Schmoozing Your Way To MBA Success

Answers To Common Questions On Executive MBA Programs

 

Should I do my MBA full-time or on weekends?

If you’re an unattached professional in your late 20’s or early 30’s, you’re probably asking that question now. There are so many variables to weigh. Can I afford to drop everything for two years? Am I looking to get better at my job – or do I want a fresh start altogether? What types of students – the people who’ll serve as my network – do I want to study alongside?

Those are tough questions to answer. That’s why The Financial Times recently held a Q&A with readers regarding executive MBAs. Over 90 minutes, three panelists addressed issues posted by prospective MBAs themselves. These panelists included Xiongwen Lu (dean of Fudan University School of Management), Peter Tufano (dean of the University of Oxford Saïd Business School), and Della Bradshaw (Editor of Financial Times Business Education).

Here are some snippets of their dialogue with readers:

Is an executive MBA viewed in the same light as a full-time MBA? 

Peter: “It is important to consider what is most important for you at this time in your career. Do you want to take time out to study while you decide if your career should take a new direction, or would you benefit more from being able to take your newly acquired knowledge back to your day to day role?… Executive MBA students tend to have more experience, with responsibilities which lead them to prefer the modular format.”

I’ve recently considered EMBA programmes because of the opportunity to learn and network alongside mid-career professionals… As a 20-something candidate, would an EMBA be valuable to me?

Peter: “An excellent full-time MBA should give you the opportunity to network and learn from a culturally and professionally diverse group of managers. Many of our full-time students already have several years’ work experience and the discussions in class reflect this diversity.”

Xiongwen: “All MBA and EMBA courses are almost the same. Only the course time is differently scheduled, with EMBA courses taking place at the weekend or on a module basis. This is a more intensive schedule.

At 28, I think you can choose either the full-time MBA or a part-time EMBA, and the latter is preferable if you are already in a middle-level management role. This means that you are a potential leader. However, if you are not in the management role, but an engineer, analyst, etc, I think an MBA is more appropriate to you.”

My primary reason for doing an MBA is to switch employer. I am trying to adopt a non-traditional EMBA career path route by actively pursuing summer associate positions with investment banks. What is the likelihood of someone with eight years of work experience getting a summer internship?

Peter: “Employers use internships for two reasons: to get a specific piece of work done and/or to test out a person for a possible future position. Your experience should be a plus for certain employers seeking fresh insights. For example, banks which fund large scale projects or large real estate projects would likely find your government experience on these projects valuable.”

How would you describe the typical EMBA student today? And how would you summarise the impact the programme has on their career?

Della: “What is very clear to me is that the motivation behing EMBA participants is changing radically. The EMBA used to be the passport to the corporate board, with companies sponsoring their managers to study. Now individual managers are bearing the costs themselves in order to be able to use the qualification as a passport to a new company, a new sector or even a job in a different sector. So today’s EMBA participants are much more like the traditional MBA student.”

What do you think of the online programme created by Jack Welch? Are online programmes ever as good as traditional ones?

Xiongwen: “Online business education is the future, definitely. However, as a business educator, I would like to be more realistic. In short-term, I believe the kinds of tech-knowledge courses, such as mathematics, statistics, financial engineering, even accounting can be delivered online by good instructors.

However, in-class education is more about interaction between faculty and students and between peers students, which can’t be fully actualised and supported by the internet and other current technologies.

To some extent, EMBA and MBA education are more about the learning process of cross-peers as well as between faculty and students , which needs creation of chemistry. But in long run, technology can make any changes and make any differences.”

To read the full interview, click on The Financial Times link below.

DON’T MISS: Poets&Quants’ 2014 Ranking of the World’s Best EMBA Programs

Source: The Financial Times