Refresh Your Perspective to Accelerate Your Transition S3 I Ep 7

In this season finale, we walk down memory lane and explore the personal career stories of our very own Vanessa Iloste, an ESSEC Business School alumna, and Vanessa Teo. We explore: 

• Vanessa Iloste’s Journey: Discover how Vanessa Iloste.'s decision to attend ESSEC Business School in France set her on a path to global experiences and career adventures, including studying in Japan.
• Challenges and Triumphs: Vanessa shares the challenges she faced and the support she received from her family and the ESSEC network, highlighting the importance of resilience and exploration.
• Key Learnings and Tips: Both Vanessas reflect on the transformative power of continuing education, offering valuable tips for anyone considering further education.

Why Listen?

• Inspiration: Get inspired by the personal stories and experiences of our hosts.
• Actionable Advice: Gain practical tips on how to navigate your own career transitions and the benefits of continuing education.
• Global Perspective: Understand the importance of a global mindset in today’s career landscape.

Tune in for an episode filled with heartfelt stories, practical advice, and the infectious enthusiasm of our hosts as they recount their journeys and offer guidance for your career transitions.

Connect with us on LinkedIn:

· Vanessa Iloste (Host)

· Vanessa Teo (Host)

· Aaron Wu (Producer)

Transcript

[00:00:00] Vanessa I: Hi, everyone. Welcome to our new episode of the Carrier Transition Podcast. We are your hosts, Vanessa Iloste and Vanessa Teo. This season, we are thrilled to be collaborating with ESSEC Business School to bring you insightful discussions on how to navigate career transitions successfully. 

[00:00:23] Vanessa T: We've been spending time this season on interviewing ESSEC alumni, and it would be a pity to not spend time on your own experience, Vanessa, yourself as an alumni from the French campus.

[00:00:35] Vanessa I: That's right, Vanessa. When I graduated, the Singapore campus didn't exist. So I did a very classic two year preparation to the business school exam in France. And my number one choice became the ESSEC business school in Cergy. Ah, and how young were you back then? I was 19. 

[00:00:52] Vanessa T: Oh, wow. That's a really young age to be making a big decision.

[00:00:56] And in what way do you think the ESSEC business school impacted the way that you thought about career, especially at that young age? 

[00:01:02] Vanessa I: That's a very interesting question, and I got a lot of the answer recently when we both interviewed Professor Reetika, the Associate Dean of the campus in Singapore. I don't know if you remember Vanessa, but she was talking about the fact that they were trying to create an environment where people were empowered to choose what they wanted to learn, and they were not prescriptive so much after the first core learnings around the specialization you wanted to get into.

[00:01:29] So this is exactly what happened to me, but at that time I was not given the memo and it was tough because there was so much room for maneuver and there was so many options. It was very, very daunting for me. I remember bothering my mom a lot and having sleepless nights because I needed to make choices between a specialization in law, for instance, or in finance.

[00:01:52] A double degree with a French university, an apprenticeship with a company, and a double diploma abroad. I used to have a lot of conversation with my mom to find out what would be the best option for me. And I was very lucky because my parents never put any pressure on my academic choices, even if they were both working very hard to pay for these studies.

[00:02:14] Vanessa T: Wow, you never shared that with me before and I've met your mama several times. I think it's so great that you had support from your parents. I never knew that you had to choose among so many different options. 

[00:02:25] Vanessa I: So what did you do in the end? This is actually after many, many weeks of thinking about it.

[00:02:31] I've chosen to study in Japan and since ESSEC was trying to get a double diploma degree, I ended up spending most of my time in Tokyo. After a few months in Cergy, I would have never had studied in Keio, a university in Tokyo, if ESSEC had not sent me first to the Hirakata program in Osaka in my first year.

[00:02:52] It was an incredible opportunity. I joined ESSEC in Paris in September 1996 and in early May 1997, I was on my way to Osaka to join the ESSEC program and to do an internship in the city hall of the Hirakata city. On my second year, I was offered a scholarship by the Ministry of Education in Japan, and I say thank you to them, to study at Keio University.

[00:03:16] It was a six month process before I could get all the go ahead to study there, and I still remember me thinking of Keio University every single day. I have very cute notes from my family, my parents, grandparents, and sister, wishing me the best to study there for my birthday. They didn't know about the school.

[00:03:36] So they were not able to spell the name of the Japanese university correctly. I've kept these notes with the wrong spelling of Keio on it. They are very, very precious documents to me and they remind me how much I owe to them, how much my family has supported my endeavors. In the second year of my studies, I was accepted in the Keio University program and I've received a visit with my other colleagues of the director of the ESSEC school from France every year for almost three years as he wanted to make sure that we were doing well and that we were doing good in the Japanese program.

[00:04:10] He was extremely proud of us and, uh, having the feeling of being a trailblazer for my school was a great motivator to have the resilience to study in Japanese. 

[00:04:20] Vanessa T: Wow. Now I know where you get all this global experience from. It's because you took that incredible experience and adventure to go abroad to study so early in life.

[00:04:32] And I think that certainly has helped to build you up as this global citizen that we all know today. You gained a lot from those first few years. I was wondering if you could just summarize for us, what were those key learnings from your formative years? 

[00:04:46] Vanessa I: I had already been exposed to the concept from my parents, who were incredible travelers, but I got the message loud and clear from the school that the world is big and that if you want to explore it with humility, you are going to have extraordinary encounters.

[00:05:02] These encounters are first with yourself. Because you need a lot of resilience and stamina to live far away from home. The encounters also happen with extraordinary individuals. At the end, I believe that this is what will stay with me. These incredible leaders and colleagues in Asia that have inspired me every day, that have helped me to become a better human being.

[00:05:22] And if I may, Vanessa, I've never told you publicly, but you are one of these fantastic individuals and I want to say thank you for everything you brought to me. 

[00:05:32] Vanessa T: Well, I must thank ESSEC Business School for having brought you all the way here to Asia and starting this incredible career globally. Tell me more about the environment that was created by the school in order to understand that the world is in fact so big and that you just had to explore it.

[00:05:50] Vanessa I: When I look back, I realize that it's a little bit like the culture of the companies we are working in. The message was in the air that we were breathing. There was no real obligation to do what we were doing, but we were highly stimulated to try. I remember the conversation I had with the director of the school, and I was really, really worried about the transfer of credit between Keio University and ESSEC, and the fact that it was very difficult for me to pass an exam in Japanese.

[00:06:19] He was extremely confident in the outcome because he said that we could give me some extracurricular projects to complete my degree. I don't think he would have given me my diploma without having me fulfill all the rules, but he created a psychological safe space for me to flourish and continue my journey.

[00:06:39] Vanessa T: You also shared with me about the network that you really benefited at ESSEC in Japan and in Asia in general. Tell us more about this network. 

[00:06:47] Vanessa I: At that time in Japan, we had an incredible lady called Mrs. Omori or Omori san, who was the representative of ESSEC in Japan. She had an incredible network of professionals we could connect with.

[00:06:59] She was putting us in touch with them at our request, but she was also explaining us how to do it in the right way. In the rest of Asia, when I worked in China, in Korea, or in Singapore, I've always been supported by the ESSEC community, sometimes by some of my whole classmates, but also sometimes by some alumni I contacted directly on Linkedin.

[00:07:19] People are usually ready to help provided that you have clear requests and a clear need. 

[00:07:24] Vanessa T: Something I find to be so incredible with the new networks that we form when we take on academic adventures in doing postgraduate degrees, you meet a whole new array of people and peers and friends that ultimately help you longer term and support in your career transition later on in life.

[00:07:43] What do you think today of the merit of doing a postgraduate degree now that you've had the background that you've had? 

[00:07:50] Vanessa I: I think that doing a postgraduate degree is an incredible way to refresh yourself and to have a new reset in your career. I remember Vanessa, two years ago, you did yourself a postgraduate degree.

[00:08:02] I was curious to hear from you. In which way did it make your life different? In which way did you benefit from it? 

[00:08:08] Vanessa T: Yeah, you're right. I did a postgraduate degree too, about two years ago, right during the pandemic. I think it was an incredible opportunity to refresh my understanding of the field that I'm passionate about, which is human resources, and it was also an opportunity really to deepen my academic knowledge.

[00:08:27] Especially in the latest research in organizational development, organizational changes that are happening. And it was a fantastic opportunity also to gain a whole new network of like minded individuals who ultimately become friends. They become industry peers and they really helped support my journey, not just through school, but also now as we all return to our different worlds at work, we continue to be incredible friends and support for each other.

[00:08:56] Vanessa I: I remember these days and I remember how excited you were, how enthusiastic you were about all the topics you were learning and I benefited and you encouraged me to read some new books that I had not read before. So I'm also grateful to you for doing this postgraduate degree. Since this is the tradition on our show, can you please summarize for us the three big tips you would like to give to the people who listen to us about the merits of doing a postgraduate degree?

[00:09:24] Vanessa T: I think first, understand why you're doing this. What is your purpose and objectives in furthering your studies? Second, learning happens in dynamic ways beyond the academics. So make sure that the program that you're choosing has a good combination of great academic rigor, as well as exposure to real life, real world business experiences.

[00:09:47] And I think my third piece of advice is never, ever underestimate the network, the incredible network that you will have access to, and really continue to leverage on this network during and after your program. 

[00:10:00] Vanessa I: Yes, and you did actually, because we worked together on your thesis and we had so much laughter about it.

[00:10:06] So we did actually have fun about it. Well, thank you so much, Vanessa, for having this sharing. I think it was a very funny episode for the two of us. Me, uh, to remember all my great time at ESSEC business school and for you to share about your learnings from the postgraduate degree, so. Thank you everyone for listening to us and hope that you will get some insight from our conversation.

[00:10:27] We wish you all the best in your endeavors and we look forward to having you on the Career Transition Podcast.