As the AMBA & BGA Excellence Awards will soon be upon us, we’re profiling the MBA students and graduates who have made the shortlist of finalists.
Today we speak to Vincent Weber, a student at UC3M, who has been shortlisted in the category of MBA Student of the Year.
Vincent Weber is a marketing and sales specialist with several years of experience working in advertising and PR. After learning the ropes of the ad business in the agency landscape and managing campaigns all over Europe, Vincent decided to pursue his MBA degree at UC3M in Madrid.
While at UC3M, he initiated the introduction of a sustainable coffee cup system and helped create a network of current and former MBA students. After successfully completing his degree in 2019, he is now working for Europe’s largest grocery shopping list platform. Vincent is passionate about environmental topics and is driven by an entrepreneurial spirit. He currently splits his time between Berlin and Frankfurt.
What qualities do you think defines the AMBA MBA student of the year?
The AMBA student of the year should check two major boxes: on the one hand, academic excellence and on the other hand, an entrepreneurial, responsible, international mindset.
As the authority on postgraduate management education, AMBA represents academic excellence and this should be reflected in the AMBA student of the year as well. Academic excellence is achieved through hard work, diligent preparation and open-mindedness to learning – all three aspects are important building blocks for any MBA graduate.
At the same time, when looking at the challenges and opportunities facing businesses all over the world today, it is important that the AMBA student of the year represents a specific mindset.
An entrepreneurial approach is needed in today’s working world in which we see younger generations entering the workplace with new views on hierarchy, problem-solving and business development. Leadership can take different forms in the contemporary business world, but even with changing landscapes, it is important that the AMBA student of the year is capable of leading, inspiring and creating in his or her own way.
A shift towards social and environmental responsibility in business is increasingly important as society faces the challenges of today and tomorrow – the AMBA student of the year should be able to combine a responsible mindset with business knowledge in order to successfully master these challenges. The student should embody a persistent approach to improving both business and society and understand how to responsibly and continuously drive forward projects that contribute solutions to important issues.
Finally, an international approach is increasingly important in today’s globalized business and education system – especially when representing AMBA, an organization connecting so many people and MBA programs around the world. It is crucial for the student of the year to represent an open and inclusive mindset that fosters cooperation and exchange between different cultures, organizations and MBA programs.
If you were to win this award, how would that make a difference to you?
Winning this award would be rewarding, humbling and motivating. It would be a reward for the hard work that went into completing the MBA degree as the youngest member of my class, while at the same time making a difference with environmental and community projects that were important to me personally.
Furthermore, it would be a humbling experience knowing that I had support from family, friends, colleagues and, last but not least, my university and fellow graduates in receiving consideration for this award. I see the nomination for this award as validation for the trust and support they put into me and for the work they have completed with me.
Finally, winning this award would motivate me to keep working on things that are important to me, to continue and improve on the professional and academic path I have chosen, and to promote the value of my MBA degree and AMBA’s global network. In that way, winning this award would motivate me to be an ambassador for MBA programmes wherever I go.
The winners will be announced on 7 February 2020.
