MBA Student Profile: Jan Benes, University of Cambridge

Jan Benes tells us why the MBA program at the University of Cambridge was on his wishlist.

1. What were you doing before your MBA?

In the last six and a half years, I have been working for several companies in a variety of different industries. In one of my first jobs, I worked in the FMCG for Frito-Lay; a very dynamic company driven by its products and marketing. I started as an engineering project leader and later became team leader.

Gradually, however, I moved my career to jobs relating to change in organisational processes. First, as maintenance engineer within an Integrated Service Provider for Shell offshore and later as a change manager in an internal project to redesign the business processes.      

2. What were your main reasons for deciding to attend a business school? 

My working experience taught me much about interpersonal relationships. Although this was important for my daily work, I found out that I needed more business insight. Being an engineer, I lack this knowledge and I knew that the MBA could fill in the gaps.

Furthermore, I knew that I could extend my international network by attending a top business school abroad. However, the last important reason is that I was/am looking for an intellectual boost. I can tell you now that Cambridge has lived up to those expectations in numerous ways.      

3. What research did you undertake in selecting your school?  

Once I was sure that I wanted to do an MBA I tracked down several MBAs via the web and asked for brochures. Some schools took a long time to get the material out to me, which in itself was my first selection criteria After that, I visited an international fair in Brussels. This was important step in the process, because it put faces to theprograms and I could easily single out programs of my interest.

However my final decision was made when I met an alumnus of the Cambridge MBA and heard first-hand what a life changing experience he had at Cambridge. From this personal contact I realised that the Cambridge MBA was for me and why I applied to the programme.      

4. What were the main criteria in your selection? 

I mainly focussed on top tier schools, one-year programs, in Europe and with a truly international class. The Cambridge MBA programme matched my wish-list. I was able to see the diverse class, collaborative ethos and practical programme there is at Cambridge at the interview day where I met students and faculty.

A strong alumni network was also very important to me, and as a Cambridge MBA you not only have access to the business school network but also to the wider University of Cambridge alumni network, one of the most prestigious in the world.      

5. Why did you decide to study either in your own country or overseas?

As I was interested in building an international network I thought that I could best look for business schools abroad. Further, the only viable option in The Netherlands is Rotterdam school of management.      

6. How well do your think the MBA is regarded in your home country?

The Cambridge MBA is a young program and as such it is not yet well known in The Netherlands. The University of Cambridge  itself, however, is very well known and has a world-class reputation. As a student and alumnus this will be a life-long reflection.      

7. How are you financing your studies? 

I choose to fund the MBA myself.I wanted to give myself as many experiences as possible and the opportunity to explore my options for the future.  

8. Have you already been, or do you intend to become an entrepreneur? 

I continued the Entrepreneurship Special Interest Group of last year. However, I had never expected it to be so energising that even an engineer, like me, would want to get out there and do it myself.

Cambridge is the MBA in Europe to go to if you are interested in becoming an entrepreneur and experience the entrepreneurial spirit. The Cambridge area is a thriving cluster of new businesses, most of which spunout of the University of Cambridge. I have not started my own business yet, but I keep my eyes open for opportunities.      

9. Are there any well-known and/or successful entrepreneurs that are alumni of your school? 

Cambridge is home to numerous successful small businesses, especially in the high-tech and bio-tech sectors. A recent MBA alumnus, Richard Dellabarca (MBA 2002) co-founded Artimi, a semiconductor company in Cambridge seeking to design and sell next generation wireless chipsets utilising Ultra-Wideband radio technology. After 18 months, the company is now acknowledged as one of the leaders in its field and has just announced its first institutional fundraising round of US$14m with a syndicate comprising leading international Venture Capital investors from Silicon Valley, Europe and the UK. This is the largest Series A institutional investment in a start-up in Europe since the dot.com days.

Richard is also a co-founder of CambridgeMinds, a professional networking service for graduate professionals holding advanced degrees (MBAs, PhDs, MPhils) in business and science who are seeking to access possible interim, project and/or full time employment.      

10. How much do you expect to earn on graduation? 

I did not focus on the exit salary per se, because I am a relative older student and my percentage increase would thus probably be relatively low. A salary between ¬40k and ¬50k should be attainable. However, I am more focussed on the future earning, as this MBA will really have enhanced my career.      

11. What do you expect to do on graduation and where do you expect to be based? 

Probably my next job will be either in new business development or in marketing, although I would not like to rule out the option of setting up my own business. Where? That is just as much a question for you as for me. All I can say that it will be abroad.

12. How easy or difficult do you expect it to be to achieve these objectives? 

Nothing is for free. You have got to work on it and really focus on checking time and time again if it is what you want to be doing. The answers will not come easily, but as long as you do not give up asking you will get answers to the questions.