Before I started the MiM at HEC Paris, I genuinely had no idea what to read to prepare. I came from a computer science background and the only business book I had touched was a textbook in a minor I took at Manipal. So when prospective students ask me what to read before business school, I give them the short list of things that actually shaped how I thought going into the program, plus the news sources and podcasts I added once I was on campus.
Here is the full list.
Two books worth reading before you arrive
Most preparation lists for business school are too long. You will not finish twenty books between getting your admit and the first day of class. Pick two and read them properly.
How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie. This is an almost ninety-year-old book that has held up because the underlying psychology has not changed. At business school you will spend most of your time working with people. Group projects, networking events, internship interviews, classmates, professors, recruiters. Your people skills will determine more of your outcomes than your technical knowledge. The book is short, practical, and you can apply most of it from day one.
Deep Work by Cal Newport. I read this before and during my GMAT preparation. Cal defines deep work as the ability to focus without distraction on cognitively demanding tasks, and he argues that mastering this skill produces outsized results. I credit some of my GMAT score of 760 to the principles in this book. At HEC you will face periods of intense studying, complex group work, and constant social pull. Knowing how to protect your focus is a competitive advantage.
If you do not want to read the full books, the audiobook summaries on Audible or YouTube are a good alternative. I will say this though: the full versions are short enough that you should just read them.
If you are not a heavy reader, a Kindle is genuinely worth the cost. Physical books are expensive in France. The Kindle lets you buy from the Indian Amazon store at a fraction of the price, which adds up fast over three years. It also saves space in your room, which matters when you might be moving across countries during the gap year. I wrote more about what to bring with you to France and that includes my reasoning on the Kindle.
Blogs worth subscribing to
Seth Godin’s daily blog. Seth is a marketer, but the blog is useful for anyone. Daily, short, mostly under five hundred words. Most posts are about how to think about the work you do, not about marketing tactics. I have been reading it since before HEC and still read it now.
Zen Habits. This is a blog about mental health, mindfulness, and self-care. Business school is intense. Knowing how to keep a level head is genuinely useful. I have written about my own struggles at HEC Paris and Zen Habits was one of the small inputs that helped me manage.
News sources to add gradually
Financial Times. HEC gives students a free subscription. Use it. Reading the FT a few times a week gets you familiar with the language of business and global market news. It also shows up in case discussions and interviews more often than you expect.
New York Times. Same thing, free with student access. Broader news coverage. Useful for general literacy on global affairs.
France24. If you are moving to France, you should start reading about local news before you arrive. France24 publishes in English. Familiarising yourself with the political and social context of the country before you land will help you integrate faster. I unpacked more of the integration side in feeling at home abroad.
The Verge. Almost every industry now has a technology layer. Knowing what is happening in tech is increasingly part of being literate in business. The Verge is one of my favourite sources for that.
Podcasts I listen to
The Futur. A podcast at the intersection of design, marketing, and business. I am in marketing now and this podcast has continued to be useful well after I graduated.
Not Overthinking. Ali Abdaal and his brother go deep on various topics. The format is more conversational than instructional. Useful background listening for runs or commutes.
I will be honest: I listen to more than I have listed here. I tried to keep the list relevant to any business student, not just someone in marketing. If you want my marketing-specific recommendations and the career path that came out of it, that is in a separate post.
The underrated thing to do before business school
Beyond books and news, the single most useful thing I did before HEC was to write down what I wanted from the program. Not vague aspirations like “build a global career.” Specific outcomes. Career switch into what function. Move to which country. Network in which industry.
Reading books is useful preparation. Knowing why you are reading them is what makes the preparation stick. I wrote about how to build a profile for the MiM and about the ten things I wish I had known before joining HEC. Both go deeper on the pre-arrival mental work.
If you are already in the program and you wish you had prepared differently, I wrote a follow-up: what I would tell myself if I was starting the MiM all over again. It might save you some time.
How to keep reading during the program
Once classes start, the volume of reading is significant. Cases, textbooks, articles, slide decks. Finding time for outside reading gets harder. Two things help. Read for fifteen minutes in the morning before opening your laptop. Or read for twenty minutes before bed instead of scrolling. Audiobooks while commuting to Paris also work, and the commute from Jouy gives you over an hour each way.
The reading habit is one of the smallest investments with the highest long-term returns. Start before HEC. Keep going through HEC. The compound effect is significant.
I also recommend five career learnings from my first jobs once you are closer to graduation. The transition out is where most of the learning actually starts.