Could you tell us more about yourself?
My name is Naomi O'Donnell. I'm Japanese, Irish, and Swiss. I am passionate about being a part of the Mckinsey luxury and fashion department as a consultant once I graduate from my master's program. I am a graduate of HEC Lausanne - The Business and Economics Faculty, and I did my bachelor's in management.
Why did you choose MIM? Why not MBA or MIF?
I knew the direction I was going with my studies was management because I was more drawn to the managerial aspect. I didn't want to restrain myself, to narrow my path at this stage of my life and education. So I always knew that a MIM was suitable for the direction I was heading.
Why did you choose Imperial College in particular?
First of all, the program itself contributed significantly to my decision of applying to Imperial College. I feel like it's a perfect continuation of my studies, and it also has a solid focus on leadership. I felt like it was a lot stronger than any other business school. The key factor was that this program incorporates 2-3 consultancies' experiences, which was essential for me as I do not have any experience in consultancy. I will be able to gain not only a deeper understanding of business through this master's but would also gain professional experience at the same time. I also attended their information session on campus before Corona and everything. The students made it clear that the career centres were incredible as the support they gave to students was impressive.
What was the most challenging part for you in the application process?
For Imperial, the trickiest part was the interview and the structure of the interview questions. I was on an online interview, and every student was randomly assigned the interview questions so that no student would have the same question. The tricky part is that you have only 30 seconds to think about it and 1 minute to deliver the answer and not a second more. This interview format requires some practice as I had never done anything like this before.
How was your association with Dr Hubert and the MBA Center team?
I was glad that I had found him as my GMAT tutor when I was looking for one. He is very supportive and made me understand the GMAT structure very well. On top of that, I think it was beneficial that they were very flexible with timetables and everything as I was doing it all simultaneously with my studies. Without the help of Dr Hubert in the application process, I don't think that I would have gotten the school I wanted.
Thank you for your time Naomi, it was nice to have this session with you!