Ray Saliby, ESCP Business School MBA Class of 2024
Age: 30 Years Old
Hometown: Beirut, Lebanon
Undergraduate Institution and Major: Notre Dame University – Lebanon, Mechanical Engineering
Pre-MBA Work Experience: Glassline Industries, Project Engineer, 2 years and 3 months; Glassline Industries, Site Engineer, 1 year and 3 months; Zakka Technologies, Sales & Maintenance Engineer, 1 Year; Samsung, Salesman, 2 years and 6 months
ESCP Campuses: Paris, London
Why did you make the decision to attend business school? Why now?
As an engineer, I chose to join a business school In order to complement my technical knowledge with a well-rounded skill set in business and management, facilitating career growth, and a deeper understanding of the business world.
However, I did choose now to join, because I was specifically aiming for an MBA degree, and for that, one should have at least 3 to 4 years of professional experience and on top of that, I reached a point in my career and given my career prospective that I had in my mind, this year was the perfect year to join.
Why did you choose ESCP Business School? What factors figured most prominently into your decision of where to attend?
Back in my country, our great ancestors used to advise us to have higher education and to aim for higher degrees, the more, the better. Well, nowadays, this is not efficient, especially with the high cost of tuition fees in business schools. So, any prospective business school student should really know which school to pick and what program as well, because the next step, if accepted, will be a big investment in time and budget. Hence, I spent lot of time browsing business schools before applying, and the factors that made me choose ESCP on top of the others are the following:
- International Experience
- Alumni
- Rankings
- Flexibility of Programs
- Specialization
- Diversity
- Career Services
- Sustainability Factors
- Program Length
- Company Consultancy Projects
To briefly tell you about the above, ESCP MBA is only a 10-month program with wonderful mobility. Students get to spend the first semester In Paris, second semester in Berlin/London, and the specialization period in Madrid/Turin. So students have the chance to experience 3 different main European cities all over the 10 months, and that will enable a great international networking opportunity for the students. The program can be delivered hybrid or fully online, which enables students who already have jobs and wish to stay in to complete the MBA without leaving their jobs.
What also differentiates ESCP MBA is the 2 company consultancy projects that we have in the program, where students get the chance to work as consultants from A to Z on real-life cases for big companies. Moreover, what also pushed my choice towards ESCP Business School are the excellent rankings the school has; for example by the Financial Times, it was ranked the 4th Business School in Europe out of 90 selected schools, 2nd in France, 3rd EMBA in the world, 27th MBA in the world, and to mention here that ESCP managed to be the 27th MBA in the world out of the Top 100 in just 7 Years. Moreover, I wish to mention the career services department of which the Alumni really insisted on the fact that ESCP has a strong, well-connected career services department, which is a very important point, especially for the MBAs, because the main goal for an MBA student is whether to make a big impactful boost to his/her career or use the MBA as a joker card to shift industry or function, hence comes the role of a well-connected school with strong partnerships with international companies. Last but not least, ESCP MBA cohort is very diverse and multicultural, in a sample of 70 students you have up to 28 different nationalities, and this brings a multicultural environment which bonds students from different cultures and backgrounds together and which enable them to be eager for learning from one another.
What do you think is your most valuable or differentiating contribution to the Class of 2024?
I believe that my most valuable and differentiating contribution to the 2024 MBA cohort is that I am a people-focused person, I brought with me to the MBA this valuable asset that I have, which is allowing me to not let people out of anything, and to be the source of energy, hope, and purpose-driven vision to every single MBA student who’s having doubts, fears, and second thoughts.
Tell us a fun fact about yourself that didn’t get included on your application
After bringing to this life three boys back to back, seven years after the youngest boy between the three, my parents wanted a girl, and I, Ray, came out a boy again. And since then, they literally stopped trying.
Post-MBA career interests
I’m pursuing my MBA for two possible career prospects. First, I would be using it to shift industries from construction into management/strategy consulting, and second, it would be a boost to the experience I have in the construction industry and to go into international construction companies as a project manager/director.
What is one thing you would absolutely do again as part of your application process?
Personally, if you put me again in the application process, I would simply be myself again, be the true person I am, and not try to impress recruiters and admission teams with stuff that I think they are looking for and which I don’t have. Every single one of us has at least something special in him/her, let’s explore it and build on it.
What is one thing you would change or do differently?
One thing I would do differently is apply earlier and prepare for the application process way earlier. So I advise every prospective candidate to mark down the school’s admission phases and start the applications early in order to target early admissions phases, that way you will have the necessary amount of time to practice and to have early answers from schools. The earlier you know yourself and the earlier you have the jury’s decisions, the better.
What is one part you would have skipped if you could—and what helped you get through it?
One part I would have skipped is the essay writing section In the application. I’m not the kind of person who can sit behind his laptop and focus on writing essays and letters. But what can you do? This is the process and it is what it is. So, you tackle your uncomfortable zone, and you start working hard to pass right through it successfully! Now, what helped me get through the several essays that I had, was my dedication and commitment to my short-term, medium-term, and long-term goals: Getting admitted into ESCP, getting the MBA degree, and finding my dream job.
What is your initial impression of the ESCP students/culture/community?
My first encounter with the cohort was at a bar, and from that moment, I had the impression, which I strongly support now, that MBA students at ESCP are of really high professional levels, with different cultures from all around the world of which I will learn and explore a lot, and finally, I could feel that I will be In a community where help can be found anywhere and from anyone. I felt that this community will be really united, will be a family, and not a group of competitors and selfishness.
What is one thing you have learned about ESCP that has surprised you?
The one most important out of many things that I have learned about ESCP and that shocked me, was that in just seven years since starting the MBA program, it is already now in the 27th position in the World, out of the Top 100, and aiming to be in the Top 10 soon like its all other oldest programs, while others have struggled for many years to reach this high position. So that is one thing that surprised me a lot and made me proud to have chosen this school.
What is one thing you are most anxious about in your first year?
ESCP MBA is a 10-month program, so it is well recommended that you start designing and building your post-career from day 1, as time goes by so fast. Hence, I can say that I am most anxious about finding my targeted job before graduating, this would be the ideal case I am working for.
What is one thing you are most excited about in your first year?
The main important thing that I most excited about would be acquiring the business acumen I need to successfully transition into the consulting world or shine in my managerial role post-MBA if I stay in my recent field, and this business acumen I am acquiring is from the totally new topics I am learning in my MBA like Finance, Economics, Business Strategy, Accounting, Business Statistics, Supply Chain, etc.
