Hi everyone! Melissa Lim here, one of the '19J bloggers at INSEAD's Fontainebleau campus. NB for new readers (aka my friends and family): "'19J" is INSEAD-speak for "please let me graduate in July 2019 :)" I was born in San Francisco, majored in Computer Science and Cognitive Science at UC Berkeley, and spent the first part of my career building AI, productivity, and education products at Microsoft. I've worked and lived in eight cities worldwide--so far!--most recently Paris, France.

• Read more about Designing a Career in Fashion Tech

So this is how it started. It was the year 2000, and I’d been working as a lawyer all of two years. And I disliked it, to put it mildly. I was stressed out, doing the work of two people (I know because they replaced me with two), working 14 hour days, weekends and some public holidays, bored stiff with the repetitive work I was doing, on medication for stress, and was told at a team meeting that I had to pull my socks up and work harder, not ask for more interesting work. I decided to quit. As did a few others.

• Read more about How I Switched Careers Multiple Times Without Ever Applying for a Job...

A few weeks into the new year, the Career Development Centre team is happy to share the 2017 Employment Statistics. Thank you to everyone who helped make the past recruiting year a success!

• Read more about 2017 Employment Statistics (December 2016 and July 2017 graduates); A World of Talent

Our '18J classmate Paula Schabel, talks about finding clarity in confusion, dealing with gender stereotypes and her dream dinner with a famous German swimmer. Enjoy!

• Read more about Tell me your story, Paula

I am a filmmaker-entrepreneur with a little more than 10 years of working experience in various creative and management roles in the industry. In the past five years, I have been producing television dramas and movies through my production company and have recently received two nominations as screenwriter for best-adapted screenplay. However, the truth is I am beginning to question my future in the business. There is a growing discontent with the work and now it is difficult to see any growth opportunity for me.

• Read more about Your Job vs. Your Career: A Perspective on Changing Careers

Poll results from an INSEAD Class of December 2017 survey claim that 89% of my classmates are “career changers” which means that the vast majority of my classmates intend to move into a new function, industry, or country after we graduate from business school. Even if these results may be inflated, a large proportion of our class has indicated their desire to reinvent themselves from a career perspective. I am one of the 89% and here’s my story.

• Read more about The 89 percent

“I am more than the sum of my achievements”  Four periods of the MBA done and less than one period is left. The past nine months have been a total whirlwind. Never have I experienced something as unique, intense, or wonderfully intimidating as undertaking an MBA. 

• Read more about Me, Myself and I… Discovering identity at INSEAD – part II

Less than 100 days left of INSEAD. Reality is kicking in. Recruiters are milling all over campus. Suits and ties, groomed hair and go-getter heels have replaced the relaxed student attire of jeans and a t-shirt. All of a sudden I discover a new side to my classmates, another facet of their identities. Identity. Such a powerful, yet very ambiguous, word. Our identity was created at birth, and has since that day been with us, wherever we go. 

• Read more about Me, Myself and I… Discovering Identity at INSEAD