Pedro Fonseca Pereira, INSEAD MBA Class of 2018D
Age: 29
Hometown: Salvador, Brazil
Undergraduate Institution and Major: UNICAMP, electrical engineering
Pre-MBA Work Experience: 5 years, renewable energy
Why business school? Why now? It took me some time to realize that being an expert engineer was not my dream career, and then some more to learn about business schools and MBAs. My goal is to transition into a new sector and industry, building on the depth my previous work experience but considerably expanding its breadth. Luckily, the MBA helps you do just that. In addition, my partner and I are considering a geography change, and next year would be a perfect time.
Why INSEAD? What factors figured most prominently into your decision of where to attend? I was part of that crazy group of people who only applied to one business school. To put it simply, there were two main drivers behind my choice of INSEAD: 1 – Considering my age, work experience, and career goals, a one-year MBA made lots of sense; 2 – The diversity of INSEAD MBA students was much more appealing to me than being part of a class in which one nationality accounts for 70 to 80 percent of the students. Other more obvious reasons were the top-notch education, alignment with post-MBA goals, and campus location.
What do you think is your most valuable or differentiating contribution to the Class of 2018D? Having lived in Brazil, the United States, and France, I can offer many perspectives to the same situation and more easily identify when conflicts arise from cultural differences. When working in teams, I have an approach of “let’s all move together and not leave anyone behind.”
Fun fact that didn’t get included on your application? I absolutely love making bad jokes, just can’t help it. By the way, thanks to all my friends who still haven’t abandoned me!
Post-MBA career interests? Management consulting or leadership development program
Advice to current prospective applicants:
–One thing you would absolutely do again as part of your application process? Reach out to as many MBAs and current students as you can. Try to find at least one point in common, be it professional/academic background, hobbies, or nationality. (LinkedIn and your personal network are your friends!). Getting to know the schools and their alumni helps you immensely for two main reasons:
First, you can make a better-informed decision on which schools and programs are a good fit for you. Second, you can include in your application the stories that highlight the qualities that the admissions committee is looking for.
–One thing you would change or do differently? Probably be more discreet at work about the fact that I was applying to business school. There was no real incident, though.
–Part you would have skipped if you could—and what helped you get through it? There is no particular part that I would have skipped, although the most time-consuming and difficult task was writing all the essays. Realizing that I was refining my goals and improving my story-telling skills made me see the purpose behind the essays, which helped me get through the process. I am not looking forward to repeating this exercise anytime soon, though…
Greatest highlight so far at INSEAD? Just to try to escape the cliché: our “Uncertainty, Data and Judgement” course. The lectures combine great insights about randomness and probability that we’ll be using to pick stocks, make career choices, and possibly design our next drinking game…
One thing about INSEAD that you didn’t expect before arriving? In every article out there about INSEAD you will hear about how diverse the students here are. Imagine my surprise then when I found out that most of us are actually very similar! Almost everyone in my class is willing to help others with school assignments and job search. We work hard to achieve our goals but also realize that having fun in the process is of ultimate importance.
Thing you were most anxious about at INSEAD? Challenge. The pace is so fast that in the first month you start signing up for start-up boot camps, investment fund challenges, and case competitions. In the second month, you have the master strategist day, in which you present a strategic analysis and recommendation to partners of a consulting firm and to a CEO. On top of that, we are constantly so busy with classes, group assignments, and readings that it is easy to get overwhelmed.
Thing you find most exciting about at INSEAD? Change. The flip side of being constantly challenged on all fronts is that change is very noticeable. Outside of class, I often find myself thinking about market dynamics, pricing of products and services, effects of randomness, anchoring and availability bias, etc. A simple trip to the grocery store, a morning reading of the news, or the group dynamics during a weekend trip to Brussels all become valid subjects for analysis and experimentation.
