What Anheuser-Busch Seeks In MBA Hires

If an MBA was weighing an offer from Anheuser-Busch InBev and another firm, what would give you the edge?

We offer very fast and accelerated cross-functional careers. Our MBA recruits will have the opportunity to make a huge impact from the start, learning all the time.  It’s extremely exciting and there is no limit to their growth.

I want to share three recent examples of very successful MBAs.

The first MBA had a background in investment banking and we hired him into a management role in Global Procurement in Belgium. After a little bit more than a year, we promoted him to a Sales Strategy Director role in the U.S..

The second MBA started in Global Innovation, while he had no background in Marketing. Within 2 years, he was promoted to Global Corona Director, and within one year he was promoted again to VP Craft for our U.S. Business.

The third MBA started in our St Louis office as an M&A Manager. After one year, he was promoted to the Planning & Performance Director for People (Human Resources) in New York, and he will now move on to his third role supporting the sales organization of the West Coast, based out of Los Angeles.

And here’s another one closer to home that shows the immediate impact you can make. I want to refer to an MBA who was hired as a summer intern on my team and she was asked to help build our Global Employer Brand. She immediately hit the ground running and started working with our partner agency and all Zone Talent Attraction teams to define our new Global Employer Brand. At the end of the summer, she presented the proposed employer brand to our Chief People Officer who approved it for global roll-out. Based on her great work, we hired her full-time to help with the global roll-out and also help build a game called “A Taste of AB InBev” to give candidates a taste of what it is like to work here.

The global roll-out has now been successfully completed and the game is available on our global career website. She did all of this she did within 10 months. After this project, she was promoted to a global innovation manager role. This again illustrates the immediate impact and cross-functional career opportunities you can have here.

Could you give us an overview of your MBA recruiting, interview, and onboarding process? What are the steps that students should expect? How can they make a good impression and stay on your radar?

Our strategy is to recruit full-time MBAs through our summer internship program. For this reason, we set the bar really high when we recruit MBA summer interns. We intend to hire all summer interns if they are performing well and we see long-term potential.

We have several steps that are really critical to make sure we hire the right interns. There are the traditional one-on-one interviews with senior management. In addition, which is different from most companies, we have candidates engage in a unique business case to test their business acumen, analytical skills, and big picture thinking.

Moreover, we have a final panel which is the last step of the process. The MBAs come in panel format and they step in front of the hiring Chiefs, and Zone President and some of their direct reports. The intern candidates will get very challenging questions and be asked to give their opinions and views about the business.

We like to do the final panel as it represents very well what it is like to work here at Anheuser-Busch InBev. For example, it includes direct exposure to senior executives, as well as challenging questions where they are asked to think critically, and give their opinions. So it’s a way to see how they react in such an environment and if they function well in it.

Immediately after the panel, we call the intern candidates. Typically a Chief, Zone President or VP calls the candidates to make the offer – yet another illustration of how critical it is for us to hire top talents and how much time and effort we spend to make sure we get the best talent on board starting at the c-suite level.

When it comes to Anheuser Busch InBev, what are some of the biggest misconceptions that students may have about your organization (and your industry)?

There are two things. We are not a traditional CPG company in terms of company culture, as I highlighted earlier. The second thing is, although we are the leading global brewer and a top five CPG company, we want to remain an insurgent. We really want to keep pushing ourselves and think about disruptive growth and innovation. We’re never satisfied.

What are your expectations for entry level MBAs? What are your most successful new hires doing to hit the ground running and quickly add value?

The most successful MBAs show immediate impact and cultural fit. They come with fresh ideas, challenge us and come with solutions, and make things happen.  We have several MBAs, in a short time, that have already made impressive careers.

What excites you personally about working for Anheuser-Busch InBev?

It’s really the culture – the constant challenge and being pushed out of my comfort zone. The constant learning and the impact that I can make – it’s just really rewarding. Moving into my ninth role in four different locations, it’s extremely exciting.

What question(s) didn’t I ask that you’d love to answer?

People are truly our only long-term competitive advantage. I know that all companies say that. But our CEO and Board – they truly live that. It is truly impressive to see how much time they invest in recruiting, selecting, and retaining the top talent.

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