• ESSEC’s global focus helps them open doors to international companies.
• Learning by doing ensures they can build a strong portfolio.
• Career Services support and industry exposure are advantages in the job search.

Interning at Louis Vuitton in a customer relationship management role has taught Yiting Ke one thing: Asia may be a growing economic power with much potential for companies, but for marketers to be able to effectively drive change, they first need to understand the cultural nuances across not just different countries, but also cities.

She notes that her time at the ESSEC MSc in Marketing Management and Digital (MMD) has trained her well to do this.

Being a French business school located in Singapore, the ESSEC Asia-Pacific campus brings students like Yiting the advantage of gaining a deeper understanding of Asia, but with an international lens.

This global focus is part of what attracted her to the program in 2021—and is the same reason her juniors, Wenting (Wynter) Huang and Yifan Wang, made the same journey to Singapore in 2022.

1 | Access to a Global Environment

All three share that ESSEC’s diverse student body would make international exposure possible. Meeting people of different cultures would expose them to various perspectives and hone the intercultural communication skills they need for the global workplace. Being able to do this in Singapore was also an advantage.

“As I hope to work in Asia, I thought the ESSEC Asia-Pacific would be the best choice for me to network with people in the region and learn more about Asian business practices,” Wynter explains, adding that she was also drawn to Singapore’s reputation for safety and its proximity to China.

Yiting and Yifan agree, noting that the similarities between Singapore and China in food and weather reassured them they could smoothly transition to life overseas.

2 | A Career-focused Curriculum

Another pull factor was how the MMD program fit perfectly with their career goals. For example, Wynter, who majored in English language and literature, felt she needed specific business training to help her break into a marketing role.

The MMD program’s core digital focus was an appeal as it would enable her to develop marketing skills and gain the technical know-how to thrive in the digital-first world.

Yiting and Yifan, on the other hand, both majored in economics and completed various marketing-related internships during their undergraduate days. As they wanted to break into the luxury sector, the MMD focus on luxury branding was a perfect fit.

All three were also attracted to ESSEC’s signature learning by doing pedagogy, which involves students working on real-world cases to develop their classroom skills.

Besides building their soft skills in teamwork and collaboration, the fact that these projects are done in partnership with actual companies gives MMD graduates the advantage of having professional experience.

Yiting’s cohort, for instance, worked with luxury jewelers Tiffany & Co. for their luxury brand management class and luxury watch retailer Vacheron Constantin as part of their annual Digital Marketing Challenge, all of which contributed to building her portfolio when she started looking for a job.

3 | Comprehensive Career Services Support

Finally, ESSEC appealed because of its extensive career services support. “I loved the guest talks and other career service programs that provided us with networking opportunities,” Yiting adds, crediting these initiatives for helping her become more outgoing and teaching her to network.

In addition, the ESSEC alumni she met were generous with their support and encouragement, all of which supported her successful job search.

Yifan, despite only being in her first trimester, can already testify to the benefits: “The CV, cover letter writing, and LinkedIn profile workshops are all beneficial,” she affirms, adding that she mainly looks forward to the study trip, where students will travel overseas for a week of conferences and company visits to learn more about business in Asia.

The three may stand at very different stages of life—Yiting having started work, while Yifan and Wynter in the early days of their master’s journey. Still, they remain united in the view that with the MMD degree in their arsenal, they will be able to succeed.

Yiting’s advice? “Step out of your comfort zone and be confident. Don’t be afraid of trying new things or failing!”