Category: 2020-2021

If someone had told me in 2018 (when I sat for the GMAT) that I would attend business school in a t-shirt and pyjamas, I would have dismissed them as some sort of nutter. Cue 2020 and the joke was on me. Or should I say, all of the full-time class! It has its advantages, being at the comfort of my sofa and dining table and snacking away on nachos while scribbling pages and pages of notes. 

Coming back to university after a nearly twelve-year gap seemed a little intimidating at first. Will I be able to make sense of everything? What about the workload? Am I going to sit through class like a confused dinosaur? I suppose many people face these thoughts on the first day. The simple answer to all of this I would say is “You’ll be fine”. We have all made it through the gruelling years of undergraduate study and working life and committed ourselves to achieving a goal, all that is left is to just “get on with it”. The first few weeks feel like a very steep climb, with new material to learn, assignments and presentations and so on, but quite soon, one just gets into a certain rhythm, and the weeks start flying by. 

The most rewarding part of study is that “Aha!” moment, which typically happens when you realise that you start looking at the world through the frameworks taught in class. You might look at the workings of a hospital and start thinking about how its management could do better to foster more teamwork or a better work environment for its personnel. You might look at a company and start evaluating its competitive advantage or the potential pitfalls of its business strategy, as if by reflex. You might even pull out an annual financial report and zoom right into the details to prove a particular point. The application of classroom study is much quicker. 

Every term has a course or two that are the most memorable for a student. Competitive Strategy, taught by Dr. Brian McGrath, is my pick for the first term, with its engaging and unique business cases. The class itself was never short of banter despite being taught remotely, and full of many eureka moments as the weeks went on. When we venture back into working life, we’ll all definitely be thinking about the ways and means to “capture and sustain a competitive advantage” every single day. 

The second-term course on Negotiation is probably one of the most challenging ones I have faced personally, as it takes me far out of my comfort zone, but I’m all the more thankful for it. With its multitude of handy frameworks and challenging simulations and role-plays, I think it is a great experience to practise and learn how to be a better negotiator… to “capture and sustain a competitive advantage”. 

Business school is a bit like a series of many lab experiments, each one building into the next. At the start, there is what feels like “the great unknown” looming ahead. Then, as one goes along, every couple of steps bring with them moments of unique insight, the ones where you think “Aha! I get this!” or “Aha! I can do this better!” Along with you are many fascinating and talented individuals, adding to those eureka moments. While the first few steps look daunting, just have a plan, stick to it and keep going. Those moments will happen!

—Hamzah Hassan, FTMBA Class of 2021

Our greatest freedom is the freedom to choose our attitude. 

Viktor Frankl

For many, the past 12 months have felt like a bit of a whirlwind. We went from what we thought was a 2-week lockdown, through copious amounts of zoom calls, to what people are now calling COVID fatigue. Like many others I have gone through substantial change this year. Wherever possible I have tried to embrace it with open arms, even when it didn’t come naturally: such as when I faced the maths section of the executive assessment exam.  

The past 7 years and a big chunk of my professional career were spent working in the Middle East, where I had worked hard to build a reputation as a person who delivered results in sales & business development. In July of 2020, five months into the COVID-19 pandemic, the world stood still for a moment. I received an email to say my role was impacted by the global headcount reduction at my company. If anyone has ever been impacted by redundancies before, you will know it is not the most pleasant experience to go through. There is still stigma around the word and many do not like to talk about it. Many self-critical thoughts raced through my mind: Could I have done more? Am I good enough? Did they not like me? It was a very strange and isolating time. I was reminded by a friend recently that redundancy doesn’t mean you are redundant but more importantly its the role that is redundant. 

Experience is what you get when you didn’t get what you wanted.

Randy Pausch

After letting the dust settle for a few days, I thought to myself, ‘how can I turn this event into an opportunity to grow?’ I narrowed it down to four areas: apply for a new role? travel the world? (Hard to do with a ban on most travel.) Set up my own business? or do an MBA? I’ve wanted to do an MBA for a long time. In my Microsoft Internship, I remember sitting with a colleague who was mid-way through their MBA and being positively impacted by their energy and excitement for the MBA course. The way they articulated and understood the bigger picture intrigued me. Following that conversation, I firmly placed the desire to do an MBA onto my things I would like to do in the future list. 

If I am being very honest, I was a little naïve to the process of getting into an MBA programme.  So, when I realized I not only had to do an entrance exam but there was also a section heavily weighted on maths, I was a little concerned. It had been so long since I had encountered any of these types of math. With six weeks to prepare for the executive assessment, I had a small moment of doubt. Had I left it too late to get up-to-speed and achieve the standard required in such a short time?

If I didn’t pass the entry exams, I knew that the decision to return home could be the wrong decision and the year I had set-aside to complete the MBA could be an ambiguous time. I also knew that to wait another year before joining the MBA class was not a realistic option.

Things won are done; joy’s soul lies in the doing.

William Shakespeare

So, with no time to lose, I began receiving Math tutoring 3 times a week for 3 weeks until I returned to Ireland. During this same period, I was preparing to leave Dubai. Rental agreements needed to be closed, belongings that could not be re-patriated needed to be disposed of and banking and visa requirements all needed attention. Most importantly, I needed to say goodbye to friends and colleagues. These 3 weeks were hectic and challenging on many fronts.

Having arrived back in Ireland, I still was not feeling fully confident in the math section of the executive assessment. I tried the mock online and I knew I needed to find more help. I secured lessons with a professor: 2 hours of teaching per day, for 5 days, every morning, right up to the exam. 

Why am I telling you all this you might be wondering? 

The executive assessment exam for me was an early lesson in overcoming my limiting beliefs. I had to keep an open mind, tackle my weaknesses front-on, know when to ask for help, and map out a clear process to enable me to succeed. These same skills continued to help me throughout the first semester of the MBA, which, thanks to the complications of COVID-19, was not the easiest start. I have thoroughly settled into and am  enjoying the course. I have  been able to build relationships with my fellow students and lecturers and hope to strengthen these even further as time goes on. 

Funnily enough, and to my surprise, some of the subjects I have found the most interesting are maths-based: management accounting, financial statement analysis, and economics. Overcoming my limiting beliefs allowed me to go into subjects with an open mind, ask questions, and remain curious. 

As I reflect over the past few months I remember an article that I wrote back in April, one month into the pandemic. I had just started watching Game of Thrones. In this scene, one of the characters (Ygritte) is sharpening and fine-tuning her bow & arrows amid a great storm. Her friend Tormund looks to her and says, ‘we could be here for a while; there is no need to rush with making arrows, come for a drink.’ Her response: “Good, the longer we wait, the more arrows I’ll have.” This is what stood out to me in Game of Thrones and this is what I hope the pandemic (our own storm) is for me. I hope to take what I learned in conquering the maths section of the GMAT and,  at the end of my MBA, come back out to the market with my skills sharpened. 

Career success is not about being employed but being employable. Change is the only constant in life and does not have to define us. A true test of character is how we react when it does.  

—Conor Hyland, FTMBA Class of 2021