MBA Student Profile: Maria Teresa Cordero, IE

Maria Teresa Cordero chose an MBA program at IE in order to enhance her prospects at senior management level. 

1. What were you doing before your MBA?

I was working as Corporate Communications Manager in Spain of a leading global firm within the finance and insurance sector.     

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

During the last five years I have devoted my energies to developing a successful professional career within the area of corporate communications and marketing. It was my main goal to take my career to the next level by acquiring and developing the general management skills needed to perform at the senior management level within a company, which have not been part of my formal education to date.     

I envisioned the master's degree to be a platform that will allow me to enhance those skills developed while working, and therefore serve as a springboard for my next phase of my career. The broad knowledge and specific communications expertise I gained through my bachelors degree, were complemented by the extensive professional experience I gained at both the international and national level. Hence the next logical step was to  develop a broader set of managerial skills.      

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

I visited the web sites of different schools in Spain and Europe, consulted extensive literature about MBAs as well as the MBAs rankings of publications such as Financial Times. Finally, I also interviewed with alumni from several schools and got their opinions, impressions and experiences about the program they took.      

4. What were the main criteria in your selection?

The international reputation of IE, the scope of the curriculum, the prestige of its faculty, and the multicultural environment were my main criteria. In addition, being Madrid based, Instituto provided the perfect combination of geographical proximity and international perspective.     

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

While being near to the country where I now develop my professional career, IE still provide a very international and multicultural platform to conduct the MBA, this is the reason why I chose the International MBA program.      

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

MBAs in overall terms are highly recognized as a degree that provides general management skills to professionals with previous training and experience in specific areas of knowledge. They have a high level of prestige within the corporate world and an increasing reputation within other areas of activities such as public administrations and NGOs.      

Specifically IE's degree is seen as one of the more prestigious in Spain and among the leadings worldwide.      

7. Were you successful in obtaining a scholarship?

Yes, IE's scholarship.      

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

It will depend on the combination of the sector and project I will get involved.      

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

Either be involved in the launching of a new venture or at a general managerial post within a multinational company. I expect to be based mainly in Spain or any other major European city.