MBA Student Profile: Myrthe Blanco Diaz, IE

Myrthe Blanco Diaz shares his experiences of an MBA program at IE and why he made the choices he made.

1. What were you doing before your MBA?

I was a financial control manager for Axa in Madrid.  I have been working for the Axa Group for the past six years on an international mobility.

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

I wanted to obtain my MBA degree in order to in-depth my general and strategic vision of a company.  At this point in my career, I felt academic education would allow a steeper learning process than the work experience.      

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

Over the past years, I have attended MBA fairs and closely followed the MBA rankings.  When I decided to undertake an MBA, my decision was already taken to attend IE business School in Madrid.      

4. What were the main criteria in your selection?

I considered many factors in my choice, mostly MBA rankings, quality of teachers and the mix of international students.  Since IE ranked among the best, and considering that the program lasted one year (rather than 2 in most business schools), I decided to attend the IE's International MBA.       

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

For professional reasons, I had been travelling abroad for the past six years.  I had recently moved to Madrid and therefore had a preference to undertake my MBA in Spain.  IE ranked better positions than most business schools in Canada.      

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

Although IE is a relatively "young" business school, it is now well recognised in Canada, mostly due to their rankings in North American medias (Financial times, Wall Street Journal)      

7. How are you financing your studies?

I financed this investment through a scholarship and personal savings.      

8. Did you apply for any scholarships? If so, which ones?

I applied for the 2004 Take the Challenge scholarship.      

9. Were you successful in obtaining a scholarship?

Yes, I obtained a scholarship from IE (Dr. Von Lazar).      

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

I have an entrepreneur family background and believe to have high entrepreneurial skills (enterprise control, creative production, action oriented and autonomy).  I am an active member of the IE student Entrepreneurship Club Committee and am always attentive to entrepreneurial opportunities.  Although I have not yet seriously considered becoming an entrepreneur, it might be a leading factor further on in my career.      

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

Yes, many IE alumni have become successful entrepreneurs. IE is well recognised in entrepreneurship.  According to the financial times, it ranks among the top ten business schools in Entrepreneurship worldwide.      

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

Salary highly depends on the position held and the amount of responsibility the position itself represents.  It also heavily depends on the country where the position is held and the sector of activity.  Taking into account these factors, the salary might be quite variable, although I will not accept a position for less than what I earned before undertaking the MBA.      

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

I am (and have been along my career) very open to international mobility.  My choice will mostly be influenced by my interests, motivations and quality of life balance for the position rather than geographic location.  Ideally, I would accept a position with international mobility based in North America (close to my home city - Montreal).      

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

I believe that with hard work and good networks, one can always achieve objectives.