For a growing number of professionals, business school is less about climbing one ladder and more about changing ladders entirely. In GMAC’s most recent Prospective Students Survey, more than half of prospective students aged 25–39 named a career change as a key reason for considering a graduate management degree — and a full-time MBA remains one of the most structured ways to make that move.

The motivations vary. Some people want to specialize more deeply. Others are chasing work that feels more purposeful or better matched to their values. And many simply want to widen their view of business and open doors they can’t yet see.

Few journeys illustrate that better than that of GEM graduate Selina Wykeham.

A pivot that began with a pandemic

A classically trained musician, Selina decided to pursue an MBA in 2020, in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic. “It was a great use of time for me, and I saw it as an opportunity to develop new skills. I decided I wanted a change,” she recalls.

What that change would look like wasn’t yet clear. She had recently relocated from the United States to France and was searching for a program broad enough to bring her existing skills together and help her step into something new.

GEM stood out on two counts: a curriculum with sustainability woven through it, and close ties to the businesses around it. What sealed the decision was watching how the school responded to disruption.

“They were making huge efforts at a very difficult time to adapt,” she says of GEM’s response to the pandemic. “That’s something that I see now at the school as well — they’re constantly adapting and innovating and putting new things in place to be current and relevant. That’s the kind of approach you need at business school.”

The cohort’s international makeup mattered too — especially for anyone aiming at a multinational employer. “It’s a good opportunity to share different experiences with your classmates, especially if you’re going into a multicultural work environment,” Selina says.

The hidden value of transferable skills

If there’s one lesson Selina returns to, it’s that the soft skills you already have can carry further than you expect — you just have to learn to name them.

She arrived knowing her years as a professional musician had given her something valuable, but not how it would translate into a business setting. Career guidance built into the program helped her connect the dots: promoting events, building professional relationships, discipline, attention to detail.

“There’s a strong business element to [music],” she says. “The music industry is very fast moving, and you must stay adaptable. If you can do that, it makes that pivot a bit easier.”

For Professor Dima, this is precisely the point of the degree. “You don’t necessarily need to have expertise in a specific industry, but you need to build tools that will help you lead teams, transformations, and change in organizations,” she explains.

The result, Selina says, was credibility. Knowing she had a solid, broad foundation across the functions of a business made the path into a new field far smoother.

Confidence that compounds over a career

That foundation has proved its worth in her day-to-day work. The MBA gave Selina a working understanding of how a large organization fits together — how departments interconnect and depend on one another — which she draws on constantly in a role that spans teams.

GEM also builds in chances to gain hands-on exposure to different sectors while studying — through the school’s network and through live projects. Students with a target industry in mind can shape their final thesis around it, both deepening their expertise and signaling it to future employers.

“This will show [employers] that this person is really interested in this industry, and through their MBA project, they’re bringing something new to the topic,” says Professor Dima. “Rather than repeating things that exist in textbooks, they’re bringing fresh perspective and showing their added value.”

Grenoble itself adds to the opportunity. As a European tech and start-up hub, the city puts students within reach of a wide range of organizations. After graduating, Selina joined STMicroelectronics, the global semiconductor company with a major presence in the region, where she now works in corporate sustainability.

“It’s great, I absolutely love it,” she says. “I started with sustainability reporting when I joined, and now my role has evolved into stakeholder engagement and sustainability external communications.”

Her sustainability grounding traces directly back to GEM, where the topic is embedded across the curriculum rather than treated as an add-on. “They understand that it’s part of a lot of companies’ business strategy now, and it was something that they definitely made us aware of,” she says.

Built to help you adapt — whatever comes next

Since the arrival of generative AI, many business schools have shifted their emphasis from transferring knowledge to developing practical, transferable skills. GEM is firmly in that camp.

“We live in a very complex context now, whether from geopolitical conflicts, or the development of AI,” says Professor Dima. “So it’s important that [students] develop the skills to adapt and reinvent themselves. This is where the MBA is interesting. It’s not giving them answers to existing problems, but giving them tools and helping them to find solutions to these problems that will keep changing in the future.”

That adaptability serves any career path — whether you’re switching industries, changing roles, or both. And for anyone weighing the leap, Selina’s advice is simple:

“Go into the MBA with a totally open mind, meet as many people as you can, learn as much as you can — even if you don’t think it’s going to be useful in the future. You never know when it will come in useful.”

This article draws on an interview originally produced in partnership with GMAC (Graduate Management Admission Council). Read the original on gmac.com.

About GEM MBA Programs

The GEM MBA programs are globally ranked and accredited, known for its focus on innovation, leadership, and sustainability. Our graduates join a network of 47,000+ alumni worldwide and achieve transformative career growth.