From Start

Incoming MBA students are preparing for a competitive post-graduation job market well before their programs start. From working with start-ups to securing internships at global consulting firms, they are positioning themselves to make the most of their MBA programs once classes begin.

Neeha Hemrajani, an incoming student at the HEC Paris Business School in France, has taken the ambitious step of building her wellness-tech start-up during the summer. After three years at a tech consultancy, she knew she wanted to make the entrepreneurial jump – and decided not to wait until orientation to start.

“My goal is to use these next three months to build, iterate and launch early versions of the start-up I’ve envisioned. It’s a chance to pressure-test my ideas, engage directly with customers, and gain real-world experience,” she says.

Hemrajani hopes to arrive on campus with a functioning business model and a network ready to help it scale. “I wanted to give myself the space to ‘fail fast’ now, so I could learn as much as possible before diving into the MBA and use that momentum to grow,” she adds.

MBA students are using summer to gain real-world experience

Meanwhile in Colombia, Maria Fernanda Lopez, another incoming HEC Paris MBA student, is preparing for the degree from the front lines of consulting.

“This summer, I will be joining McKinsey & Company as a summer associate in their Bogotá office, as part of a pre-MBA program,” she says. “This opportunity will allow me to work on real client engagements and begin developing the core consulting skills that will be key during and after my MBA.”

In Barcelona, Inés Guardans, who begins her MBA at IESE Business School this September, is taking a blended approach — part start-up experience, part technical preparation.

“This summer, I’m taking a hands-on approach by supporting a friend who is launching a startup in Spain. Having previously co-founded a startup in Kenya, I’m excited to learn from her experience in a different market and gain new perspectives on entrepreneurship,” she says.

But Guardans isn’t stopping there. She’s also taking a technical course through Training The Street, a financial training company, and helping organize events for her incoming cohort.

“I wanted to strike a balance between practical learning and career preparation,” she says.

It’s a theme echoed by fellow soon-to-be IESE classmate Giovanna Premero, who is diving headfirst into strategy consulting with a pre-MBA internship at the Boston Consulting Group in Brazil.

“Consulting has always been a career I’ve been eager to explore,” says Premero. “When I discovered that firms were launching pre-MBA programs in Brazil, I saw it as a fantastic opportunity to broaden my perspective.”

The potential payoff is significant: these programs often come with a pathway to a full summer internship offer halfway through the MBA – a valuable advantage at IESE where the degree runs 15 or 19 months. Such an offer can lighten the pressure of the MBA recruitment cycle.

“It will help me identify key areas for development, allowing me to make more informed choices and better prioritize my learning during the MBA,” adds Premero.

MBA preparation extends beyond the classroom

Meanwhile, at the University of Oxford, Bryce O’Hara is taking a quieter — though no less deliberate — path. The incoming Saïd Business School MBA student is spending the summer reading, networking and auditing lectures on campus.

“I’ve been doing a few things to prepare for the year ahead,” he says. “Firstly, I reached out to some friends for a pre-MBA reading list and got some really good recommendations. Not only has this been quite enjoyable, but it’s also allowed me to practice study skills.”

From attending talks with British economist Sir John Kay to taking an analytics course through Coursera, O’Hara is assembling his own MBA primer.

“My main aim is to do the work now so that I can savour every moment of the course at Saïd,” he says.

Thousands of miles east in Shanghai, Merlin Xu, an incoming MBA candidate at China Europe International Business School (CEIBS), is forging a similar path.

“Academically, I’m laying the groundwork by revisiting fundamental financial accounting principles,” says Xu. “Given my primary goal of exploring artificial intelligence applications in business, I’m also delving into strategies for integrating AI in quant trading within equity markets.”

But Xu isn’t stopping at self-study. Through a CEIBS alum, he’s secured an internship at a relatively large private equity firm.

“This hands-on experience transcends isolated textbook concepts, allowing me to observe, firsthand, the dynamic, real-time thinking mechanisms that drive strategic business decisions,” he says.

MBA success starts with cultural and global exposure

Another CEIBS admit, Sarah Tagliarol, is spending her summer exploring the world’s second-largest economy through a broader cultural lens.

“This summer, I will travel across China to immerse myself in the local culture and gain a deeper cultural and contextual understanding of the Chinese market,” she explains.

Alongside a rigorous Mandarin study regimen and parallel work in sustainable finance, Tagliarol is preparing for her MBA not only academically, but culturally.

“Experiencing China firsthand — beyond formal coursework and academic theory — will also deepen my understanding of the context in which I will be studying,” she says.

One thing is clear: for many incoming students, the MBA doesn’t begin on the first day of class, it begins now.