The right MBA program can help you secure a leadership role, unlock opportunities across industries, or even launch your own venture. So, to find out just how an MBA can help students make an impact, BusinessBecause spoke to two alumni from Asia School of Business (ASB) who have gone on to carve out impressive careers since graduating.
Why study an MBA?
Raodath Aminou (pictured), originally from Benin, worked in finance in France before realizing that she needed to harness her “entrepreneur mindset”.
After completing a master's program in innovation, she launched a food waste startup before moving into a consultant role focusing on innovation. However, in 2022, Raodath decided to enroll in the ASB MBA in order to gain exposure to the Asian market, which she felt was lacking in her resume.
“I felt I should go to Asia and see how people innovate, to see what I could learn in order to launch a more successful business in the future,” she explains.
Sarah-Ann Yong studied law in Malaysia and later the UK before returning to Malaysia to practice law for a number of years. However, in 2017 a friend who was part of the first ASB MBA cohort encouraged her to apply to the program. Feeling that an MBA would open new opportunities for her beyond her legal career, Sarah-Ann explored the admissions process and landed a place.
“While I enjoyed many aspects of the work, at the same time while researching for the MBA program I realized I had many different interests outside of the legal sphere and since I was relatively young at the time I had the opportunity to pursue those interests further," Sarah-Ann says.
After securing her place in the second cohort of the ASB MBA, Sarah-Ann admits she initially found it intimidating being around “extremely brilliant, high-profile fellow classmates with impressive resumes doing great things”. However, she soon settled in and relished the opportunity to improve her business acumen and learn from others as well as distinguished professors from MIT Sloan School of Management, a top US business school which partners with ASB on the MBA.
What are the highlights of the MBA journey?
As part of the MBA's requirement to complete a Summer Internship Program, Sarah-Ann (pictured) successfully secured a highly competitive three-month internship with Microsoft as part of the company's ASPIRE MBA Program.
Spending time with the big tech firm solidified her interest in pivoting into the technology industry where she could leverage technology to drive impact for both individuals and organizations.
For Raodath, who was initially drawn to the structure of the ASB MBA and a design that combines theory with field practice, her opportunities to learn outside of the classroom—during ASB’s week-long experiential problem-solving immersions which take place in industry-specific environments—were perhaps even more important than her in-class experiences.
“Each semester we had Action Learning Projects that allowed us to discover the reality of business in Asia,” she says.
She also liked working as part of a team when tackling case studies, and appreciated the resources provided by ASB, which included giving students small amounts of funding to help them start their own businesses.
Building a career after your MBA
Returning to Benin after securing her master’s, Raodath immediately began networking—letting people know she was back and ready to harness the new skills she had acquired.
On learning of a potential role, she remembered advice from her tutors not to take the first opportunity that presented itself. Instead, she should leverage her new abilities and consider different possibilities. Raodath therefore decided to start a new company herself, Entourage, a platform that connects professionals and entrepreneurs with leading experts in Africa for personalized advice.
Sarah-Ann leveraged her internship period at Microsoft, networking with people across the organization to ultimately secure a role at the company as a customer account success manager.
She credits the networking skills gained during the program, the ASB collaborations with Bank Negara and MIT Sloan, and the career development support she received at ASB with helping her successfully launch a career in the tech sector. She's now worked with Microsoft for the past five years, spending four years with Microsoft Malaysia before recently relocating to Australia as a specialist in Microsoft ANZ.
What transferable skills will you learn on an MBA?
Sarah-Ann believes that the skills she learned during her MBA, such as influencing others, leadership, negotiation, navigating ambiguity, and stakeholder management, have been invaluable in her new professional life.
“Throughout this entire process, adopting a growth mindset and being adaptable to the different changes happening to, around, and for me has been critical," she observes.
Raodath adds that as well as building her business acumen and developing a range of skills, networking at ASB taught her how to develop a professional community she could rely on.
“ASB gives you credibility,” she adds.
Advice for other women in business looking to make an impact
When reflecting on their journeys since graduating from the ASB MBA, both Raodath and Sarah-Ann feel the program can be a positive step for those looking to build their business acumen and enhance their ability to make an impact.
“I would advise anyone considering an MBA to do their homework. Think about where you are [in your career] and where you want to be after the program,” says Raodath. “My MBA came at the perfect time, after COVID, and allowed me to focus on Asia.”
She believes that having names like ASB and MIT Sloan on a resume can open a lot of doors. “It also gives you professional confidence,” she says.
For Sarah-Ann, ASB taught her the importance of Investing in herself. She echoes Raodath in feeling that the program helped build her confidence, as well as helping her work with and depend on others.
“Don’t think of your career as being linear or one-directional,” Sarah-Ann adds. “Think about building a career portfolio. Think about the transferable skill sets in your toolbox that you can bring from one industry to the other, especially for those considering leveraging the MBA to pivot careers.
"At the end of the day, you are the sole driver of your career, but at the same time you should leverage the support of your own trusted Personal Board of Directors consisting of mentors, coaches, and sponsors to help you succeed."
