In Milan, in between LA and Hong Kong
A series of company visits and seminars on writing a cv or giving your best in an interview. These are just some of the steps in an intense week for the students of the 2018 class of the World Bachelor in Business (WBB) who are in Milan participating in the In-Company Training, with the aim of beginning to get in contact with the world of work, organized by Bocconi.
The students have just completed their first year of the innovative program created by Bocconi, University of Southern California (USC) and Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST), launched in 2013, which allows participants to study in 3 continents and get 3 degrees. It begins in Los Angeles, moves for the second year to Hong Kong and then to Bocconi for the third. For the fourth and final year, students choose between the three universities.
"I wanted to enroll in a course with a real international outlook and with opportunities to travel and in the ranking I drew up the WBB came top. The first year has gone really well – the class is one big family and it is refreshing to be among students from all over the World," says Jack Agarwal, from Austin, Texas. "The WBB is the chance to make a unique choice, get to know new cultures and create yourself a network in three such different places. This year has been the best of my life, stimulating and fun," says Giulia Savino, from Florence.
The week in Bocconi includes various meetings for orientation on the job market, workshops on specific themes (career coaching, networking and selection processes and techniques), company visits to L'Oréal, Vodafone, Intesa Sanpaolo and Value Partners, with meetings with members of the management and Human Resources, and a workshop on entrepreneurship and start-ups with professor Mikkel Draebye.
"The week is an opportunity to get some more concrete ideas about the job market and to make some contacts useful for the future," says Giulia. "It is helpful to get to know the job market in Europe and clear up one's ideas. And also to get to know Bocconi and Milan," says Sayantan Banerjee, from New Delhi.
The week concludes with a visit to EXPO and then for the students the holiday season will open up, with the whole class then ready to regroup in Hong Kong at the end of August for the start of their 2nd year. "I am really looking forward to this new challenging academic experience, to learning a new language...and tasting the local food," says Sayantan. "I am curious to get to know Asia and I hope in Hong Kong to find the right ambience and people that could help me with an idea for a startup I have," says Jack. "I am eager to dive into an unknown and mysterious culture for me. It will be a different year, more challenging, but the class has really tied together and so I know I'm not alone," concludes Giulia.