Gabrielle Cormier knows what she wants. And with a background in languages and history and an undergraduate degree from the University of Oxford, it isn’t more academia. It’s practical business skills.
“I knew that I wanted to work in business,” she says. “I knew that this was something I was attuned to but I didn’t necessarily have that basis of knowledge. I wanted to do a degree that would round off the analytical skills I learned in my undergrad and apply them to business.”
The fast pace of the Masters in Management (MiM) and the diversity of students certainly suits her: she says that the practical nature of the programme is a great equaliser, and the range of business experience amongst her classmates only makes things more interesting. “Even if people did business for their undergrad, it’s a different experience at LBS. Here, you’re learning real skills, not just how to analyse information.”
Those real-world skills are what pulled Gabrielle to London Business School and for her, are what sets the School apart from the rest. “I like what LBS teaches and how they teach it. LBS has a reputation for building practical skills. I love that I will be able to show people my CV and say ‘This is what I learned. And this is how I can apply it to this job.’”
Coming from French Canada, she’s no stranger to cultural melting pots, but the sheer scale of diversity in her classes is something she clearly relishes. “Business is global,” she says. “You have to work with others who have different ways of doing things. I’m now more aware of how I’m shaped, good or bad, by where I’ve come from. People always think of their own knowledge first, and how to tell everyone about it. In a multi-national study group, that doesn’t work. You have to think about the question first then try and answer it utilising the strengths of everyone in your group.” She’s found that big picture-view at every level of her experience so far.
Impressed with the way her accounting professor, Emmanuel de George, uses current events to make accounting relevant for people in all areas of business, his lectures are among her most memorable ever.
“Everyone at LBS is so open to the world: the faculty and the students. I’ve connected with people who I know I’ll be friends with for life,” she says. “I have this sense that I’ll be part of something permanent, after I leave. There’s such a feeling of camaraderie.”
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If you want to work in business, see what London Business School can offer you.
Written during Gabrielle’s (MiM2016) time on the MiM programme.