With a degree in Chemical Engineering and over 15 years of experience in the Oil, Gas & Chemical industry across Europe, Australia, and the Middle East, Zaher Charaf joined the Executive MBA programme in January 2025.

In this episode, we dive into how he found his way into this field, what led him to pursue an MBA, and how the programme is shaping his perspective on his career path.

🎧 Listen to the full interview here!

#ExecutiveMBA #RSM #CareerJourney #LeadershipDevelopment #LifelongLearning #QualityEducation


The EMBA advantage: familiar fields, deeper insights - with Zaher Charaf

In this podcast, Lida Dimitriou answers the seven most commonly asked questions about our Executive MBA programma (EMBA). Lida  is Marketing and Admissions Manager for our executive programmes at RSM MBA and has handpicked the following questions to be answered in this first episode of our programme podcast series.

1) What does a typical EMBA class look like?
2) What kind of people are in the programme and what is their age range?
3) How much time do you need to invest outside of the classroom?
4) How to find the right study-work-private life balance?
5) What is the Personal Leadership Development programme?
6) How to finance your EMBA?
7) what are the long-term benefits of an EMBA?

Finally, she also discusses one unexpected question she got on the road... This show is hosted by RSM's Ramses Singeling. 

For more information about our EMBA programme visit our website: https://www.rsm.nl/mba/executive-mba/the-executive-mba-at-rsm/

Seven Burning Questions About our Executive MBA programme

In this first podcast of the year we take our crystal ball to Brandon Kirby, Director of Marketing and Admissions, to discuss what he sees as the biggest trends in MBA for 2020.  Here is what to expect:

- MBA Candidates will become even more purpose-driven and will want to apply their skills in their home countries.

- Many MBA programmes will restructure their admissions procedures to accommodate these purpose-driven candidate motivations and try not losing ground in the traditional salary-driven rankings.

- Full-time MBA students increasingly take an MBA later in their career.

- Executive MBA students more often decide to do their MBA earlier in their career.

- As a result, MBA classes are getting more diverse in terms of work experience.

- Despite the trend towards specialisation, most MBA programmes will remain a general business degree, but...

- ...personalisation and customisation of the programmes will become more important.

- Despite the rise of online MBA programmes, the in-class experience is here to stay.

- Despite rising costs, the MBA as a unique learning, leadership and networking experience will holds it value as the economy and business models change.

Do you have any questions about how we translate these trends in our programmes, please do not hesitate to get in touch with us: https://www.rsm.nl/mba/

2020's big trends in MBA

After her first week on campus, we invited Tanzanian Full-time MBA student Asimwe Ruganyoisa to our podcast studio to give us the real story about doing an MBA at RSM.

She didn’t hold back and told us all about the soul-searching she was asked to do from day one in the Personal Leadership Development programme, the challenges of meeting 150 new people from different cultures, and of course: how to cope with Dutch winter! We will check back with her throughout the year to hear more about her Rotterdam experience.

Learn more about the RSM MBA here:www.rsm.nl/mba/

Asimwe's MBA Year: Day 7

How does our admissions process for the full-time MBA work and how can you best prepare for it?

Marketing & Admissions Manager Carrie Fok explains what you need to know about the required documents, the essay, professional references and the online Kira assessment.

Here are her seven tips to make your application as smooth as possible:

1) Start the conversation with your target schools early to sharpen your ideas about what you want to get out of doing an MBA. Ideally limit yourself to 3-5 schools.

2) You don’t need to finish your online application right away. You can start it and come back to work on it whenever it suits you.

3) The essay you are required to write about becoming a force for positive change , can also be about how RSM MBA can help you become one in the future.

4) You don’t need to save the world to be a force for positive change. Having a small impact matters as well!

5) For your professional references, ask people who actually know how you work. Don’t use academic references.

6) Practice your Kira video assessment often, before recording the actual video essay.

7) You don’t have to apply separately for a scholarship. When the Admissions Committee decides you are admitted, you are automatically considered for a scholarship.

Learn more about our admissions and application process here: www.rsm.nl/mba/international-f…pplication-process/

Applying for our International Full-time MBA: how does it work and how to prepare

Choosing the right combination of MBA electives allows you to do a deep dive in one particular subject, or perhaps even pivot your career! In our latest Programme Podcast we met up with Asimwe Ruganyoisa (FT MBA’21) to discuss her reason for choosing electives around Finance and Sustainability:

“I want to be part of the energy transition that is happening right now in the oil and gas industry. To make this happen, there will be a lot of acquisitions in the sustainability space. So I wanted to learn about sustainability, but also how these deals work. If I were to look at a renewables company and their financials, I need to understand how their business works, how they make money, and how we can make energy cheaper and accessible to our clients.”

Topics covered in this podcast:

- How do Career Concentrations and Electives in the curriculum work?

- How does choosing the right electives shape your career?

- Asimwe explains how the combination of Finance and Sustainability electives will help her to get involved in the energy transition in the Oil & Gas industry.

- What did she learn about sustainable finance and change management?

- How did the electives change Asimwe's thinking about sustainabilty, coming from an engineering background?

Shaping your career with MBA electives, with Asimwe Ruganyoisa

Prof. Christo Nel is one of the architects of our renewed Personal Leadership Programme for next year's Executive MBA.

What did fighting Apartheid in South Africa in a business platform teach him about leadership development? And how will our PLD Programme change next year?

Topics covered in this podcast:

- How business was used to build trust and empathy between opposing parties in the 1980s.

- What can this episode teach us about leadership?

- What leadership qualities should an MBA foster and develop?

- How will the renewed EMBA Personal Leadership Development Programme do this?

- In depth with the 'Leadership Compass', one of the guiding principles of the PLD Programme

- Find out more about our Personal Leadership Programme here: www.rsm.nl/mba/executive-mba/l…ership-development/