CEMS Club Budapest Journal / 2013 Spring

C E M S

C l u b

B u d a p e s t

JOURNAL

Spring 2013

Read about: Beijing, Dublin, São Paulo, St. Petersburg, Vienna

in “my exchange experience” on page 5

Oman, italy

in “being an intern at mol” on page 10

Build your brand with KPMG! We are looking for ambitious candidates for the following positions: • Audit • Tax Advisory • Business Advisory • Information Risk Management • IT Advisory What we offer: • Clear career path • Excellent opportunity for personal development with regular training courses • Building life-long professional relationships • Competitive salary and benets • Modern and friendly working environment • Opportunity to work abroad If you are interested, apply at kpmg.hu

© 2013 KPMG Hungária Kft., a Hungarian limited liability company and a member rm of the KPMG network of independent member rms afliated with KPMG International Cooperative (“KPMG International”), a Swiss entity. All rights reserved. The KPMG name, logo and “cutting through complexity” are registered trademarks or trademarks of KPMG International.

editorial Dear readers, This is my first issue as a Board member and I have to say things have become quite intense – of course in a positive way! I became more involved in the organization of the CEMS Club’s life which yielded many unforgettable memories and fun during the semester. Hence, this makes my goal of presenting our activities to you a very pleasant exercise as well. Here I would like to dedicate a couple of rows to briefly summarize what my friends in the Board have been up to.

Máté Széles, who’s responsible for social programmes, came up with the idea to go to Mohács and dive into the Hungarian culture. I feel like this event will become an indispensable tradition of the spring semester as the years pass by. Besides this, he is constantly creating opportunities for us to let the steam off and enjoy each others’ company after a tiring day at the university. The good atmosphere is confirmed by the fact that more and more alumni take the time and attend our programmes. We are really happy to get to know them and I strongly believe we all have many exciting stories and useful tips for each other. The purpose of our alumni insight column is exactly the same in a formalized setting. I warmly recommend you to read this edition’s articles in the topic and see what you can achieve through this network. Moreover, I am certain that this is only the tip of the iceberg and would love to hear more about former students’ experiences.

Regarding our corporate partners, three new relations have been finalized during the last months (Citibank, MOL Energy Trade and Microsoft). Furthermore Angéla Német strengthened the ties with BCG, KPMG, and established a potential cooperation with Vodafone! Her next event on the agenda is bringing the students and company representatives together as part of the Rotation Dinner in April!

Dóra Tombácz and Zoltán Lipcsey are doing their share of the work – along with many others – in a pilot project of a very promising CEMS social movement that has been started this spring.

An article is devoted to the topic to provide you further information of the phenomenon and induce you to take part in the future!

Eszter Lilla Tóth is composing the global merchandising portfolio and preparing the marketing of the products. Besides that, she is currently in Copenhagen at a Student Board Meeting contributing to the development of the alliance!

Published by CEMS Club Budapest Hungary Editors Anna Mátyus Dániel Drácz Dóra Bálint Gábor Trefán Péter Oláh Tímea Lajos Graphic Design Gábor Trefán Péter Oláh Email: budapestcemsclub@gmail.com Club Budapest © CEMS 2013 April Photos blogs.worldbank.org // Members of CEMS Club Budapest // americapictures.net // flickr.com/photos/cems_alliance // HowStuffWorks.com // theaustralian.com.au // fitsit360.com // blog.kombo.com.br // emes.net // vaskaputaverna.hu

Last but not least, I could not possibly summarize everything Gábor Trefán is involved in, but he certainly does a good job making sure that every team is right on track and helping wherever is needed! What is probably the most conspicuous for you is his involvement in the Communication team as a designer, but there is a lot more behind the scenes!

Having said all that, you can get to know more about the outcome of our cooperation on the following pages. I hope you will enjoy reading it!

Péter Oláh

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Contents 3

5-7

8-11

12-14

15

16

17

editorial Meet the new Board

see the world My Exchange Experience

alumni insight Interview with Edina Baur Being An Intern at Mol

Career Forum Thoughts of Budapest CEMSies

Business project CEMSies Cooperating with PWC

Competiton

CEMS TEAM WINNING THE NATIONAL CASE STUDY COMPETITION (OEV)

Culture

BUSÓ FESTIVITES AT MOHÁCS

18-19

FACES of ALUMNI

20-21

New Generation Consulting

INTERVIEW WITH CSABA ZSÓTÉR

BUDAPEST-HELSINKI CSR PROJECT

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Event Calendar

2013 SPRING EVENTS AT CEMS CLUB BUDAPEST

see the world

Puhuishi Temple - Mongolia

My exchange experience

returned students (Bence komor, GergŐ kujbus, márton mattusich, Péter Oláh and Dóra Páles) talk about their semester

by Anna Mátyus

Going on exchange is like a voyage…The more you put into it, the richer your experience is.

As in every September, half of the CEMS Class 2012 embarked on a semester abroad full of challenges and new experiences. We were curious to know how our peers see their exchange term upon return, when they are fully recharged with motivation. If you are considering applying to one of these schools don’t hesitate to contact the respective person.

How does it feel to be back?

Gergő Kujbus: Being back is good and bad at the same time. It’s great to see my family again and spend more time with my friends, while I really miss Ireland’s green countryside, the fascinating Dublin, the friendly Irish people and, of course, Guinness.

How did you come to the decision to study in your exchange country?

Bence Komor: I wanted to study in a country where they speak my second CEMS language, German. I chose the WU in Vienna, because it had a huge selection of CEMS elective courses.

Could you tell us one of your favourite memories?

Dóra Páles: I visited the Great Wall once in December.

It was so cold that it hurt (below -10 °C) and I was freezing. When I got on the bus goingback to Beijing I sat down next to an elderly lady. She looked at me, took my hand in her hands and said „ooh, you are cold” then she handed me her hot water bottle and the

blanket that covered her legs.

GK: One of our Irish classmates organized a surf trip to the west side of the country, in November. The water temperature was 10 °C and the air was not much warmer either. While we were walking into the sea, it started hailing. But thanks to the special swimsuits we did not feel the weather that cold and had a great time there.

Márton Mattusich: The Block Seminar organized by the universities in Helsinki and St. Petersburg was an unbeatable experience. Within one week, not only did we discover these two cities, but we became a very good team as well. Even though we were divided into two groups based on the topic of the seminar, we spent the evenings and nights together in great restaurants and clubs. The farewell dinner on a boat on the river Neva was a perfect closing ceremony and a good start for my semester in St. Petersburg.

Péter Oláh: Freshly arrived in the outskirts of Rio de Janeiro around 4 AM. I was sitting on an old, local bus presumably going to the centre, stuffed with an unbelievable crowd. Jolting along the road, I caught sight of the Jesus statue with the sun rising behind it.

That was something I will never forget!

What would you say to a student interested in applying?

DP: Without speaking any Chinese it’s really hard to get by. Do not trust the insurance provided by Tsinghua, and do not trust Chinese services in general... I spent one of the longest nights of my life in a “4 star luxury yurt”. The walls were covered with mold, the bed sheets were damp and the only place to get warm was the open fire in the middle of the camp.

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see the world

BeiHai Park - China - Dóra Páles

Schlumberger Champagne, Austria - Vienna - Bence Komor

BK: Go for your CEMS semester in Vienna if you are interested in exciting, practical courses with real projects held by company representatives. Furthermore, you are ready to work 7 days a week for three months.

PO: I would say living in Brazil is an interesting experience where you can learn a lot about worklife balance. Generally speaking, people have very different approach towards work, compared to what we got used to in Europe. It is worth seeing and partially living a bit the “latin” way of life... You can have the professional CEMS experience and also a somewhat relaxed semester at the same time. Other than that, take the initiative and don’t be afraid!

If you were to sum up your experience in three words, what would they be?

DP: Distant, shocking, amazing.

GK: Professionalism, atmosphere.

interactive

lectures,

Christ the Redeemer, Rio de Janeiro - Brazil

great

What is the biggest difference you have noticed between the two countries, cultures?

BK: The Austrian and German students are hard working, punctual and care a lot about the details, but they are also less creative. They were more into getting good grades, than really learning from a course.

MM: Russian people are passionate about art and especially about ballet – a thing that is not so common in Hungary. If you speak Russian, it is really easy to get on well with them, regardless of where you are: in a taxi, in a supermarket or at a hockey match.

However, if you can’t speak Russian, they will ignore you or force you to pay an additional fee for the

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Paraty, Rio de Janeiro - Brazil - Péter Oláh

St. Petersburg and its surroundings - Russia - Márton Mattusich

entrance. If you tell them that you are from Hungary, probably they will like you - due to the Soviet time we have many things in common.

What is your favourite place to visit there?

BK: The mountains and forests of Austria are my favourites, but Vienna itself is similar to Budapest, only a bit cleaner and more expensive.

Saint Basil’s Cathedral - Moscow, Red Square - Russia

professors who are staying just a couple of weeks in the city. Thus, most of the courses in English are held in blocked format, meaning that the lectures and seminars of each course are scheduled within 2-3 weeks. Also, most of the exams are online which need totally different preparation methods and knowledge compared to those we have at Corvinus.

GK: If anybody is visiting Ireland, the Cliffs of Moher (Western Ireland) and Giant’s Causeway (Northern Ireland) are must-see places. They are simply amazing.

Main differences on how do the Universities function?

BK: Most of the CEMS courses were in blocks. It was much more intense this way than the “elementary school” style teaching of Corvinus. You could get deeper into a certain field, and didn’t have 5-6 parallel projects to worry about.

MM: The Graduate School of Management, St. Petersburg State University has lots of foreign

Cliffs of Moher - Ireland - Gergő Kujbus

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alumni insight ability and adaptation to change

by Dóra Bálint

Upon finishing school, new graduates fall into two distinct categories: those with a clear sense of what they want to do next, and those who don’t yet know.

Upon graduation, Edina Baur fell into the latter group, one that is typically envious of the former group. Her advice to students is to walk with eyes open, not to keep all eggs in one basket and to be prepared for whatever comes their way.

Even if you see yourself in the first group with clearly defined objectives and a career-path to follow, Edina’s advice and experience can help you achieve your goals.

Edina graduated from Corvinus in 2005 with a good amount of international experience, complemented with knowledge gathered from years actively spent in Rajk (a university club for advanced studies). Her first ever experience of living abroad was in Finland in 2003. At the time, low-cost airlines on that side of Europe didn’t yet exist. In addition, living costs were considerably higher in that region. Without being discouraged, she further continued with the CEMS Internship at P&G Prague under the watchful eyes of a CEMS alumni. Upon graduation she decided to embark on a career in consulting (a path many at CEMS consider the most explicit career) and started as a business analyst in the Budapest office of McKinsey.

Today she works as a Marketing Manager at Google.

How can we imagine, what were your plans after university?

I was certain I would work for a multinational company and CEMS definitely helped me to get where I am today. The multicultural aspect taught me small intricacies of how to integrate into an international environment, such as how to cut in politely during a conversation. In classes, I learned how to think and listen; we were vested with the knowledge of how to succeed at life in the real world (after university).

I think I can say that many CEMSies would be interested to know how you ended up at Google?

I received an email from a friend with a job description she felt was perfect for me; it was a position that involved marketing and finance. It was a long process

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as I went through 5 interviews and a math test similar to the GMAT. I worked in the London office for 21 months, and since last October have worked at their headquarters in California. I have always found Google appealing, and fortunately, the transition wasn’t that big of a change. Like my colleagues at McKinsey, the people at Google are really smart and motivated.

What do you most like about your job?

Firstly, is the freedom and flexibility; I have the ability to work at my own pace on projects I am passionate about. Of course, I need to align with my manager but the ideas mainly come from me. Secondly, the work environment at Google is very open and playful. We have the opportunity to stand up, leave our space more frequently and even have some office space reserved for brainstorming activities. Consequently, there is less stress, and even the working hours are friendlier (9AM – 6PM).

What would you name as your strengths?

Having multiple interests has always been a strategy that has worked for me. When I started my MBA at INSEAD in September 2008, one-third of the class was preparing to be investment bankers. When Lehman Brothers collapsed, these people became uncertain of what they wanted to do and had to rethink their plans.

Being more flexible, I was prepared to pivot into a new career path.

In another manner, of course you have to be decisive in closing some doors as you grow older. For example, during university I decided I was not going to be an actuary, so it’s probably never going to happen. But you have to make the most of whatever you do.

And thirdly, my academic curiosity. My passion for learning things that are outside my current discipline have helped to prepare me for opportunities that arose.

Do you think your personality changes over time from job experiences?

I still see a strong distinction between my personality at work and my personality at home, but there are times when the skills I have acquired at work bleed over into my personal life. For example, I have missed airplane flights in the past, and the negotiation skills I learned in consulting have allowed me to convince airport staff to put me on another flight at no additional cost.

I don’t think I could have done that before I started working.

However, I have been lucky to have the opportunity to choose jobs that fit my personality. I don’t mind coping with change and uncertainty. In my current job, for example, I have to make a great deal of assumptions, which means that there is the likelihood that I could be wrong. For some, this uncertainty could seem unmanageable, but for me, I am comfortable with it.

How to find CEMS alumni on

Go to: 1. Edit profile 2. Education 3. Add a school School Name:

CEMS

(type it, it will not yet appear in the drop down) Then click on “CEMS” and browse by:

What wisdom would you pass on to current CEMSies?

Most things you learn by doing, so don’t be afraid to try things you haven’t done before that could potentially fail. Also, what I find useful is to talk to people from a completely different field of work. By doing so, I gain a new perspective on my own job. A friend of mine who I went to Rajk with, teaches behavioural economics at LSE. His current research is to build a model that predicts economic bubbles. It might seem completely unrelated to being a marketing manager but it made me think of the products I’m currently responsible for (which ones are going through a hypephase and which ones aren’t) and gave me an idea for a new marketing program.

And many more!

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alumni insight being an intern at MOL

Personal internship reviews from Dóra Szabó and Dávid Széles

by Anna Mátyus

In search of a CEMS internship we tend to forget about the Hungarian CEMS Corporate Partners and thus initially exclude ourselves from the opportunity to work in MOL Group, the leading integrated Central and Eastern European oil and gas corporation with an extensive international Upstream portfolio.

On the following pages let’s read more about the oil business and two different, but equally inspiring CEMS internship experiences in Oman and Italy.

My Adventures in the Sultanate of Oman - Dóra Szabó When my boss and I were talking about opportunities within MOL Group to complete my international internship for the CEMS curriculum he came up with the surprising idea of going to Oman. All I knew about the Sultanate was that it was in the Middle East and our company had exploration activities there, and I even remembered Talal, a kind Omani spending one year secondment working with us in Hungary. When I took the offer I knew that spending three months in the Middle East, living and working as a woman at the state owned Oman Oil Company, would be the adventure of my life, but it was above all my expectations.

The first thing I faced upon arrival at the airport was that Omani men put on the traditional dishdasha (long white dress) with little caps or turbans on the top of

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their heads on a daily basis. At the same time most of the ladies were wearing a long black dress (abbayas) above their clothes and a scarf on their head – I found them very elegant. Ladies are highly respected in Oman. A lot of them work in public offices or at private companies, but there are female security guards and policewomen, too.

Omani people are very kind and helpful. On my first day at the Oman Oil Company everyone was welcoming; it was indeed easy to accommodate myself and get into the gang. Oman Oil is a state-owned company having investments in the energy sector from Portugal to China in different businesses including oil and gas, electricity, shipping, trading and mining as well. I was working at the Investment Department where I was involved in all fields of activities including monitoring the performance of investee companies, supporting investment/development and M&A projects. During the period of my secondment, the strategy setting process was also going on, where I was also able to cooperate.

The working environment was very international, I had colleagues from all around the World (from the Philippines and India through South Africa to Europe and North America), which was sometimes really challenging dealing with the different working styles and attitudes. I found work – and generally life – way more relaxed there than here in Hungary. A lot is about networking, you need to be very patient because often it takes long to get to the point at a meeting.

Oman has an amazing landscape with rocky mountains, wadis (oasis) with deep freshwater pools,

endless deserts, turquoise lagoons with white sand and gold-coloured Arabian sunsets. It offers endless opportunities for people who love trekking just like me. I lived in the capital, Muscat, which stretches forty km along the Gulf coast and despite the population of one million people it has a suburban atmosphere as the tallest building is eight stories high. My favourite places to go in the evenings with my friends were outdoor restaurants where people hang out until late in the night smoking shisha. I also loved spending long afternoons in the busy bazaar trying to make better deals on scarves and jewellery.

Three months in this colourful country made me realize how differently people can live their lives despite using the same iPhone apps and eating at the same fast food restaurant branches. This really was one of the greatest adventures of my life.

The Italian Job - Dávid Széles

I have spent my CEMS internship in the treasury department of Italiana Energia e Servizi of the MOL Group in Mantova, Italy. I have had the pleasure to be a part of a great team, and to be initiated into the operations of a Hungarian multinational’s Mediterranean affiliate. The aim of my short report is to let you CEMSies in on some of my best experiences both professional and personal.

Coffee? No thanks...(!?) - Most people find it easy to mimic Italians, stereotypes abound about the Italian way of life. For one, they can surely enjoy life. Cashiers at stations could take eight minutes to hand you a ticket for a train, while if you want to pay at the supermarket be sure to count with some time for the cashier to discuss last night’s football with one of his friends who just bought a local pumpkin tortellini. Personally, I could not get myself to follow the Italian rhythm of life, it was a bit ‘deliberately pleasure seeking’ and

slow if you ask me. However, there were really nice touches. Your favourite bartender would call out your name loudly and greet you as he swooshes by you on his bike. Random people would make a stage in one of the alleys, to play a small concert. Getting used to the Italian way of life was like drinking coffee for me. I never do. But having tasted one on my last day I could have pictured myself starting a day with sipping away an espresso and browsing through the sport section.

It’s just that I am fine with drinking tea in the office before the computer.

Mariagrazia, could you line out what are the inputs for this process? - Concerning the internship, my responsibilities included mapping out outgoing payment processes, relating control points of the treasury, doing customer credit risk calculation, and preparing and automatizing reporting dashboards for MOL headquarters. Pretty diverse stuff, with lots of opportunities to learn. What I enjoyed the most is that I could work on my own and come up with ideas on how to make activities more efficient. The biggest challenge relating to rooting up processes was to persuade some colleagues in Italian to contribute their time to the assignment that I was working on.

Mantova, the City of Lakes - Most of all I miss the city itself from my whole internship. Surrounded by lakes, Mantova is dotted with houses built in the XVth century.

It is like walking on the scenes of a documentary film.

I would always discover yet another world heritage site. In fact, the entire downtown area is part of the UNESCO world heritage list. Virgil, and Mantegna were both born in Mantova, while Shakespeare’s Rome also descended from the commune in Lombardy.

Old houses do have their downside though. The thick walls perfectly isolate you from mobile internet and cell phone signals. At times it was pretty much like living in the XVth century (with the convenience of having a Barilla pasta sauce always at hand).

If I could choose an internship... - Starting out all over again I would definitely choose this internship. I had to cope with a totally different set of cultural values, had interesting assignments and I could actively use a language I almost forgot. Furthermore, do not forget that you can always go to the big hubs of business life in the future. However, gaining on hand experience as an intern will rarely be a case if you are just a temporary cog in a great big wheel.

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Career Forum

CEMS Career Forum

thoughts of sára bihari, anna kempf, márton mattusich, anna mátyus and noémi pallos

by Péter Oláh

What is so special about CEMS Career Forum? Well, exclusivity is definitely one of the factors. It is the privilege of the students of the CEMS alliance who came to Budapest from all over the world for the fourth time since 2009. Apart from the HR employees, here you can easily meet top leaders - CFOs, partners - of a company which is rarely the case at a typical career fair. So apart from a general insight into a firm, you are able to ask whatever you would like to know and get meaningful answers. Creative questions could result in a better understanding of the company’s activities and recognition from the staff, both of which come in handy at an interview. Don’t forget, these are top tier firms, so if you want to work for them you better demonstrate your interest in every possible way.

Due to the high number of applicants, even getting an interview can prove to be hard, and although it can be thought of as ‘half-success’ there is still a long way till getting the job. Fortunately, at the event, companies provide useful hints and tips about what they expect from candidates which is very helpful. Furthermore if you really want to get the most out of it, you can also test yourself by applying to a pre-scheduled interview during the weekend! Numerous companies take the time to personally meet CEMS students in the hope of future employment relationships. However, there is even more happening over the two-day period! You can attend skill-seminars in interesting topics, also held by our corporate partners.

Finally, at the end of the second day, students had the opportunity to focus on the community and relax at

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a dinner in the Trófea Grill Restaurant followed by a fabulous party on the boat Európa!

With that being said, I let the students of CEMS Club Budapest present their experiences: What is your overall opinion about the event?

Márton Mattusich: CEMS Career Forum is a professionally organized event where you can gain personal insights about the companies you are

considering to apply for, practise yourself under limited stress, eventually speed up your career and meet lots of friends. For me, the Career Forum was like a reunion: apart from my Hungarian mates, I met many foreign friends who also attended the Block Seminar organized by Aalto University School of Business and St. Petersburg State University GSOM. Right after your entry to the building you can feel what CEMS means: a community that is strongly focused on the future and where you can fully enjoy your present.

Anna Kempf: On the one hand, I believe that the Career Forum provides the platform for meeting the corporate partners and getting to know the opportunities ahead of us. On the other hand, to enhance your CEMS network by meeting old and new friends from all around the world. In 2012 for me is meant the place for reunion, parties and interviews for internships. I participated in three Career Forums so far and every time I have a feeling that we are a part of something extraordinary, therefore I would recommend it to everyone.

What do you think about the company representatives who you talked to? Did you have a strategy who and how to approach?

Anna Mátyus: Without further explanation goes the statement that you cannot attend a career fair before thorough preparation. When the final list of companies attending the event is out I consult them and make my list of interest and prepare accordingly. There is no point in asking questions which are anyway available on the website for example. For me the fair is about making personal contacts. Compared to a regular career fair here you can be sure that you don’t have to explain the CEMS program and that the representatives are very much aware of your curriculum.

MM: Some of them were former CEMS students who have great understanding of the common issues faced

by CEMS job-seekers. As in case of every job fair, it makes the conversation much more enjoyable if you know the particular company at least on a basic level.

Thus you can ask questions that can help decide whether the company or a specific graduate programme really suits you; e.g. what kind of training and development opportunities are provided, how often should you travel abroad, normally how long do employees work etc. It is really up to you to ask relevant questions – and thus you can be an interesting person in the eyes of the company representative as well.

Steering Business Successfully www.ifua.hu

Did you attend a skill seminar?

Noémi Pallos: I attended the Deloitte skill seminar about the valuation of financially distressed companies. I chose this seminar because the topic was closely related to my thesis. We had a great overview of theoretical elements in the first part and participated in an exciting simulation game in the second. We were divided into groups with different roles (three financing banks and the distressed company with different information provided) and had to come to an agreement. It was not easy.

AK: I attended the Unicredit skill seminar about personal branding and goal setting. I have chosen this seminar due to the fact that by approaching graduation I am (as we are all) facing the BIG questions of „What to do with my future? How and where to start my career?”. I believe that the trainers provided useful tools and give us good tips, moreover the atmosphere of the event was really friendly and positive.

How can you get an interview? How did you prepare for it?

NP: I believe having a strong, international CV is not enough, as every CEMS student has a very competitive background. I would recommend focusing on an interesting cover letter, because that is almost the only thing you can differentiate yourself by. Secondly, you should prioritize between the companies and choose the one fitting you the most. For example: if you have a strong interest in energy you have greater chance at an oil company than at a bank… And inversely, an 2013 // 1 Spring CC BUDAPEST JOURNAL

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Career Forum oil company favors you more, than a finance student from LSE. It may sound unequivocal but loosing focus is easy when facing hundreds of companies.

AK: I applied for several interviews by updating and customizing my CV and cover letter and got the opportunity to have an interview with Vodafone.

Prior to the event I gathered the latest trends in telecommunication and collected information about the company by using the internet and asking fellow students working for the company. I believe that knowing the opinion of employees at the company can be a real advantage during preparation.

How was the interview?

MM: I would describe my interview with Ĺ koda Auto as an interesting conversation with one of the recruitment specialists from the company. Before our meeting I had to fill in the PAPI (Personality and Preference Inventory) online questionnaire that I got back evaluated after the meeting. During the interview we talked about some of my former job and study experience and then we discussed some actual trends in the automotive industry. I got an overview about the possibilities when working for Ĺ koda and I was asked about my personal preferences and expectations regarding international mobility and salary. All in all, we agreed on keeping in touch with the recruitment specialist, as for me as a new CEMS student finding a job was not so urgent.

NP: The most important thing: you need to prepare for the interview! E.g.: at Deutsche Bank I had to ask relevant questions about the company for 45 minutes.

If I had not been prepared, I could not have kept asking meaningful questions.

How strong is the competition in this field?

AM: I cannot give you exact numbers, but for sure competition is there. Especially considering the fact that we all take part in the same program, thus CEMS in itself is not a competitive advantage. You must make sure to show your additional skills and achievements.

AK: On the one hand, at international level the competition among high profile CEMS students is extremely tense. As every one of us has at least one exchange semester, one international internship and speaks excellent English. Within the CEMS Community being born in Russia, raised in Denmark, doing an

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exchange in France and Singapore and an internship in New York is not the exception but the average.

Therefore for excelling you need to provide something more, something unique!

On the other hand, if we take into consideration the Hungarian labour market, the experience, values and network provided through the CEMS MIM program can become a real competitive advantage.

Any surprises at the event?

SĂĄra Bihari: My biggest surprise at the event was to meet the company representatives and interviewers at the boat party which was a pleasant surprise of course.

It made the whole event more relaxed and an even more memorable gathering event than an anxious professional challenge.

Business project CEMSies cooperating with PwC

by Virginie Coget and Mareike Pannen

Being an active member of the CEMS alliance and the CEMS Club Budapest, PricewaterhouseCoopers, the world’s largest professional services organisation, is providing two different business projects this spring semester: A corporate responsibility project specifically dealing with corporate volunteering, and a project in collaboration with PwC Academy aiming at promoting professional qualifications and increasing people’s awareness towards them.

Within the CSR project, a group of both Hungarian and international CEMS students are working together to help increase awareness of corporate volunteering within PwC Hungary, and to find ways to stimulate more employees to participate. PwC believes that it is essential to assume an active role in their community and to support it with their fundamental activity and the related services, professional knowledge, and to provide added value for their direct and indirect stakeholders.

PwC employees have already volunteered for various purposes, such as kindergarten renovation, blood donation, hiking-route mark painting and providing pro-bono work. However, the participation levels are still low and PwC has asked the help of CEMS students to work out a strategy how they can increase the participation in their corporate volunteering projects.

The team is analysing the key determinants and success factors of volunteering projects within other

firms belonging to the financial sector in order to identify best practices. Furthermore, the students have been conducting interviews with PwC employees to find out more about their motivation.

The other business project proposed by PwC Academy tackles the problem of promoting professional qualifications such as ACCA or CIMA. A mixed team of local and international CEMS students have to conduct a market analysis for the Hungarian professional qualification market and evaluate PwC’s current

performance in this segment. The end product of the business project is to deliver PwC a strategy on how to increase people’s awareness towards professional qualifications.

Working with a company such as PwC is a great and enriching opportunity for CEMS students. Students are confronted with real-life projects and have to challenge themselves to come up with practical solutions that might, eventually, be applied as such. They are offered the chance to contribute directly to PwC’s strategy.

According to Tommaso Valli, an exchange student from Bocconi University, the CEMS business project is an extremely interesting tool not only to get to get to know a company from the inside, but also to put his competencies into practice. At PwC for example, his group learned what challenges a multinational company faces when trying to integrate sustainable development in its overall strategy.

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Competiton CEMS is all around us

CEMS Team won the National Case Study Competition (OEV)

By Péter Oláh

– it is a compulsory course within CEMS in which students work together with companies to solve a business-related problem.

This year a team of four CEMSies: Anna Kempf, Daniella Rigó, Zoltán Szoleczki and Péter Tóth won the well-known National Case Study Competition (OEV). This is a considerable accomplishment and we are all very proud of them!

The fact that the Világgazdaság – a renowned Hungarian business journal – wrote about the event, represents its significance.

The article stated that all of the team members from Corvinus participated in the CEMS-MIM

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programme, which is one of the leading international business master programmes. The students got to know each other in this educational alliance, became friends and decided to enter the competition later on.

Three members have spent an exchange semester in Köln, and one student in Copenhagen. The obtained experience from abroad turned out to be useful during the contest. The Business Project helped them to show their talent

Besides, all team members are proficient case study competitors, since they have participated in numerous domestic events and what’s more, one of them even competed in the U.S. and one of them in Denmark.

As regards the career, one student has attracted attention of a company representative during last year’s presentations. As a result, she has been invited to an interview for a summer internship position.

She has successfully applied and subsequently stayed at the firm part-time.

Culture

Busó Festivites at Mohács

by Péter Oláh

Several hundred years ago the Turkish have been frightened away by the Sokac people dressed in wooden masks and sheep skin. Although some of the girls have had braver moments in their lives, altogether the students of CEMS Club Budapest stood the test of the locals. By all means, a group of screaming, racketing and frightening Busó-s certainly makes you jump out from their way to let them pass, I give you that.

Similar customs of welcoming the spring, saying farewell to winter and ancient fertility rites can be found in other nations’ traditions as well. Just think about the carnival in Rio or Venice. A major difference I would emphasize in this case is the cold weather which has not prevented a single person from enjoying what the event had to offer. According to locals, there are about eight hundred Busó-s in town at this time of the year. It is considered a quite serious hobby among locals who gather with their clans.

After arrival we went straight to the riverside to see the Busó-s cross the Danube in boats to honour the

legend. Later on our way back to the city centre, we found ourselves in the company of very friendly locals offering home-baked traditional bread and regional wine. Combined with the sight, the tastes really made the experience complete. The rest of the day we watched the Busó-s roam around town striving to scare the tourists and celebrate in the gardens of farmhouses. Later at sunset came one of the most significant momentums of the festival. The straw puppet symbolizing winter was burned, and since it happened to be at the top of a six-metre high straw stack it made quite a huge bonfire. All this was on the square in front of the town hall, with all the visitors gathering around to warm themselves up at the end of a freezing but truly entertaining day!

To sum up, we are on fire as well and the semester is off to a great start with all the exchange students and local CEMSies sticking together!

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FACES of ALUMNI Interview with Csaba Zsótér

by Dóra Bálint

Many opportunities present themselves to us everyday, for that reason tough decisions have to be made to find our way. But what else is needed for going out and attempting to do better? Csaba Zsótér’s example demonstrates that motivation, will, maintaining your peace of mind and building stamina help everyday performance and long-term success.

What was your “strategy” at university? How did you make the most of your time at Corvinus?

I tried to seize the moment and check out as many opportunities as possible. I was a student at the Rajk László College of Advanced Studies, I was a member of the student organisation AEGEE, I taught Business Economics for 5-6 years at Corvinus and also Economic Way of Thinking at IBS.

What do you feel is the value of the CEMS degree?

CEMS is mentioned in my CV, but it states that I only participated in the CEMS MIM programme as I have to frankly tell you: I never graduated. Looking back, I would have done it differently. Especially that I was only a step away; I would have had to pass a German language exam and complete the Internship. At that moment I had other priorities.

Did you start working during your studies?

No, I was lucky that I did not need to. My parents supported me and I received a GE Scholar-Leader and a Goldman Sachs Global Leaders Scholarship (the latter unfortunately does not exist anymore). When I started working, I saw that students, who started working earlier had a slight advantage, but what does this advantage mean? That they might get promoted a bit younger?!

I think there are so many opportunities that come your way at the university that you have to make the most of those. AEGEE Summer Camps (in the Baltic states, in Romania and in Poland) offered me the chance to force myself to go abroad and practise my English.

Teaching allowed me to develop many skills; I learned to master conflict situations. Why should you gain all these skills outside, if the university offers all this?!

When you leave the doors of the university, this is what you will benefit from in the market place – and you have to work for 40 years at least, anyway...

(Internships are of course different, especially if they are necessary for graduation.)

I feel that by participating in the programme, I did get the maximum out of it. However the CEMS degree’s value also lies in the fact that it is recognised globally.

It is a European level degree. When I have managerial CVs in my hand, I always see that a second degree is mentioned.

What were your most important academical takeaways from the university?

I studied Management and Leadership, and my major was in Controlling. I had two courses which determined and assisted my future.... One was Valuation, which I studied at Rajk, and the other was SIM (Strategic International Management) taught by Gyula Bakacsi, which was about solving strategic case studies. I was lucky to represent Corvinus in an international case study competition in Los Angeles.

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When finishing your studies, what direction did you take?

At the end of my studies I worked for 6 months as an intern at IFUA. Afterwards I had a dilemma: many people go for the consulting industry as it is very diverse, but the downside to it is that you never get to immerse in one company as a whole with all its details, like we were shown in our Business Economics lessons taught by prof. Attila Chikán. If you on the other hand work for just one company, you will know it inside out, but it will not be as varied, you will always face the same routines. I wasn’t sure which path to choose.

Finally I went to MOL, where I started to work in the M&A department: a place where I saw a real big company and I had various projects – killing two birds with one stone. I managed to explore different business areas, while seeing a company inside out.

Currently I am working as a manager assistant to the Vice President of Supply Chain Management, which is like an intensive management course for what you are actually paid – quite a good deal, isn’t it?!

What do you enjoy most, about working for MOL? I have come to see that it is great to work in a HQ. We are under one roof with the top management, who make the most important decisions. Secondly, being

an industrial company, the decisions made are worth millions of dollars in CAPEX. And the excitement is that you only see the results in 2-3 years. Thirdly, I am surrounded by very clever people. I particularly like working together with the engineers here. It is something very different. ”They” do speak a very different language than “us”, something you do not really meet with in the university, but which is a very good experience.

What would you say is a language worth studying today?

I can’t tell you, what the sure thing is to learn at the moment. So for example the Chinese, Spanish, English or Russian is the next big thing. However, I can say that if you go abroad, and are lucky enough to spend a period of over 6 months in a native environment, then you should learn that language no matter how small the country. My boss followed this mentality in Slovakia, and I only see the advantages of this.

You mentioned earlier that you are currently preparing for the Ironman Triathlon, how does someone decide to accomplish something like this?

When I started university, a whole new world opened up to me. But things like hobbies (in my case this was sports, particularly football) were sidelined. Therefore I left university let’s say 20% heavier than I wanted to be. Three years ago on a January night at a party I bet with friends (one of them is a CEMSie actually) that I would run a Marathon. They provoked me, because they cared – or they wanted to win the prize, who knows now. I prepared individually; found a training plan online and I set myself three workouts/week. And in November 2010 I ran my first Marathon. But I didn’t stop there; with two of my colleagues at MOL last year we participated at the Ironman (3.8 km swim, 180 km bicycle, 42 km run), where I did the running – my third marathon actually. This was an experience which made me decide that I want to complete all three sections by myself. I have a trainer, and I am currently preparing for the 27th of July. Besides working 10 hours a day, it is important to have a hobby as a stress reliever and a growth opportunity.

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New Generation Budapest-Helsinki CSR Project

by Marta Dolli Dils and Tímea Lajos

This is a unique opportunity in which CEMS Clubs can work together on a project started by students. It is time to use our networks and cross borders!

What is NGC? The aim of NGC is to solve a business-related problem of a social enterprise. In the pilot project CEMS students from Hungary and Finland can apply to cooperate with each other and work in diversified groups. However, our ultimate goal is to go global next semester. Through this, we would like to make a positive impact and contribute to the society with our knowledge. Also, it would be a big opportunity for us to gain more real work experience and gain a better insight into social enterprises, as we believe this is the way to a sustainable future.

How did NGC start?

At a local CEMS event in Helsinki, several topics came up during our conversations such as entrepreneurship, CSR and working together. That was the time we realized that the co-work between CEMS Clubs can be made tighter through a project. We are involved in many activities, like the business project, with a diverse group of people. But we have (much) less opportunity to meet and work together with somebody e.g. from Sydney, Singapore or Belgium, if he/she does not happen to be in the same country as we are during the MIM year, even though one of the biggest advantage of CEMS is networking. So the aim of NGC

is to widen out networking opportunities globally while contributing to the society at the same time. It sounds great, doesn’t it?

So on the same party I started talking to Karoliina Heinonen, CEMS Club President in Helsinki. She was very excited about the topic and gave me an opportunity to set up a team which deals with NGC within the local board. Meanwhile, I reached out to Gábor Trefán, CEMS Club President Budapest, in order to set up the pilot project between the two countries.

So that’s how everything started!

Who are We? Marta Dolli Dils VSE/Aalto Germany Zoltán Lipcsey CUB/NHH Hungary

Katalin Tombácz CUB/HEC Hungary

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Péter Naszrai CUB/Aalto Hungary

Tímea Lajos CUB/Aalto Hungary

Alixe Van Ogtrop USYD/WU/Aalto Netherland

Consulting Good for CEMSies

Good for Social Enterprises

■■ CEMS students could practice consulting in real life.

■■ CEMS students would know what problems social enterprises are facing in different countries.

■■ Social work would be in line with the CEMS activities.

■■ This project definitely boosts your CV, as most companies accept it as work experience.

■■ It will make the relationship between CEMS Clubs tighter.

■■ CEMS students would know each other better, more people could connect. It is a good way of networking among CEMS students.

■■ CEMS students can learn more from each other.

■■ The skills for problem solving will be challenged.

■■ Get professional advice from talented students of the best business universities.

■■ Get help in how to solve a specific business problem of the company.

■■ Good opportunity to obtain extra resources.

■■ The company can contribute to the development of the future international managers.

Agenda

Pilot project Budapest-Helsinki Already done s DDWorkflow within project g hin blis esta rted DDSta connections with social enterprises e DDHelsinki: we already hav a social enterprise to work with (ReMake) DD5 people from Budapest applied DD6 people from Helsinki applied DDFormed Helsinki group: 3 CEMSies from Helsinki 2 CEMSies from Budapest

Global Project Already done DDCreated workflow of projects D D Started establishing connections with social enterprises Next steps ■■ Execute pilot project ■■ Use the initial experience to improve the global activities ■■ Go into detail with the workflow already made

Next steps ■■ Finding a social enterprise in Budapest ■■ Make the project work + presentation

Use this opportunity to make a difference! Feel free to give advice, suggestions or ask questions about NGC! Please write an email to: ngc.cems@gmail.com 2013 // 1 Spring CC BUDAPEST JOURNAL

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Event Calendar 2013 Spring Events at CEMS Club Budapest 1st-2nd Bonding Event

2nd Welcome Event February 10th Busรณ Festivities at Mohรกcs

27th New CEMSies Night

March

8th-10th Winter Camp

April

8th CEMS Club Budapest JOURNAL 2013 // 1 Spring

25th & 26th Rotation Dinner

TBA Corporate Open Day

TBA CEMS Alumni Mixer May 13th Business Project Conference

TBA Volunteer Day

13rd-16th Sport Days @ Kรถzgรกz Festival - Balatonkenese June 21st-23rd Summer Camp

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Ongoing Social Drinking

3rd CEMS goes to Senior Ball

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