DomoDomo@INSEAD

3 weeks to go... Pressure is mounting up!

I hate these moments of wrapping-up.
In the to-do list:
1. organise farewell drink with co-workers
2. organise farewell cocktail for friends
3. attend farewell dinner with family
4. revise 3 books out of 4 in the pre-reading list
5. still some work to do, I mustn't forget, organise pass-over to my replacement
6. and make sure that I leave for INSEAD having taken care of all pending dossiers in my work.

Today, I received 2 emails from INSEAD. They looked like this:

Email 1

Dear xxxx,I wish to congratulate you on your admission to INSEAD.In order to prepare your arrival on the campus for the Business Foundation Programme, which starts on sunday, August 13th, 2006, I will need you to update your profile by uploading your picture on the Netvestibule


Email 2

Interested in a career in Finance?
Given that some of the banks and “other Finance” companies may be recruiting from your class in October (some of them only come on campus once a year), MBA Career Services is organizing a Finance Training during the first weeks of the programme, to help prepare for a career in this area. This training will be animated by professionals from the Finance sector (Bankers, Alumni, Headhunters, etc …).

Wow that really reminded me that time is flying and that I will soon be sitting exam before even having read the pre-reading books!
I wondered whether I should attend the Finance training. Not that I'm deeply interested in Finance, but in the spirit of making the most of INSEAD opportunities (expected or unexpected ones), maybe I should see what it is about.

Well, signs are not in my favour. Before going to INSEAD, you have to take a professional test run by Career Services. You are required to answer several questions using your instinct rather than your logic.
The test results look like this:

Your business-related interests are described by eight sets of essential activities that are carried out in business, regardless of industry or functional title ("marketing," "sales," "finance," etc.) We call these activities core business interests.

Core Business Interests Test Date: July 7, 2006 Gender: Male

47 Average
Application of Technology: High scorers are intrigued by the inner workings of things and like finding better ways to use technology to solve business problems. They enjoy work that involves planning and analyzing production and operations systems and redesigning business processes.

40 Low
Quantitative Analysis: High scorers gravitate toward and excel at "running the numbers" to figure out business solutions. They might also enjoy building computer models to determine optimal production scheduling, perform accounting procedures, or tackle other similar problems.


42 Low
Theory Development and Conceptual Thinking: High scorers enjoy thinking and talking about ideas and exploring the "why" (rather than the "how") of strategy. They may be drawn to an academic career. They may also find satisfaction in building models to explain industry competition, market trends, and other business-related information.

65 Very High
Personal High
Creative Production: High scorers like brainstorming or inventing unconventional solutions. They're most energized by the early stages of projects, and they enjoy making something out of nothing -- whether it's a product or process. They thrive on newness.


53 Average
Counseling and Mentoring: High scorers want to help employees, peers, or clients grow and improve. They may also be drawn to organizations that provide products or services that they see as having high social value. They derive satisfaction from helping others succeed, and they value feeling needed.

65 Very High
Personal High
Managing People and Relationships: High scorers enjoy working with and through people on a day-to-day basis to accomplish the organization's goals, whether it's building a product, making a sale, or winning a new customer. They may gravitate toward line-management positions or sales careers.

67 Very High
Personal High
Enterprise Control: High scorers value opportunities to run an organization, department, or team. They enjoy having ultimate decision-making authority and making things happen. They also find great satisfaction in determining the direction taken by a work team, business unit, company, division, or entire organization.


55 Very High
Personal High
Influence Through Language and Ideas: High scorers enjoy persuading, negotiating, and presenting. They feel most fulfilled when they're writing or speaking. They're passionate about effective communication, and they enjoy thinking about the best way to address and persuade listeners or readers.

63 Very High
Personal High
Entrepreneurial Attributes: High scorers have interests that differentiate entrepreneurs from other business professionals. Prefer unstructured work environments. May be interested in entrepreneurship as such at some point.

Scale Value and Range: measures your interest in each core business interest: 50 is an average result; 55 or more is high and 60 or more very high; 45 or less is low and 40 or less very low.
Personal High: shows which of the eight core business interests you're most interested in, compared to your other interests (but not compared to anyone else).
General Business Interest Inventory: Your General Business Interest Index score is Very High.
Omitted Items: Omitted questions are within normal limits and your results are usable.
Response Style: Your results are usable and your responses were within the normal range.
Inconsistent Items: Your score indicates a high level of consistency.


I don't know if this test is supposed to remain confidential, if so, someone tell me, I will take it out.
I think the test was pretty accurate in singling out my striking traits and the not-so thrilling ones. I don't know yet what will be done of all this, but I shall share it with everyone in due time.

The test does tell that Finance is not so good for me though, as is Consulting (in which I made my previous employer very happy, still).

Cheers.

posted by DomoDomo@INSEAD @ 5:47 AM