The first tip to develop strong focus is what HHL Leipzig refers to as, “knowing your why.” Martina explains:
Focus on your strengths and know what your gift to the world could be. Know the things you really love because this gives you direction and a huge marketing advantage. Self-empowerment is also important, and this is tied to self-leadership. Self-leadership is a goal-oriented and self-influencing process to increase personal effectiveness and performance.
Once you know your why, you realize your professional purpose in life. Your purpose is divided on a personal level, organizational level and a societal level. You start off by asking yourself what you love to do and by working at it you reach an excellent level of skill and expertise so that you become of service to those around you. You acknowledge the fact that the world needs it, you are great at it, you love it and you are also paid for it. Martina adds that pursuing an authentic long-term career based on individual preferences and strengths brings many benefits such as learning more easily, staying healthy and keeping higher energy levels. It also brings better decision making in a fast changing job market.
2. Thrive
The second tip to strengthen your focus is practice. This simply means identifying your strengths and practicing them until you perfect them. For the program at HHL Leipzig, you should know that acquiring German skills makes you stand out from the competition and sets you in good stead for your future in the German job market. The most sought-out workers are those who speak German.
For any MBA candidate, it’s important to choose a business school that provides professional support for its students to enter the job market with confidence. HHL Leipzig helps their students thrive by taking a personal approach towards each individual’s success. The careers services team develops a job search strategy, an application strategy and shows you how to develop relationships with corporate contacts. Also, your CV is checked to make sure it abides by German standards, and students learn how to negotiate salaries during mock interviews.
If you’re at the beginning of your career plan check out: Identifying Career Goals (Video).
A university must continuously try to develop exciting new courses and modules which recognize the importance of leadership as a contributor to success. In that regard, HHL‘s Leipzig Leadership Model focuses on training students to successfully earn trustworthiness, work with entrepreneurial spirit, practice self-reflection and societal mindfulness.
3. Connect
No MBA experience would be complete without the many valuable contacts forged over the course of the program. Make sure that the university you apply to offers different methods of networking and making new connections. At HHL Leipzig, students get the chance to establish their network through company presentations, workshops, company dinners and excursions, alumni talks and special events like FAME and International Open. The university invites business professionals representing mid-sized family firms which interact on an international level and also larger companies such as BMW and Bosch. Did you know that 4 out of 8 German unicorns originated at HHL? A unicorn refers to a startup company valued higher than $1 billion, and these companies include Delivery Hero, Trivago, About You, and Auto 1 Group.
4. Succeed
Finally, following these steps and putting in the effort, will help you succeed in the German job market and beyond. With the guidance offered by HHL’s career development team, the skills strengthened within the HHL MBA program, and the network accessible to all HHL students and alumni, you are bound to succeed at creating an authentic, fulfilling and sustainable career path.
Watch the entire webinar here to hear from the HHL alum, and learn more tips on how to start a successful career in Germany.
