An MBA program is a unique opportunity to give a boost to your career and professional development, in particular thanks to:

• Radically change career orientation
• International recognition
• Interviews on campus
• Career management services
• Network of alumni

All of this should lead you to great jobs with good pay! The MBA is an investment, not only in money but also in time! The return on this investment has been tremendous for most MBA students as they have been able to quickly end up in top positions for which they would have had to wait a long time without the MBA! In addition, as most MBA graduates would tell you, it is difficult to estimate the value it has on your personal development, but it surely is high!

For most MBA students, the MBA has proved to be a cornerstone in their career.

On one hand, a significant share of MBA students has had little to no business management experience before entering the program: they are lawyers, doctors, engineers etc. As they leave the MBA, most of them enter a management position, sometimes in their own field of expertise, but often in a totally different field.

On the other hand, even for students with a previous management experience and / or a business education, an MBA program often translates into a new career: from marketing to finance, for instance.

Whatever the magnitude of the change in the orientation of the career, the MBA is a major opportunity to shape your professional future and to give it a serious boost!

Many careers immediately after completion of the MBA are in consulting and major financial institutions, which can account for more than 60% of hires, the remaining graduates joining industry or the public sector. Consulting and financial institutions are often considered as a further step in a career change, it is therefore not common that those graduates switch to a new employer or sector 3 to 5 years after graduation.

The importance of different recruiting sectors varies widely between business schools and through time, depending on location of the school, reputation of the school in specific sectors and the overall economic cycle. The following table gives an indicative view on the importance of the different sectors:

All top MBA programs in Europe or in the US are well recognized all over the world. Wherever you will go, your education will be highly rewarded. This is extremely helpful in particular if you want to pursue a career abroad, for instance in the US or in Asia.

You should however make sure that you go for a program from one of the top schools, as quoted by some public organizations / magazines, or based on contacts you would have in world class corporations. Not all MBAs have the same reputation in every region of the world, and this can prove to be an important factor for selecting your school.

MBA students from top schools are such a valuable resource that a lot of companies come on campus to interview and select candidates.

As an MBA student, you will be invited to a large amount of corporate presentations and to apply for numerous positions. The key to success here is to stay focused, as the recruiting process is highly time-consuming!

You should however realize that this is a unique opportunity in your life to meet with more potential employers than you will ever be able to (several hundreds are made available to you either directly, on campus, or via the career management services supplied by the schools – see below).

Each MBA program has its own Career Management Service or Placement Center. The MBA school will provide its students with significant help and guidance throughout the interviewing process. In particular, they will help you to:

• Orient your search and select the companies/positions that most fit your aspirations and strengths
• Prepare your application (resumes, application letter, ...)
• Prepare for the interviews (individual coaching, mock interviews, seminars, ...)
• Help you select among the different proposals (personal advice, "sparring partners", ...)

As the success and reputation of a school also relies on its ability to place its students in top positions, the career management services department will therefore put all the required efforts to achieve this goal!

In your job search during the MBA, but also throughout the rest of your career, you will have the chance to rely on a strong network of alumni.

All MBA schools devote a lot of time and attention to developing and maintaining a strong network of alumni. It is not uncommon to call an alumnus you have never met before to ask information on his job, his company, career opportunities, etc. The bond between alumni is so strong that whoever this person might be, you will find a very open interlocutor!

The strength of an alumni network in the regions and sectors you want to work and live in can again be part of your selection criteria. You should definitely try to get in contact with them even in the course of your application process.

As most MBA graduates will say: "Once you finish your studies... then your MBA really starts!"