June - July 2013 - Association of Dutch Businessmen

Extra
Life of a Dutch INSEAD
student in Singapore
TEXT Jasper S. Knoben Photos INSEAD
Introduction
For those who don’t know me yet, let me introduce myself.
My name is Jasper Knoben and I am from Limburg, in the
south of the Netherlands. I studied Marine Engineering
in Delft and worked for the strategy consulting practice of
Accenture for four years. Before moving to Singapore to
pursue my MBA at INSEAD, I was living in Amsterdam with
my fiancée, Nynke.
Why INSEAD?
During my studies, I participated in the UNITECH
international program. This brought together eighty
engineering students from the top eight European
technical universities to spend one year abroad learning
about business, teamwork, leadership and different
cultures to prepare us for a career in business. As part of
that program, I spent half a year in Barcelona studying
economics and half a year in China on an internship
(setting up a factory in Suzhou). Needless to say, I was
hooked on ‘business’ after this great year.
An MBA was always on my mind as a logical next step
in my personal development after my engineering degree.
This would solidify my skillset in economics, marketing and
finance in preparation for my next career steps. It would
also help me to build a strong and international network
and meet a lot of interesting and fun people from different
backgrounds and countries.
INSEAD stood out for multiple reasons. I wanted a
school in the top ten with a very international outlook, and
preferably a one-year program. INSEAD was the only school
that ticked all the boxes. It is a truly international school,
with over eighty nationalities in one class and a strong
alumni network in countries all over the world – hence its
slogan, “The Business School for the World”. I also loved
the opportunity to study in both Fontainebleau (France)
and Singapore, as the MBA program runs in parallel on
both campuses.
Last but not least, it is one of the very few one-year
MBA programs. They cram 85% of the courses of a twoyear
program into ten months, which makes it a pretty
intense experience, but which also means that you’re
closer to gaining work experience. That makes a lot
of sense with the above average study duration in the
Netherlands.
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