Wednesday, August 11, 2021

Don’t miss this MBA opportunity

Hello everyone, I want to share the message below from Access MBA. Attending MBA events can be a great way to connect to schools, and so I hope you'll consider attending this one.

John Couke





Transformation

IT IS TIME TO TRANSFORM YOUR CAREER! DISCOVER YOUR MBA ON 9 SEPTEMBER

Do you want to take your career to a new level and uncover your leadership potential? Then join us for the Access MBA online event in Japan and South Korea on 9 September.

Access MBA educates, matches and connects prospective MBA applicants with accredited and top-ranked business schools from around the globe. On 9 September you will have the ideal opportunity to learn more about the world’s most recognised business degrees. Speak with admissions directors of leading international business schools from the States, Canada, UK, France, and more.

3 ways Access MBA helps you on your professional journey:

1.     One-to-one meetings, GMAT workshops, and more

At Access MBA you are an active co-creator of the event. Benefit from the many engaging formats – interactive workshops on GMAT preparation and other tests, insightful school presentations, and lively discussions and Q&As. You can enjoy one-to-one meetings with schools online during, or even after, the event. Plan your questions now so you can get all the details about the best MBA programmes from around the world.

2.     Personalised experience

Choosing an MBA or Executive MBA is a different process/experience for everyone. At the online event you will have a personal MBA consultant to guide you to the programmes that best fit your background and expectations. Then, talk one-to-one with representatives from the schools that match your preferences. 

3.     Scholarship of EUR 1,000 for your business studies

At the end of each season, Access MBA awards one prospective student a scholarship of EUR 1,000 to help them finance their business studies. For a chance to win the prize, sign up now for free and make the most of the event on 9 September. Take an active part in discussions with some of the participating business schools and you might be the next winner. 

Start your career transformation by joining us on 9 September!

 

Monday, August 24, 2020

AccessMBA event online one-to-one event for Tokyo - September 24, 2020

AccessMBA will be holding an online MBA event focused on prospective MBA applicants in Tokyo. For more information please read on below. 

John Couke
john.couke@gmail.com
(note: I am in the process of setting up a cross-promotional relationship with AccessMBA)


Go online and meet top MBA programs from around the world

 

Are you looking for the best way to grow your career as a business leader?

This online event gives you the opportunity to explore MBA programs from wherever you are located around the world.

Get ready to meet leading international business schools online and have all your questions about your MBA journey answered on the go. 

What to expect from this online event?

·       Receive a personalized profile evaluation by our expert MBA consultants 

·       Meet with the admissions directors of prestigious business schools in real time

·       Access scholarships from over EUR 3 million in MBA funding opportunities

·       Win a free consultation session by MBA Lounge

·       Win a free admission editing service from Wordvice

·       Receive a 15% discount for admission editing service from Wordvice

·       Receive a free 30-min consultation by Unimy.com

What makes the MBA degree valuable?

The MBA study format is designed for business leaders who are ready to develop their international managerial career or wish to move to a different industry. Employers value the business fundamentals, problem solving mindset, and adaptiveness that MBA participants acquire by the time they graduate.

Take the first step by discussing your preferences for business schools and programs directly with admissions directors. 

The Access MBA online events are free of charge, but meeting slots are limited. 

Get started and sign up here today!





Monday, December 9, 2019

MBA Interview Workshop in Tokyo on January 19, 2020

I am pleased to announce that Adam Markus and I will be hosting an interview workshop in Tokyo on January 19, 2020. The details follow and if you are interested in participating you can register at this email address - biz.adammarkus@gmail.com

John Couke




MBA Interview Workshop in Tokyo on January 19, 2020      
Interview preparation is a very, very important part of the MBA application process. Please join Adam Markus and John Couke for a highly interactive 3-hour workshop that will kick off your interview preparation.

Proactive Interview Preparation:
In the first part of the workshop, we will describe and practice (in groups and with instructors) a method of interview preparation that many applicants have used to gain admission to the world’s top MBA programs. 

Our objective is that you become better at preparing for MBA interviews, by focusing on your own stories and key points and practicing those, rather than working from a script. At its core, proactive interview preparation is based on thinking about your message, no matter what the question. You don’t know what you will be asked, but you do know your message. Being ready for the unexpected is thus incorporated into the very method itself because you don’t focus on preparing for answering specific questions, but rather for knowing things you want to discuss about yourself. 

For more about proactive interview preparation, see http://www.adammarkus.com/mba-application-interview-strategy-4/.

Active Listening:
We will then focus on enhancing your ability to listen and engage with others during an interview. While it is important to know what you want to say, it is equally important to focus on having a conversation during an interview. Based on our experience, interviewees don’t always actively listen enough. Sometimes they just focus on speaking and speaking too much at once. By focusing as much as on what the other person is saying as on what you want to say, you can better connect with an interviewer, which is critical for making a positive impression. For some kinds of interviews, such as Wharton’s Group Interview, active listening is critical because you have to engage with other members of your interview group. 

Contents:
1.      General Introduction: what is being assessed                  
2.      Active Listening Group Exercises
3.      Strengths and weaknesses                   
4.      Story-telling 
5.      Why MBA and why now                                
6.      Wrap-up (key messages and Q&A)                                                      

·     InstructorsAdam Markus, Graduate Admissions Guru and John Couke, MBA Admissions Consultant
·     Date & Time: Sunday, January 19th, 2020 from 13:30-16:30
·     Location:  C-Work Hanzomon (details: https://cwork-cck.jp/access/)
·     Cost: 27,500 yen (including tax) paid in advance by bank transfer
·     PaymentPrepayment is due by January 16th, 2019, after this cash (29,900 yen including tax) will be accepted at the door
·     Seating Capacity: 30 people

To make a reservation and arrange for payment, please email biz.adammarkus@gmail.com

Recording: We encourage you to audio record the workshop. To protect your personal information please do not reveal anything about yourself that you would be uncomfortable having recorded by others. Therefore, changing the name of your company, clients, etc. is highly advised during participatory parts of the workshop. 


Monday, July 8, 2019

Women's Career Development and the MBA: a Seminar at Affinity on July 21st

On Sunday July 21st Affinity is hosting a seminar on women's career development and the role an MBA can play in that process. The event will be held in Tokyo and will feature a panel of MBA graduates. If you are interested more information can be found here.

John Couke
john.couke@gmail.com

Monday, November 12, 2018

CMU Tepper Webinar for Japanese Applicants

I was asked by a former client to post the information below on an upcoming webinar hosted (in Japanese) by current students of the CMU Tepper MBA program.


John Couke
john.couke@gmail.com



Carnegie Mellon Tepper 日本人在校生によるWebinar開催のお知らせ

MBA受験生の皆様

12/8(土) 10:30pm - 12:00am(日本時間)に、Tepper School of Business在校生によるWebinarを開催致します(本WebinarTepper Admissionとは関係ない非公式なものです)。本機会を利用し、Tepperのこと、Pittsburghでの生活、受験のTipsなど、受験に向け気になることを何でもお聞きいただければと思います。

お申し込みは以下リンク先よりお願いいたします

なお、本Webinar
·  お申込みいただいた方に後ほどWebinarへのアクセス方法を送付しますのでそちらからアクセスください
·  日本語で行います
·  在校生が4名(1年生1名、2年生3名)参加します
·  上記申込フォーム中の質問は英語でも日本語でも構いません
·  1時間で一度終わりますが、質問が多い場合はその後希望者のみで30分程度延長させていただきます

在校生一同、皆様にお会いできるのを楽しみにしております。どうぞお気軽にお申し込み下さい。

その他のお問合せは下記Websiteよりお願い致します。

Carnegie Mellon Tepper
日本人Website: https://www.tepper-japan.com/

Monday, August 27, 2018

Interview with UAL MA in Innovation Management Program current student

I'd like to thank Daisuke Wakamiya for participating in an interview so that anyone interested in grad school, and in particular interested in innovation management, can learn more about his experiences in this unique educational program. Below are his responses to my questions about the MA in Innovation Management Program at UAL (University of the Arts London) as well as his life in this vibrant city.


1. Why did you choose this unique program?

First of all, multidisciplinary and multicultural talents gather and collide here, producing something new. I have noticed collaboration amongst people of different professions/nationalities is key for innovation. That is why this course was ideal for me. In addition, I’m convinced the composition of the program, featuring a personal project after team explorations, would help me focus my interest and philosophy. Different from my prior working experience, this MA Innovation Management Programme is focusing on exploring new perspective and ideas, rather than making physical products. Since I have worked as a hardware engineer for 10 years, I already have a lot of experiences of making things. That is why the course was ideal for me to learn a more creative way of thinking, similar to what artists and designers do. At the same time, I wanted to be the one to invent the products and services on site rather than making decisions. This attitude made me choose design school rather than business school. On top of that, London is the ideal location for me because the city is not only famous for being a melting pot of races contributing to the diversity, but it is also a travel hub - you can fly to most European cities within a few hours.

2. Please walk us through a typical weekday as a student in this program.

This program relies enormously on independent learning - we basically don’t have lectures every weekday. Besides, scheduling is one of the team project tasks, and as such each team builds up their own schedule. Bearing that in mind, what follows is a typical schedule.

From 10 to 10:30 on Monday, we initiated a student led meeting where we share our skills and knowledge with each other. For example, we had a coaching session from a course mate. As most of us have some professional background, it is a really useful opportunity to learn about each other. After that we have a lecture involved in the project. Almost all lectures are interactive and often include some workshops. Then students spend time on each team project in the afternoon. As most of the outputs of the team projects are team presentations, brainstorming can be the main part of the discussion. In the evening, I take part in a seminar the university organizes from time to time. The topics range widely from managing stress to reflective thinking, which is also useful for students.

3. Is there a course or experience that you particularly recommend?

In this course, the professor offers some philosophical frameworks to find innovation opportunities. One project involved “discourse”. In this project, we as a team researched a given theme. Discourse is simply defined how people speak and write a topic and is also a methodology to analyse a topic from the past to present and develop a future scenario. Through the project we have noticed how our minds and perspectives are biased. One insight we have gained from this is the attitude to keep a naïve mind during research. As such, the MA Innovation Management Program encourages us to learn not only design thinking methodology but also different perspectives to allow us to critically analyze a theme. I highly recommended this. 

4. Have you enjoyed the team projects? What have you learned from working with your peers?

Definitely yes! Actually, most of the projects in the 1st year are team projects. As the members are randomly divided into groups, I have tagged with different member in each project. I enjoy getting inspired by teammates from different countries and different professions. There is collision, collaboration and cooperation. What I have learned most is the importance of adaptability. To be honest, I’m still struggling with the language barrier like catching up to fast-paced discussions with native English speakers. So I had to come up with some survival skills such as asking for a recap, setting aside time for my speech in the beginning and using rough sketching to better relate ideas. These practices have worked. Besides, some of my colleagues told me that distilling information through sketching is one of my strengths. Pushing the boundaries with peers can be a tough experience, but it will make you grow.

5. How’s life in London? What kinds of things are you doing?

It’s a once in a lifetime experience, to say the least. Although I continue to be busy with group work and reading assignments on weekdays, I often hang out around the city, and get immersed in British culture such as old buildings, museums (most are free), crawling pubs and restaurants, going for picnics at parks and other such activities. Watching World Cup games at local pubs with a pint of pale ale was really fun. Since craft beer has been getting popular here, most of the pubs have more than 10 taps (type of beer), inviting you into the deep brewery world. As for food, there are lots of great restaurants, but they can be a bit pricey. Gastropubs are an alternative, where you can have modern British dishes and beer with traditional atmosphere and at a decent price. On holidays, I go for short trips to neighboring cities such as Barcelona, Paris and Helsinki. 

6. After receiving an acceptance to the programme and before actually arriving in London, I imagine that you did quite a bit of preparation. Reflecting on that period of time is there anything you wish you had done more/less of?

If you are a normal Japanese person like me, I recommend that you improve your English conversation skills, especially listening comprehension skills. I got a 7.0 on IELTS, but I couldn’t catch what local people said at all when I arrived, and it is still difficult after one year. Except a fast pace in conversations, and as well the British/London accent might not be one you are familiar with. It feels like the difference between Queen and London accents is as much as the difference between Standard Japanese and the Osaka dialect.



Thanks Daisuke for your time! 

John Couke



Monday, July 9, 2018

Wharton event in Tokyo on August 4, 2018

I received information from a current Wharton student on an upcoming Wharton event in Tokyo. Details in Japanese follow!

John Couke
john.couke@gmail.com




 Wharton MBA 若手卒業生による非公式説明会
84()、コレド日本橋にて、若手卒業生によるWharton MBA説明会を開催します。学校主催の公式説明会(9月予定) に先立ち、ウェブサイトだけでは十分に伝わらないWharton MBAの魅力や特徴を、よりカジュアルな雰囲気の中でご紹介します。Whartonへの出願を検討されている方はもちろん、将来的にMBAに進学したいと考えられている方、MBA受験するか迷っている方もぜひご参加いただければと思っております。
イベント概要
1.キーノート対談「Whartonからプロ経営者への道」(裏面にも登壇者のご紹介があります
上田浩太郎氏(2003年卒業、マッキンゼーを経て、現在ベネッセコーポレーション取締役)
永見世央氏(2011年卒業、カーライルなどを経て、現在ラクスル株式会社CFO
2.プレゼンテーション
Whartonのカリキュラム、在学中の多様な機会、卒業後の進路・ネットワークなどご説明します
3.若手卒業生よるパネルディスカッション
Why MBA/Wharton、学校や授業の雰囲気、課外活動、卒業後のキャリアまで幅広いトピックをカバー
4.卒業生とのコーヒーチャット
最近の卒業生(20名以上が参加予定)がご質問にお答えします
5.(オプショナル)「WhartonMBA初心者向け分科会」
漠然とMBAは気になっているけど、受験に踏み出せない方に向けて分科会を開催します。よくご質問いただく、「費用対効果は?」「私費でもなんとかなる?」「結婚・家族・子育てと両立可能?」「どうスコアを取ればいいの?」といった疑問や悩みに、経験者がお答えします
〇日時・場所
日時:2018 8 4 日(土)13:30 開場、14:00 開始、17:00 頃まで(途中退席可)
場所:コレド日本橋5(103-0027 中央区日本橋1-4-1WASEDA NEO
その他:日本語、無料
〇お申し込み
参加ご希望の方は下記リンクよりご登録ください。参加者多数の場合、先着順とさせて頂きます。
お申し込みリンク:https://goo.gl/forms/1kIUpsLCB9x7vmRo1 
〇お問い合わせ
Wharton Club of Japan : whartonjapan.info@gmail.com 
登壇者ご紹介
上田浩太郎氏1998 年に東京大学法学部を卒業後、マッキンゼーアンドカンパニーに入社。2003 Wharton MBA 修了。マッキンゼーに復職後、2010 年より同社パートナーとして、メディア・テクノロジー業界を中心としたクライアントワークに従事。また組織・人材プラクティスを立ち上げ責任者を務める。2015 年に株式会社ベネッセホールディングスに執行役員CSO として参画。2016 年より教育・生活事業会社であるベネッセコーポレーションの取締役(戦略・人事担当)に就任。現在は同取締役(戦略・R&D 担当)、ベネッセi キャリア取締役を務める。

永見世央氏2004 年に慶應義塾大学総合政策学部を卒業後、みずほ証券株式会社にてM&A アドバイザリー業務に従事。2006 年から2013 年まで米カーライル・グループに所属し、バイアウト投資と投資先の経営及び事業運営に関与。その後株式会社ディー・エヌ・エーを経て2014 4 月にラクスル株式会社にCFO として参画し、同年10 月に取締役就任。ペンシルバニア大学ウォートンスクールにてMBA 取得。