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“It was such an experience to have a presentation in front of professionals from KPMG. The teamwork, the time pressure and the final presentation have been very exciting and at the same time very constructive.”  - Necati Peken

“Facing a real case study in a professional context is by far the best way to learn.” - Cassandra Holden

On November 23rd, a total of 8 students from the MSc in Management - European Triple Degree – Grande Ecole cohort were selected to compete for the KPMG International Case Competition. The winning team of this event will represent emlyon business school in the French final on February 23rd at KPMG Paris offices.

The case, based on a true case worked on by KPMG, was about the current position of the Jumeriah Group, a Dubai-based international luxury hotel chain, and their future expansion strategy in Dubai and emerging markets (Middle East, Asia Pacific and Africa). Students had three hours to review the case, set-up an international expansion strategy and prepare a PowerPoint presentation to be presented in front of KPMG partners.

Discover Ludwig and Tianyi's experiences:  

• Ludwig DILLMAN: “I’ve always wanted to go into Strategy & Operation Management Consulting and I applied to this competition to get as close of an experience as I could get from a real-world consulting scenario. All four members of the team were part of the European Triple Degree and we are all on the 1st Year.  We all have a variety of mixed backgrounds ranging from Engineering to International Business.
  While we did not win the emlyon business school semi-finals we did perform very well, based on feedback received from the evaluating board.  The case competition showed us how exciting yet challenging the consulting industry can be and further improved our team-working skills.  After the competition, we all had a much clearer insight on what consulting is all about as we had all been consultants for a day.  It is safe to say that we all enjoyed the experience and further want to become part of a leading consulting firm such as KPMG.  Congratulations to the winning emlyon business school team and good luck on the rest of the competition!”

• Tianyi LI: “It was the first time we participated in such a competition. Our group consisted of four European Triple Degree students. We all had backgrounds in key sector that were detrimental for efficient case analysis, Finance, Marketing, Technology & International business.   We as a team did a remarkable job presenting as seasoned professionals in front of the jury. It was a rare opportunity to work on such an approximation of real-world case and to present to partners of KPMG as if they were the C-level executives of a leading luxury hotel group. I very much enjoyed this competition and will bring the things I learned here further to my studies and future career. I recommend all students to take part into this challenge for personal and professional development.”

Interested in joining KPMG? Read the following interview below with Daniel LEMAIRE and Sarah RIGHENZI who gave their insights.

Daniel LEMAIRE : started at KPMG as an Audit Junior and is now Partner Chartered Accountant. Daniel Lemaire has been part of KPMG for 29 years.
Sarah RIGHENZI: statutory Auditor and Partner Chartered accountant, she has been in KPMG for the past 19 years.

Why emlyon business school?
“At KPMG we focus on a competitive strategy and it is crucial for us to attract the best talent.  We find our talent through Engineering as well as Business Schools.  emlyon business school being one of the top schools is definitely one of our key recruitment drivers.”

How are interviews at KPMG?
“During an interview at KPMG you will most often have two interviewers, one partner and one manager. You will also have to go through an English and a personality test to see if you fit with our company value and culture. During the day you will have coffee with a Junior and lunch with a Senior, which enables us to have a global view of the candidates in different contexts and situations.”

Many people often stay a few years in Consulting and then move on for different horizons. Why stay in consulting at KPMG, what’s your drive?
“The key is the variety of the work activity, of what you do and with whom. You will always have the opportunity to work on different team, different subject, industries, and different clients. There is always opportunity to learn and develop in order to widen your experience if it’s in acquisition, audit, recruitment or management. ”

This article was written by Cassandra Holden (MSc in Management - European Triple Degree - Grande Ecole student)