Having spent most of her academic and professional career in Colombia, Camila Boada was excited by the idea of continuing her studies in a completely new environment. She’d had her sights set on Europe. The one deciding factor was choosing the right country for herself — one that would unlock tremendous opportunities during and after her studies.
Denmark was a prime option for a number of reasons. Camila Boada was used to living in a city that was big, busy and fast-paced. Her home city alone houses around +10 million people. Denmark, by contrast, hosts 5.8 million people country-wide. It practices a completely different way of living — one that puts the individual first.
“Its big culture of trust, having well-being and personal development as a priority, being a place where people actually consider things like how many sports you practice, or how many places you have visited with your friends, or how many hobbies have you learned and shared with the ones you love — this made Denmark appealing to me,” she explains.
At the same time, its capital city of Copenhagen provides many exciting career prospects. As a whole, Denmark is consistently ranked as the easiest place in Europe to do business by the World Bank, with Copenhagen leading the charge. At the same time, it is one of the happiest, most sustainable and most livable cities in the entire world.
Satisfied with her choice, Camila Boada began looking for the perfect programme. That’s when she found the Copenhagen MBA. Delivered by the Copenhagen Business School (CBS), the Copenhagen MBA is a triple-accredited, full-time, one-year MBA programme. It’s rated 26th among European Business Schools and 24th by the QS Global MBA Rankings 2023.
“The Copenhagen MBA provides great insight into essential business knowledge with courses like sustainability, human resources, strategic management, and corporate finance,” says Camila Boada. “Each course has a series of well-thought modules that provide the students with a wide range of research to expand their knowledge and work on future development through the lens of a Nordic perspective.”
Camila Boada particularly enjoyed her experience during the Leadership Discovery Process. Led by Implement Consulting Group, this unique course gives students comprehensive leadership training.
Boada particularly enjoyed her experience during the Leadership Discovery Process. Led by Implement Consulting Group, this unique course gives students comprehensive leadership training.
“This course provides a space to reflect and learn while helping students discover their leadership style,” says Boada. “I personally walked away with a better understanding of myself and how leading the self is a first step to leading others.”
“The careers team supports the MBA students throughout the year,” shares Careers Manager Malene Sejer Larsen. “We have group workshops with external facilitators that focus on topics like LinkedIn, networking, resume and cover letter, best practices for interviewing, and so on. We also help connect students to the market and introduce them to a large range of roles and industries.”
Helming this is Managing Your Career, a tailored course that helps students develop their personal strengths and talents to achieve their post-MBA goals. The course is a mix of online courses, interactive workshops, individual coaching sessions and a variety of company events and professional breakfast meetings.
“Another key offering is our career mentor programme, where we pair the student with a more senior professional,” says Malene Sejer Larsen. “Typically, it is an alumn of the programme with a career or profile similar to what the student is looking for post-MBA. This is a great way for the student to gain more insights about a specific job function, company or industry and understand if their post-MBA plans are a good fit.”
Then there’s the Strategy Project — a three-month work placement or internship with a local Danish company where participants work on real-world challenges. They collaborate with some of the largest companies in Denmark, covering a wide range of industries. Students have worked on everything from new product launches to enacting a digital strategy, global outsourcing projects, strategic investments in start-ups and the commercialisation of new technology.
Camila Boada came from a finance background — and knew she wanted to stay in the industry after her MBA. It’s why she chose to target Danske Bank, the biggest bank in Denmark, for her Strategy Project.
“With the help of the careers team, I figured I needed to leverage my network,” she says. “After a few meetings, I came across a possibility. The business strategy team within the Large Corporates and Institutions department was open to collaborating with an MBA candidate on one of their projects, and I was lucky to land an internship with a team of very qualified strategy consultants looking into Danske Bank’s transformation: digital and financial but also organisational.”
Her three-month internship translated into a full-blown career — one that’s as rewarding as it is challenging. Today, Boada is part of the Group Strategic Steering team, where she works on developing Danske Bank’s updated strategy.
Connect with the Copenhagen MBA team here or download the brochure here.
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A representative of DBS will be in Canada in August, go see them in Toronto on Saturday 26th, and Montreal on Tuesday 29th!