What happened to my goals essay?

I had this good essay draft for INSEAD about my career goals. Now, I still have it, but it’s no longer relevant. What the hell happened to finance? I had a chat with a current student in Fontainebleau and the news is all bad for banking internships. The rest of the financial sector does not look very bright either. In addition to all that, sector and location switching is getting close to impossible. This means that if the economy is still weak, after graduation I’d have to return to my country/ region and look for job similar to my current one. Urgh.

Right now I have absolutely no idea what to do with this essay or with my INSEAD application for that matter. There is a chance that things will be different by 2010 but it’s stupid to base my whole strategy on that assumption. On the other hand, I realise that my job is not secure at all, so I am not really losing a promising career by going to business school. If I’m going to fight for survival anyway, maybe it’s better to do it armed with a top MBA (and in debt?) than with bare fists.

I’d really like to hear from fellow applicants, especially international ones with financial background. Please leave a comment or use the contact form.

Feeling good

Yes, I have submitted my IMD application in time for Round 1. Yes, with all the recommendations. To get three relatively senior and very busy people to work for me and make it before the deadline was the hardest part of the application process. This is not to say that cracking the GMAT or writing the essays was easy. It was not, but at least that was something I could control.

Now is the time when a sensible applicant starts worrying about financing and whether the school will call for an interview. Probably I should also start re-reading my submitted application, discover a mistake and get a heart attack. Furthermore, I am hardly a clear admit at IMD, what with the uber-impressive student profiles posted on their website.

Right now though, I don’t care about any of that. I have passed one major hurdle and it feels great. The INSEAD R1 deadline is in more than a month, I have pretty advanced drafts of all essays and the two remaining recommenders are warmed up. There’s even time for a quick getaway in a five start hotel with my girl. Life, for the time being, is good.