Darren talks with N'doli Jean-Hugues "Cherif," a French and Ivorian candidate who gained admission to both INSEAD and London Business School's MBA programs. Cherif, an older full-time MBA candidate with diverse experience across five roles - including audit, management consulting, investment banking and infrastructure project finance in the public and private sector - shares his five key success factors for MBA admissions.

Topics

• Introduction (0:00)
• Cherif's Background & Pre-MBA Plan & Goals (3:10)
• How Cherif Found Career Mentors & Built Future Opportunities (10:40)
• Cherif's 5 Key Success Factors
• • Unwavering Focus (17:20)
  • Strategic Peer Review (27:15)
  • Work with a Consultant (34:30)
  • Self-awareness (43:15)
  • Narrative Coherence (52:30)
• How Cherif Assessed his Competitiveness (1:00:00)
• Cherif's Interview Tips for Insead & London Business School (1:07:10)

• Cherif's Final Tips (1:24:00)

About Our Guest

N'doli Jean-Hugues Cherif graduated from Cranfield University with a Masters in Management and Concordia University with a Bachelors in Political Science. He will be attending the Insead MBA program in Fontainebleau, France, focused on a post-MBA career in infrastructure-focused private equity.

After getting his Masters, Cherif worked as an auditor for PwC, management consultant for Square Management, and then in Financial Advisory and Project Finance for the government of Côte d'Ivoire and then as an investment banker for Obara Capital. He then returned to Paris with his family to do Financial Advisory and Project Finance for Egis.

Show Notes

• Follow N'doli Jean-Hugues Cherif on LinkedIn
• How I Got Into Insead & London Business School: 5 Game-Changing Success Factors by N'doli Jean-Hugues Cherif (My Admissions Journey Series)
• Insead MBA
• Infravenir: Young Infrastructure Professionals in France
• The Glocap Guide To Getting A Job In Private Equity: Behind the Scenes Insight Into How PE Funds Hire by Brian Korb
• London L. - MBA Admissions Consultant

More Resources

• Get free school selection help at Touch MBA
• Get pre-assessed by top international MBA programs
• Get the Admissions Edge Course: Proven Techniques for Admission to Top Business Schools
• Our favorite MBA application tools (after advising 4,000 applicants)

Darren confronts his own "AI anxiety" with Sabine King, Director of the Career Accelerator at the Australian Graduate School of Management (AGSM) at University of New South Wales (UNSW). Together, they explore the impact of Artificial Intelligence (AI) on the demand for MBA graduates, the evolving strategies of career services, and how leading business schools are equipping their students to thrive in an AI-world.

• Introduction (0:00)
• AI's impact on demand for MBAs (5:50)
• How AGSM embeds AI into its curriculum & career services (8:30)
• AI tools for resume optimization (11:30)
• The importance of authenticity & one's mindset in using AI (13:30)
• What AI skills do employers expect from MBAs? (17:00)
• Using AI for psychometric testing, initial assessments & interview preparation (26:00)
• Using AI for career exploration (30:00)
• AGSM's AI courses & resources (36:00)
• Ethical use of AI (38:40)

About Our Guest

Sabine King is the Director of the Career Accelerator at 
Australian Graduate School of Management (AGSM) at the University of New South Wales (UNSW) in Sydney, Australia. Previously, she worked for Education First as a Program Manager and Cox Purtell as a Recruiting Specialist. She graduated with a degree in Business Management from the International School of Management in Germany.

• AGSM MBA
• UNSW AI Institute
• ChatGPT
• Microsoft CoPilot
• Crystal - The Personality Data Platform
• VMoc - Career Acceleration Platform
• Case Coach - Case Interview Prep Platform
• Graduate First - Job Assessments Expert
• Still need help? Get a free profile review, including best-fit MBA programs & ways to strengthen your profile

• Get free school selection help at Touch MBA
• Get pre-assessed by top international MBA programs
• Get the Admissions Edge Course: Proven Techniques for Admission to Top Business Schools
• Our favorite MBA application tools (after advising 4,000 applicants)
• The Best MBA Programs in Australia

Darren shares 3 design thinking exercises from Bill Burnett and Dave Evan's Designing Your Life that will help you build a joyful life - and find MBA programs you are excited about.

• Introduction (0:00)
• Make Odyssey Plans - Imagining Life 1, 2 and 3 (3:45)
• Prototype - "Building is Thinking" (8:20)
• Wayfind - Following Energy and Engagement (13:30)

• Designing Your Life - How to Build a Well-Lived, Joyful Life
• The Fail-Safe Solopreneur - 6 Essential Practices to Manage Your Well-Being Working for Yourself
• #46 Steve Dalton’s The 2 Hour Job Search: The 80/20 Formula to Target Employers & Secure First Interviews
• #188 Steve Dalton’s The Job Closer – Giving Job Seekers Straightforward Frameworks that Work Fast and Work Well
• #192 MBA Coffee Chats: Thoughtful Advice on How to Get the Most Out of Your MBA with Adam Putterman, Kellogg MMM ’19
• #194 Building a Professional MBA Network with Nicolle Lee, Wharton MBA ’22
• #156 Three Questions to Ask Before You Make a Career Move with Gary Lo

• Get free school selection help at Touch MBA
• Get pre-assessed by top international MBA programs
• Get the Admissions Edge Course: Proven Techniques for Admission to Top Business Schools
• Our favorite MBA application tools (after advising 4,000 applicants)