The most rewarding thing for me was proving to myself that I can do complicated research about the industry I knew nothing about. I was able to communicate with the company’s executives and provide my recommendations based on my theoretical knowledge.
I've spent a lot of time researching the industry, the company, and it's a new technological tool to be able to discuss it during the interview and get details for my case. I also realized that I really like to do this kind of project.
Jane / “GrabCAD. Social Marketing Strategy” Case
I have been using BE-EDGE to prepare for my interviews and I got my dream job! I use BE-EDGE to gain employers’ trust and enable them to picture themselves working with me in the future. Based on my personal experience and observation, people usually buy products that are emotionally related to them. It is the same rationale when hiring managers are making job offers. There are so many prospective job candidates who have the same degrees and the same years of experience as you do. This means that many people seem to be qualified for the job position.
Through my own experience, I have found Employers are looking for employees who can solve challenges and support company’s current success and future development, so understanding your core values and the industry that you wish to devote yourself to is very important. Following the advice in the Crafting Your Edge for Today's Job Market, I do heavy research on company’s organizational culture, evaluate main issues, find root causes, and devise action plans to address problems. I implement my plans, monitor the effectiveness and efficiency of the plans, and demonstrate the results to employers to solidify trusted relationships between us and achieve future goals. I have found that this strategy not only can be utilized when you are working, but also can be utilized when you are searching for a new job opportunity.
Through the BE-EDGE method, I understood the importance of precisely define a long-term career objective and set steppingstones to make this vision comes true. Having this vision was critical to work on a valuable and interesting thesis project, but also helped me been more accurate when interacting with professionals. Thanks to the BE-EDGE method I have defined my aspirations, linked them to my skills and presented it in a way to connect with a large network of professionals. The method also gave me tools to select the right company and people that align with my career path. I was able to use my skills and knowledge in the best way possible and gain self-confidence to shape my space in the job market.
Alix / “Internationalization of Therapeutic Innovations: Entering a market of Ghana” Case
The most valuable aspect of this experience was the opportunity to help an organization that I love to enhance its business. The most challenging experience was to fully understand the core of the problem, and start writing from it. Putting pieces of information together and connecting them directly to the problem was not an easy task for me. However, at the end, I felt completely satisfied when I realized that I made a big difference in people’s lives just applying what I was studying and writing about. It was the feeling of plenitude of helping people to become better ones, and organizations to develop their business.
Thaissa / “Instituição Beneficente Nosso Lar” Case
Being a recent graduate from the undergraduate level, I was absolutely terrified at what the future would hold for me. The biggest driver for me to pursue further education so early on was to feel more secure in myself and my abilities to perform in the career path I wish to pursue. Prior to taking a course with Professor Ivy, I had no idea where to start or how to start defining my path and creating a competitive portfolio of my characteristics. From day one in professor Ivy's program, I knew that I would find these answers. Primarily, I have been using the knowledge of crafting my EDGE to create a more in-demand portfolio for myself that is targeted at the career I want. Much like we learn quite early on in her book, I was able to define my industry, and then ultimately following those steps throughout the semester, I was able to envision myself at the point I want to get to in my career; something I was unable to see before. Also, beyond crafting my EDGE, I purposely chose to complete a second course with professor Ivy as the information from these classes directly enriched my professional goals.
Tamara / MSIM “Beyond Meets” Consulting Case
The consulting case was an opportunity for me to “test drive” my personal vision, mission, and self-analysis. It was a chance for me to evaluate whether my expected life path makes sense based on my capabilities. Working with management and having full control over the project with my group members helped me find my personal focus on the project and voice in the report. The experience of working on such a report has improved my understanding of the process, it has added to my portfolio, and I would feel comfortable reaching to our company contacts for references.
Andrew / “Cook Lumber” Case
Since I was a kid, all the Airtek employees know me and see me growing up as “the daughter of the owner,” which made highly challenging for me to change the way how the Airtek employees and my parents see me and establish myself as a future company’s executive. Through the BE-EDGE process of my capstone project for Masters in International Management, I conducted research, analyzation and consultation for the Airtek case. I was able to nurture my skills, sharpen my voice and views, and show Airtek managers my expertise in international management. This project provided me with the opportunity to show a different dimension of me that they had not have a chance to see before.
Sherry / “How Could Airtek Win Shanghai’s Market?” Case
The BE-EDGE experience allowed me to find the source of the problem in my family business. After graduation, I went back to my country and applied the knowledge into a practical issue. For example, the consulting case revealed that the culture was critical for my organization – more than other management components. Though I still had a long way to learn and needed to gain more experience, I relied on the BE-EDGE experience to establish myself as a transformational force. I introduced a task force effort to transform the culture, and together with my team, we made it successfully. The fundamental and practical knowledge we have learned from Dr. Ivy was the greatest power and a lifetime skill for us to be the survivor in the future, and it also helped me establish my own voice as a leader.
Henry / “JL Cambridge International, Inc. (Taiwan branch)” Case
The BE-EDGE method helped me even after graduation!
In my current work, I have applied the same E-D-G-E steps when worked on solving a challenge of the shrinking market share of traditional bonds. This was not a typical consulting project, but the framework and business ideas I use were the same as what I learned in my final project. These frameworks, the importance of crystallizing my focus, understanding clients, and the ability of design thinking were the cornerstones that were useful for any industry and for any business. What’s more important was to use it flexibly and innovatively.
Junte / “Entering the Emerging Market of Convertible Bonds” Project
The case analysis of Cofem, S.A. to determine the next market for entry really provided the practical focus and basis to catapult my novice interest into a realistic venture. The whole process of implementing appropriate analysis and perspective really hit me as we worked towards the implementation method for the case. It became REAL! It was that moment that concepts became reality for me, which further increased my interest.
What’s next?
The dilemma is determining what the current need is, when to act, how to do it, but most importantly are you ready and can you fill the need. Realism is important. Growth and success aren’t guaranteed. But having the courage and resolve to dig deeper, self-reflect, practically analyze, and make an initial move is what it takes to start something special. If nothing else, I realize this initial exposure is a start but there is much more to learn, experiment and apply. I’ve got to put myself into organizations and situations that provide the avenues for continued exposure. Looking forward to continuing that journey.
Jeff / “Cofem, S.A.” Consulting Case