Hi all,

I would like with this post to present to you the Personal and Career Development (PCD) programme of the University of St. Gallen.  I truly believe that the PCD programme makes MBA-HSG unique. This was actually the reason that I chose to come to St. Gallen. Therefore, for me, it is not only a valuable part of the MBA programme but the most important element of it.

PCD is constituted of the following parts:

1. Corporate Events:

Representatives of the business community come to the MBA School in order to present their companies and to recruit MBA students. So far, we had 6 corporate events by the following companies:

• Buhler
• IBM
• Syngenta
• LGT Bank
• Baloise
• IWC  Schaffhausen

2. C-Series:

The C-Series is a series of CEOs, CFOs, CMOs, CIOs etc that are willing to share their experience and knowledge with us. They are not actually presenting their companies, but they come to discuss with us of how they faced different situations in their working environments. So far, we had only one event with Dr. Daniel Stetler, Senior Partner Managing Director at BCG, but there are many events to follow in the future.

3. Coaching:

The coaching programme is a year long process that aims to expose our inner needs and aspirations in order to find the optimal industry or section where we would be best after graduation. My coach is Hans C. Steckling, Founder and Managing Director of HCS-CONSULTING, Zurich, Switzerland, a firm specialising in leadership and human capital strategy consulting, next generation executive search services and board assignments. You can find more info on the below websites:

http://www.mba.unisg.ch/org/es/mba.nsf/wwwPersonDivisionEng/A2A7DBCAF935A55EC12574EF002AAEDC

http://www.hcs-consulting.ch/

Before meeting my coach, I had to take several self-assessment exercises like the LIFO survey and the Visions and Values Essay. These tools helped me acquire a certain level of self-awareness so as my coach and I to start working on. Another important thing of the coaching session is the Peer to Peer (P2P) feedback. For this reason, students are split into groups with 4-5 members each, and with the help of their coach practice of how to give and receive P2P feedback.

4.  Mentoring Programme:

The aim of mentoring is to help us have a smooth entry into the industry of our choice.  The mentor is responsible to provide us with industry or company specific knowledge, and to provide us with relevant contacts in the company or industry of interest.  At the end of the process, we should come away with improved industry knowledge, refined managerial behaviour skills, and a stronger relevant professional network.

5. HSG Talents Conference (1-26.3 2011)

The biggest Career Fair of Switzerland takes place in St. Gallen. During this conference, MBA students will have the privilege to be at the Executive Lounge on the 9th of March 2011, where 20 companies or more will come to offer projects, workshops and job opportunities.

6. ManCom (Managerial Communication):

This is actually a core module of Block 3 (from mid November till mid December) where we will have the chance to improve our communication and presentation techniques.

7. Leading Change:

This is also a core module of Block 3 (from mid November till mid December) where we will have the chance to work on our leadership capacity.

8. CV Workshops:

This workshop helped me sensibly improve my CV. I think that most of you are using various versions of CVs and Resumes, found in the internet. However, the purpose of a CV is to send a message from the sender to the receiver, and I truly believe that my CV now meets this objective in an efficient way.

I hope I didn’t get you tired reading this post but I had to present all dimensions of the PCD programme in order you to have a holistic view.

Take care,

Dimitrios