By Oskari Kilpi, IBL student

Having witnessed my classmates struggle with the IBL program here at Metropolia, and having done so myself, I thought I’d take a moment out of my busy schedule to instruct those lost souls who are going to enter this program in the future on some simple tips and tricks that will make surviving the IBL program easier. While this post will be targeted at those aiming to do the IBL program in Metropolia, it is good advice for any business student regardless.

1. Time management.

The most obvious piece of advice to any business student or any student in general is to work on your time management skills. I couldn’t tell you how many times in my studies I’ve heard students complain about problems related to schoolwork as if they were the responsibility of the faculty, when they were completely self-created, a result of poor time management. If you don’t have a consistent schedule that maps out what you’re going to do and when, especially if you have work, hobbies or other personal concerns that interfere with your studies, the work is going to pile up at the worst possible times and you’re going to be stressed out of your mind.

Remember; never leave for tomorrow what you can do today, unless you want to get by with little sleep for extended periods of time.

This is especially true in the IBL as its studies are divided into semesters of 4 and 5 months in the spring and fall. Since the classes are extensive and last for such a long time, tasks are inevitably going to pile up towards the end of the semester. Not only does this exasperate the need for proper time management, it requires that you plan on a long scale and get started on tasks as early as possible. In our class we had 4 tests, 2 group assignments, 2 extensive math problem sets and 2 other tasks due in the span of 8 days, but it was perfectly possible to get many of these tasks done beforehand and alleviate the stress.

2. Being proactive

The second piece of advice I’d like to give is for everyone, even those who are shyer or more reserved, to try their best to be proactive in their group tasks. In the IBL we have group tasks in most of our classes. The reasoning is obvious; a business school should educate its students on proper teamwork. Having been slightly rusty on my teamworking skills, I personally caught myself making the mistake of being too passive during the planning process of many of our group tasks, not participating to the best of my ability. Relying on others to step up is a temporary solution, and if you want to be a great business student, you’ll need to learn to be proactive.

Those are all the tips I can give you today. Remember; as long as you plan ahead and try your hardest, the IBL program won’t trouble you as much as you’d think, and you’ll be graduating in no time.