Carl Domonkos - HEC MBA 2008

Benefiting from HEC's international reputation
HEC's strong reputation has been an enormous benefit. For example, when I was looking for a Summer internship, I received very positive responses, and I managed to get an internship with GE Healthcare, located just 15 minutes from the HEC campus, which was incredibly convenient, as I could live on the HEC campus. That was the first indication of the power of the HEC brand name - that it allowed me to take advantage of this great opportunity. Once I started my internship, I could see that  the HEC MBA is very well respected: when we received international clients, even from the US, they all had a high regard for the HEC name.

Enjoying an idyllic campus life
I was living in Paris before, and I really enjoy the clear air and beautiful scenery in Jouy-en-Josas: it's very idyllic! I go for a jog every day around the beautiful lake on campus. There are also tennis courts here, and a gym, as well as a cafeteria that serves good meals three times a day, so you don't have to cook. Campus life is very dynamic: we often have parties in the piano bar, and we interact with the larger community of the “grande école” - we even have parties together on Thursdays. We also organize lots of informal activities and trips. For example, we just had an integration weekend at the beach in Deauville, and we went on a ski trip in the Alps for four days, which was a lot of fun. One of the key things you learn at HEC is the value of friendship, not only in terms of the human, fun aspect, but also in terms of getting through your daily work. Having friends is vital, and HEC teaches you that very effectively.

Developing a “coopetitive” mindset
In other MBA programs you have a lot of competition. We have that here as well, but it's always friendly, fair play competition, and people help each other out. Participating in the MBA Tournament really helps us to develop this spirit of friendly competition. This year, I helped to organize the tennis event for the tournament. In fact, I actually played on a team with Valérie Gauthier, the HEC MBA Dean, and our team won the whole tournament, which was a lot of fun. Everything is possible here, in terms of activities. It's all up to you, and there is no pressure coming from the administration that you have to join, but everyone does because they want to. I think that's the key – it's all about having fun and developing friendships.

Becoming a leader
I really think that the HEC MBA has helped me to streamline my ideas about becoming a leader. I've learned a lot about leadership through group work: every class includes group work, which puts you together with people from all different nationalities. Every group comprises people from 5 or 6 different nationalities from all corners of the world, and you're forced to not only communicate with people, but to actually reach an objective with these people, so you learn how to understand different cultures. In the future, in a more globalized world, I think that will be the key to be respectful and open-minded, in order to work with different types of people. The HEC MBA Program is extremely diverse – it's over 80% international – so that teaches you how to behave and how to work with different types of people. As a result, I think it has really opened my mind and made me understand how I need to develop in order to become the kind of leader I aspire to be.