P1 @ Singapore

Sorry guys, I know its been ages since I blogged. I was traveling in December and landed at INSEAD Sgp on 3rd Jan and its been crazy ever since. But I do intend to improve my blog rate and give you the real scoop about life at INSEAD.

Right...so where should I start from???

Intense - You all must have heard intense and INSEAD in the same sentence a million times already. I personally thought it was an exaggeration but let me be honest here, this place is fuckin intense. 24 hrs is just not enough. It is a fact that you will be sleep deprived, knee deep in course backlog and still find a reason to party till the wee hours. And somewhere in the middle of all that, you also need to figure out your career. This place is not for the weak hearted. You need to be able to prioritise, perform under pressure and be ready to sleep 6+ hours only once a week.

But, this is an awesome school. I cant tell you how glad I am for having chosen this school.

Course - So far the course content has really impressed me. P1 is mostly about finance aka. corporate finance, accounting, prices etc. The profs are super cool (on this note of cool...I think it reflects in everything INSEAD. Profs, food court, admin staff etc.). I dont have a background in finance so am kind of struggling but the trick is to make sure you do the pre-readings and you should be fine.

Party Scene - In the first ten days I was sober only one evening. From the welcome cocktail to the Bain party to your section parties. Its hard not to get trashed or being in the mix without being a party animal. Its an awesome break. I guess everyone realises this and makes sure to make the most out of it.

Jobs - This is the tricky one. And am sure quite a few of you want to know whats the reality of the day. Well, its fucked. Plain and simple. From the class of December 2008 only about 65% got jobs and of that about 50% went back to their pre-MBA employers. There still are a couple of IBs scouting for talent but the volumes are definitely low. Consulting is steady (oh...and by the way this really is a fuckin Consultant's school. Every other person is McBain Consulting and out here on a study leave. They are sponsored too and hence they account for most of the party animals) and industry is also ok. 2009 does not look any better at this point in time and my guess is that jobs will be hard to come by. By March I should have better numbers as internship recruitment will be on full swing.

Alright fellas....I need to sleep tonight. T'row evening we have another party and I plan to get absolutely loooooosee !!

To life...!