Why? A 12 or 16-month flexible format, the opportunity for international exchange, and a program ranked number one in Asia for entrepreneurship in 2016 by the Financial Times.
Prior to his MBA, Enrique co-founded Find-Box, a sharing economy startup for the shipping industry which helps shipping container operators deal with the repositioning of empty units.
Determined to grow his new startup, the Chilean entrepreneur joined HKUST’s elite 120-strong MBA class back in 2013, where over 90% of students are international.
But his career took an unexpected turn. During an MBA exchange at London Business School, he applied for a consulting job at Bain & Co. on campus – and got it. In 2015, he returned to Chile and joined the 58% of HKUST MBAs who changed industry after graduation.
How did the job at Bain come about?
While at HKUST I went on an international exchange to London Business School. I applied to Bain through their on-campus recruiting program at LBS. During my period in London, I had my first round of interviews at the school. It was a very fast process, with the first two interviews conducted at the school’s library and then just a couple of weeks later the final rounds.
What advice do you have for MBAs applying for jobs at Bain?
It’s key to understand what’s driving your application. Ask yourself the questions: why consulting? Why Bain? That will come up throughout the interview process.
Prepare for the case interviews with someone who has some experience in consulting. In the interviews, it’s quite noticeable who has prepared and who hasn’t. And try to get to know the office you’re applying to. Try to network with consultants working there to better understand the local culture and get some help, like a mock interview.
Why did you decide to pursue an MBA at HKUST?
I was already living in Hong Kong and had plans to build my startup in Asia, so I was looking for good MBA programs in the region. Only two programs stood out: HKUST and INSEAD. I applied and got accepted into both schools.
What tipped the balance towards HKUST was the opportunity to have a sizeable scholarship, the variety of backgrounds and age of the cohort of students, the length of the program and the comprehensive availability of courses to take.
How did the idea to start up Find-Box come about?
I was working in Hong Kong for a shipping line. One of our big sources of costs was moving empty containers around our network to deliver them to clients. There was some collaboration in this area between companies but it was quite unstructured and on an ad hoc basis. I talked about this with a friend and we came up with a solution, and co-founded Find-Box.
How have you profited from the HKUST MBA?
I would not be where I am with the startup and my career at Bain without the HKUST MBA. Firstly, being on exchange at LBS allowed me to participate of the recruiting process for Bain and eventually get the position. For my startup, the MBA helped me set up the company structure, develop the business model and opened doors both within HKUST and outside to continue growing. I made life-long friends. They are now scattered across the world, which makes our meetings all the more interesting!
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