This is the first year that the Saltire Foundation has offered employment in Scotland.

Tina Dixon, a student at Strathclyde Business School who started a summer internship at Strathclyde’s Saltire Foundation, says: “I’m undergoing training and marketing internships at a Scottish company called Vets Now, which is now one of the fastest growing companies in Scotland. and their turnover last year was 22 million pounds. “

This is the first year that the Saltire Foundation has offered employment in Scotland. “I was thrilled to hear this news. It was very interesting and clear that in addition to the basic internship, I became part of the Saltire family and community, which gave me a good opportunity to interact with recognized industry businessmen and establish good connections, “says Tina.

Jessica Trogler, an MBA student at the University of California, Berkeley’s Haas Business School, has embarked on an internship after her first year of study, which contributes to her career aspirations: she joined the Visa team for the summer as an intern in financial planning and analysis at Global Finance. “This role will guide me through Visa’s revenue and profitability mechanisms,” says Jessica.

Her work involves building in-depth business cases for new projects to measure the financial impact of new product innovation. “I will have the opportunity to participate in the annual Visa forecasting process and work closely with business units,” she says.

Alternatives to MBA internship

Despite the fact that internships give students the opportunity to experiment and pursue a profession that meets personal and academic interests, there is an opinion that working conditions closely integrated into the MBA class are more suitable for business schools. There are several such business schools, including the Indian School of Business (ISB), which, in addition to classroom activities, provide experimental training for students during practical courses and projects.

Professor Dishan Kamdar, Senior Assistant Dean of ISB, explains: “The internship has its advantages, but with previous experience, international level and diversity of ISB training, we have successfully promoted real-world consulting projects for our students, which have been highly praised by business. “

However, this methodology is limited to a negligible segment of business schools, as the internship situation has changed dramatically compared to ten years ago. Many business schools offering MBA internships as part of their two-year programs have added a credit module to them so that students take internships seriously and companies benefit from interns.

Therefore, for most MBA graduates, internships provide an opportunity to develop special abilities, teamwork skills, establish professional contacts, relationships with mentors, etc.

Of course, there is no guarantee that an MBA internship will provide students with full-time employment, but it will certainly increase their chances and help them become viable experienced job applicants after graduation.

“Summer internships can be turned into vacancies for a good intern, and if the internship coincides with the professional interests of the student, the opportunity to get a job in this business increases,” says Professor Aital.

In fact, many employers view internships in terms of hiring, and many view their interns as the best potential candidates for full-time positions.

Robert F. Bruner, dean of business administration at the University of Virginia’s Darden School of Business, says internships are very valuable for those who want to change careers after an MBA.

“An internship gives you the opportunity to look at another field of risk without risk. Large corporations are increasingly using internships as a test to create final vacancies. Getting a full-time job offer at the end of your summer internship will free you from uncertainty and give you a valuable benchmark. compare other offers that may come during the second year of the MBA. Most Darden students receive permanent employment offers during summer internships, “says Bruner.

Assess the attractiveness of the employer or business

Professor Aital notes that MBA internships help not only the employer gain an understanding of the MBA’s capabilities, but also students, in assessing the employer’s or industry’s compliance with their expectations.

Let’s realize that every MBA student not only “sells” (trying to find a job), but also “buys” (trying to evaluate and choose an employer). Summer internships help to buy better: you can see what the employer is like from the inside. rather than relying on someone’s opinion, “says Bruner.

In addition to two-year MBA programs, there are also shorter – one-year, which due to lack of time, usually do not provide the opportunity to enroll in an MBA internship. However, these short courses have significant professional benefits, such as the opportunity to return to the work environment earlier, which can be a huge plus for employers.

“One-year programs usually do not involve internships – a disadvantage that is offset by a quick return to full employment. Students who return to the same field of business in which they worked before business school will find a quick return attractive. But the two -year format allows experimentation during internships. in another area of ​​business, and also promotes the best interaction and learning that is possible in the summer, ”says Bruner.

However, if a student enrolls in a one-year program and feels that he or she needs an MBA internship, he or she is free to apply for it after graduation. If so, the first thing he should do is contact the professional service of his business school.

TopMBA.com. Translated from English by Osvita.ua.

15.08.2011

Business schools are heading for globalization

Most schools now include certain global sections in their curricula to prepare students for work abroad and to raise their scores in international rankings.

Schools such as the Fuqua School of Business at Duke University or the Booth School of Business at the University of Chicago have opened offices abroad. Other schools simplify the conditions for exchanging students with promising countries, such as Turkey and Chile. In addition, there are consortium memberships and study agreements that some American MBA programs offer to foreign schools.

However, some are skeptical, believing that such attempts cannot adequately prepare students for work abroad. “To reach a certain level, to work and live abroad, you need to be there for at least six months a year,” said Warren Benis, a professor at the Marshall School of Business at the University of South Carolina.

A report published in February by AACSB International (The Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business) questions the reliability of some school alliances, given their miscalculations in assessing their own effectiveness.

Robert Bruner, dean of the University of Virginia’s Darden School of Business, which offers the Global MBA program, says schools are still experimenting with several prototypes. “The wave of innovation has resulted in the emergence of many models,” said Mr. Bruner, chairman of the commission that wrote the AACSB report.

Although most students get jobs in their own countries, business schools insist that teaching analysis to international companies or creating groups of students from different countries helps graduates get jobs in the international job market.

Be that as it may, recruiters hiring MBA graduates say that this training alone is not enough to get a job at an international company.

Most likely, there is a difference between the activities of schools to implement globality and the specific skills that employers need.

Applicants for employment in the international company Bain Co. you need to demonstrate a foreign language, such as French, Korean or Mandarin Chinese. The candidate can also get a job if he already has experience working with international companies.

“Many business schools offer students the opportunity to travel abroad, but I don’t know if that’s enough,” said Rus Hage, senior partner and global head of human resources at Bain. Co.

The Hult International Business School, based in Boston, has branches in London, Shanghai, San Francisco and Dubai, and plans to open a branch in New York. Each of the branches provides a flow of students – in 2010 the school received 425 applicants, this year the number will increase to 625. According to school president Stefan Hodges – all this is due to foreign departments, as half of the school’s students prefer to study abroad.

Each new campus costs the school $ 15-20 million, Hodges said, but by increasing the number of students, the school’s revenue will increase by $ 11.1 million a year.

Alliances with foreign schools are the cheapest way to expand your “globality”. Babson College recently added $ 1 million to its international consortium at Bangkok University. According to the agreement, for the next ten years, the college professors will organize an entrepreneurial center and prepare teaching staff for it, says the rector of Babson College.

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), which has alliances with half a dozen schools, recently signed an agreement with Turkey’s Sabanci School of Management. A MIT spokesman declined to say how much the school paid for the alliance, but said the five-year agreement allowed Sabanci compare and contrast essay buy School of Management students to study at the Massachusetts Institute for two weeks and the school’s faculty to work with MIT colleagues on joint research.