provide the inspiration you need to pursue an international career in the future. We spoke with emlyon business school International MBA students to find out some of the key ways going global can enhance the MBA experience. 1 - Learn in a challenging environment Whether you study at home or abroad, business school is always a challenge. But learning in a new country does pose unique characteristics that can help you develop both inside and outside the classroom. For Colombian-born Kevin Calvi (pictured), moving to France to study his MBA at emlyon business school meant having to adapt to a new language. It wasn't the first time: Kevin spent much of his early career in the US working in technology. Throughout his year-long degree at emlyon, he was able to add an understanding of French to his already impressive language repertoire comprising both English and Spanish. “I wanted a general change, for me the main motivation was the challenge and learning something new. French was that challenge so that’s why I first decided to move to France,” he says. 2 - Broaden your cultural understanding Learning a new language is just one part of the wider study abroad experience. For many students going global means immersing yourself in an entirely new culture. At business schools across the globe, international students are plunged into a sea of new experiences—whether that’s through exploring the history of their new city or even just while buying new types of food at the supermarket. “I was very excited,” Kevin explains. “I’ve had those changes of location in the past and I think there’s always something new to learn.” Kevin’s IMBA courses were mainly taught on emlyon’s Ecully campus based in France’s historic city of Lyon. The city is renowned as the home of various cultural landmarks and is also regarded as a hub of gastronomy. It offers a unique experience when compared with larger cities like Paris, a city that’s often more popular with international students, but is more crowded and expensive. “I had a friend in Lyon and he recommended the city, he said it was really nice and better in his opinion than Paris for the quality of life,” Kevin says. He adds that the location played a huge part in the decision to study abroad. 3 - Make international connections Broadening your cultural understanding doesn’t have to stop when you enter the classroom. In fact, many business schools offer opportunities to interact with people from a range of diverse cultures while you study. At emlyon, the IMBA cohort is made up of more than 25 different nationalities. The curriculum is also designed to encourage students to interact with each other during team projects and group coursework. “It’s very enriching because we are all very different, coming from everywhere in the world,” says Ana Maria Perez Villegas (pictured), another student in the IMBA who also hails from Colombia. Alongside interacting with her fellow students in class, Ana has lived with classmates from Spain and India during the program. “Having experiences with different cultures and seeing life how they see it is enriching because it opens your mind. It’s interesting to see how you manage to adapt,” she adds. Your connections can also extend beyond your cohort. During your degree you’ll interact with professors as well as industry leaders, recruiters, and other prominent guest speakers during networking events. Many of whom come from a wide variety of other countries. 4 - Learn new approaches and ways of thinking With business schools available in countries around the world, it’s no surprise that studying in different global institutions can mean learning in a new environment. For Kevin, a former graduate of universities in both Colombia and the US, teaching in France provided a new perspective: “in the US there wasn’t much of a focus on sustainability, while here it’s the main emphasis," he says. “Almost all of the courses have some key sustainability component, it’s been very eye opening because in the US you’re not always engaging in those conversations." Ana has had a similar experience. Conversations with classmates revealed to her the significantly different approach emlyon had towards sustainability compared with both her and her classmates’ previous experiences abroad. “Talking with them I realized that emlyon gave us a lot of corporate social responsibility (CSR) content, and they really emphasize sustainability and these new trends that the world is taking on,” she says. 5 - Launch a global career Arguably the key benefit you’ll gain from an internationally focused MBA is the platform it provides to launch a global career . You’ll be provided with the awareness and understanding to interact with different cultures. You’ll also be prepared for making big life changes, says Ana. “You have to take care of a lot of things like housing insurance, administrative procedures in the country, and securing a visa,” she explains. “I already knew how the whole process worked so I knew what to expect.” “I wanted to have an international experience because I wanted to be able to work in an international company. Nowadays we are all wanting to travel so that’s why I came to France,” she adds. So far, Ana’s plan is working. As part of the final period of her degree, she’s secured an internship with Amazon in the UK, where she’ll be living for three months. She hopes it will provide a platform for a full-time role and the chance to travel among Amazon’s various global offices. It’s a similar story for Kevin, who will be leaving France to take on a role with a technology company in the Netherlands after graduation. “The program definitely enabled me,” he says, “not only with my skills but also by giving me the possibility to study in Europe and then stay here.” This article was written by Matt Kefford for Business Because.

Do you dream of traveling the world? Immersing yourself in other cultures, foods, languages, and customs? Those driven both by their career and by their love of new experiences are the perfect candidates for emlyon business school’s International MBA (IMBA) program !

International MBA Student Experience – Lyon Living & Expenses

We’ve heard from our three current International MBA students on what they enjoy about the city of Lyon itself, we thought we’d ask them a bit more about their living situations and their actual expenses during their 11-month program.
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There are many alluring aspects to emlyon’s IMBA program, such as the location in beautiful Lyon, France, the global alumni network, and the travel opportunities. But another huge asset to the program, one that these students can attest to, is the ability to live in a diverse cohort made up of driven young professionals from around the globe. This year’s cohort is a mixture of 19 different nationalities! Perhaps you’re wondering how so many different backgrounds and cultures can successfully comingle? Let’s find out!

What do you enjoy most about being in a culturally diverse cohort? Vipin: I really like interacting with people from different cultures and nationalities to learn their perspectives on different things. This is also visible in the group work or in the outings we have together. We also enjoy and share our local food with each other! Yi: What I like most is the respect people have for each other in human interactions. I’ve also fallen in love with the people-oriented philosophy of the social culture here in Lyon; buses and private cars give way to pedestrians, for example, and this allows me to experience the classical politeness and elegance of the French people. Cristian: What probably enriches me the most is the cohort’s heterogeneity, different mindsets, and ways to see the same problem, solution, situation, or whatever, with a different perspective. It also helps to have a more precise and open point of view because it pushes you out of your comfort zone to discover new things. Lyon is also incredible; it is easily a city where anyone could make their life and be happy, which is a massive extra for the program. Do you often spend time with your fellow classmates? Vipin: Since we have a 5-day class schedule, most of my time is spent with other students in the cohort which can be divided into two parts – work-related and leisure. The work-related time includes discussions on projects and subjects, brainstorming on projects, group assignment, and group studies, as well as discussion on various activities for the club I represent. On the leisure side, we go out quite often. We have gone out for movies, celebrated Halloween in a club with our Program Director, and although the type of activity and frequency varies, fun remains at the core of it all. Yi: I spend a lot of time with my classmates. We go around the old downtown area of Lyon (Vieux Lyon), we shop together, we watch films together, we go to the Christmas market together, we go to restaurants to taste and feel the food of Lyon together too. There are events like this every week or two. Cristian: Since we are almost the whole week together during classes, we spend a lot of time together. But we also spend time in outings usually to relax and enjoy ourselves. The most frequent activities are things like watching sporting events (ex: UFC fights and soccer matches), celebrating birthdays, practicing French, dancing, sharing meals together and even traveling to other cities or countries together on holidays. Have you or will you be traveling anywhere fun with your classmates? Vipin: I had already visited 8 European countries before joining the IMBA program, but I have always enjoyed an opportunity to sneak out of my busy schedule and travel. I had a great opportunity to travel to Amsterdam for 4 days with seven other members of my cohort in November 2022, and I found that this city offers a different and unique experience and has something for everyone. I really enjoyed the food, weather, canal, museums, and landscape there. I also traveled to Vienna and Norway during our 2-week winter holiday break. It was very refreshing and rejuvenating to take a break from coursework and to mentally prepare for the new year. I also managed to accomplish one more item on my wish list by ticking off the box, “see the Northern Lights”! Yi: I have not ad the opportunity to travel with my classmates thus far, but we are planning a trip to visit Switzerland and the Swiss Alps! This is a place I’ve been yearning for five years; I witnessed the charm of skiing in the Alps from a song by the singer Ed Sheeran where the snowy mountains of Switzerland gave me a glimpse of my future self and of an exciting future to look forward to. Cristian: I was in Paris when my classmates went to Amsterdam, but we are planning upcoming trips to Germany, Strasbourg, and Milan! These IMBA students all came together united by their shared experiences of starting an MBA and a new chapter of their lives in a new city, a new country, and a new culture. They’ve successfully found ways in which to successfully work together or projects and in professional settings, as well as ways in which to bond and form friendships outside of the classroom. If you’re interested in learning more about the IMBA or about how to apply for our next September intake, contact the IMBA Recruitment Manager or check-out the program website!