logo
episode-header-image
Aug 25
1h 26m

#230 Five Keys to MBA Admissions Success...

Darren C. Joe
About this episode

Darren talks with N'doli Jean-Hugues "Cherif," a French and Ivorian candidate who gained admission to both INSEAD and London Business School's MBA programs. Cherif, an older full-time MBA candidate with diverse experience across five roles - including audit, management consulting, investment banking and infrastructure project finance in the public and private sector - shares his five key success factors for MBA admissions.

Topics

  • Introduction (0:00)
  • Cherif's Background & Pre-MBA Plan & Goals (3:10)
  • How Cherif Found Career Mentors & Built Future Opportunities (10:40)
  • Cherif's 5 Key Success Factors
    • Unwavering Focus (17:20)
    • Strategic Peer Review (27:15)
    • Work with a Consultant (34:30)
    • Self-awareness (43:15)
    • Narrative Coherence (52:30)
  • How Cherif Assessed his Competitiveness (1:00:00)
  • Cherif's Interview Tips for Insead & London Business School (1:07:10)
  • Cherif's Final Tips (1:24:00)


About Our Guest

N'doli Jean-Hugues Cherif graduated from Cranfield University with a Masters in Management and Concordia University with a Bachelors in Political Science. He will be attending the Insead MBA program in Fontainebleau, France, focused on a post-MBA career in infrastructure-focused private equity.

After getting his Masters, Cherif worked as an auditor for PwC, management consultant for Square Management, and then in Financial Advisory and Project Finance for the government of Côte d'Ivoire and then as an investment banker for Obara Capital. He then returned to Paris with his family to do Financial Advisory and Project Finance for Egis.

Show Notes


More Resources


Up next
Mar 2024
#220 GLOBIS MBA Program & Admissions Interview with Tomoya Nakamura - "Find Your Kokorozashi"
Sometimes, it's hard to differentiate MBA programs. That is not the case with GLOBIS University, Japan's number 1 MBA, which prizes entrepreneurial skills, societal impact, and helping its students find their kokorozashi (personal mission). Professor Tomoya Nakamura, President of ... Show More
1h 14m
Apr 2025
#229 AI's Impact on MBA Careers: An Insider's Perspective
Darren confronts his own "AI anxiety" with Sabine King, Director of the Career Accelerator at the Australian Graduate School of Management (AGSM) at University of New South Wales (UNSW). Together, they explore the impact of Artificial Intelligence (AI) on the demand for MBA gradu ... Show More
40m 52s
Feb 2025
#228 3 Exercises to Design Your Life and Find Best Fit MBA Programs
Darren shares 3 design thinking exercises from Bill Burnett and Dave Evan's Designing Your Life that will help you build a joyful life - and find MBA programs you are excited about. Topics Introduction (0:00) Make Odyssey Plans - Imagining Life 1, 2 and 3 (3:45) Prototype - "Buil ... Show More
18m 45s
Recommended Episodes
Nov 2021
The Ultimate Guide to MBA Admissions and the MBA Experience
On today’s episode, we chat with Daniel Valenti, InGenius Prep’s Managing Director and a graduate of the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. Daniel and I discuss the MBA admissions process, and what applicants really need to do to succeed. Daniel breaks down the MBA e ... Show More
44m 21s
Jun 2022
MBA2063 Guest Teacher – Iliana Bobova – How to Maximize Your MBA ROI
Are you ready for your MBA?  First, you need to make sure it’ll be (more than) worth it.  Becoming a Master of Business Administration can take years, tens of thousands of dollars, and a whole ‘lotta sweat. It might be the biggest investment you ever make! Before your first day o ... Show More
19m 55s
Apr 2025
S8E1: Roelof Botha Doesn’t Believe in “the Top”
In a candid conversation with Kailash Sundaram, MBA ’25, Roelof Botha, MBA ’00 — leader of one of the most influential venture capital firms in the world — reflects on his journey from South Africa to Sequoia Capital. From meeting his wife and partner Huifen Chan, MBA '00, at Sta ... Show More
1 h
Aug 20
Skills-Based Approach to GMAT Prep
“Knowledge used to be power, but it no longer is power. What you do with that knowledge—that’s the skill.” In this must-watch episode for test takers, GMAC Zach speaks at length with Sergey Kouk from Admit Master about a skills-based approach to GMAT preparation. They discuss the ... Show More
1 h
Aug 19
Careers in Finance | Charlie Schilling
In this episode of Careers in Finance with CFI, we're joined by Charlie Schilling, the CEO of Macabacus. Charlie's career journey is a masterclass in navigating diverse industries, spanning investment banking, management consulting, and senior leadership roles at major companies ... Show More
44m 31s
Feb 2025
S16E22: Sophomore Success: Taking the streamlined pathway to top consulting firms
Send us a textFreshmen and sophomores - it's time to act. Application deadlines for summer "early entry" programs are coming due as soon as February 23 at firms like KPMG, Bain, PwC, and BCG. These programs represent a streamlined path into consulting - if you can get in. To ... Show More
33m 33s
Sep 21
249 Austin Camporin - Successful Investment Management
From Dog Street to Wall Street. It’s an annual event co-hosted by the Boehly Center for Excellence in Finance at the William & Mary School of Business and partner organizations on campus. The event introduces students to William & Mary alumni and industry guests who lead sessions ... Show More
18m 12s
Aug 2024
Engineering + Entrepreneurship = Innova8x
Special Bonus Episode! Charlie has The McNeil Team from the Colorado School of Mines, this year's EPIC location, on to get to know them bit more.   The McNeil TeamSid Hanna Saleh, Ph.D. – McNeil Center Director and Associate ProfessorAs the Director of the McNeil Center for ... Show More
18m 41s
Sep 30
Member Spotlight | Iuliia Tuseeva
In this episode of CFI Member Spotlight on FinPod, we showcase the incredible journey of Iuliia Tuseeva, an Equity Analyst at the BEAM Fund and a student at Simon Fraser University (SFU) in Vancouver, BC.Iuliia shares how her passion for mathematics and economics first sparked he ... Show More
44m 7s
Sep 3
From Setback to Success: Turning Persistence into a 685
“The most important thing is to not give up and to believe that it’s possible.” What does it take to turn setbacks into success? In this episode, GMAC Zach sits down with recent GMAT test taker Ana Marie Dias, who shares her candid journey from underestimating the exam to earning ... Show More
17m 8s