Choosing a UK MBA

Dear reader,


Taking a cue from the post by Goks, let me tell you a bit about how you can go about choosing a B-School in UK.


The first thing that comes to mind when you think of doing an MBA is what are the post-MBA job prospects. I am sure at this stage when you are researching B-Schools you are reading up almost every available info on how much the last batch in each of these schools netted as post-MBA starting salary. Let me tell you that the median salary for a Strathclyde full-time MBA after 2 years of graduation is about £65,000 per annum (this is amongst the top 1% of salary earners in UK). The median salary for executive MBA may be higher since the students in the course have an average work-ex of 10 years. For the full-time MBA on the other hand the minimum work-ex required for making an application is 3 years.


Post-MBA salary varies due to several factors like industry sector, location within UK and most importantly your previous work-experience. If you want to work in UK after your MBA, be aware that the firms here lay a strong emphasis on previous UK work-experience. It would be advantageous if you have prior UK work experience. If you are from any other country without UK-experience it would be good to have experience in a large MNC which has presence in UK. I am not saying that the work you did in your previous company is not important and its all about the brand. What I am trying to emphasize is an employer here feels comfortable if they know the name of your previous company simply because they then understand the metrics used to evaluate your performance. So for example if you were working for HSBC as opposed to some regional firm they would immediately understand the nature of your work and the applicable standards which dont differ much from country to country.


Choice of industry also plays a big role in the post-MBA salary. Typically the banking and Finance sector pays the highest followed by Management Consulting. However if you have special skill-sets (eg. SAP, 6 Sigma) or experience (eg. in Oil & Gas, Renewable Energy) then you can claim higher salaries in other industries.


Choice of location is also very important. You would hear from people that jobs in England pay higher than in Scotland. However thats not entirely true. If you are in the Oil and Gas Sector, Aberdeen is the place to be. London and Edinburgh are better for jobs in Banking and Finance. Manchester is good for advertising jobs. If you go to monster.co.uk or reed.co.uk you can access industry wise / location wise salary trends in UK.


While earning potential is a very important criteria for choosing a B-School over another, there can be several other considerations like course structure, fee, location etc.


For course structure and fee refer to individual websites of B-Schools. How much you are willing to invest and what kind of course structure you are looking at is a very personal issue and I can't guide you there. Take location into consideration too since Scotland is colder than southern UK and the weather is filthier with constant rains and gloomy sky. But then if you ask me I loved my days in Glasgow and I know someone who swears by Lancaster. So do some background research before you finalize.


One last thing you should be aware of is the relative ranking of B-Schools according to Financial Times. Opinion expressed by FT is taken very seriously in the corporate sector so the ranking is a good thing to refer to.


You can access 2008 FT rankings here:

http://rankings.ft.com/businessschoolrankings/global-mba-rankings

MBA in UK vs. MBA in India

With regards to the university, it is a good place, but you first need to understand the teaching system. It will not be like India. you might have heard from many of your friends doing their MBA in India that they have to cram up a lot. That will not happen here. Here it is a guided teaching system. You will first feel that they are not teaching you anything. Many people do not understand the reason for it and feel that it is of no use. The companies in India (Goldman sachs, Meryll Lynch, PWC, JP morgan, Accenture etc) hire Indian MBAs due to their number crunching skills which you get by repeated workouts of problems and scenario's. Here they will be trying to make you a manager who has knowledge of all sectors of management and not just the number crunching skills. Many of the Indian students, if you contact them, will tell you that the univ does not give enough of teaching. The reason for that is as above. They are still expecting to be spoon fed like in India. I am stressing on this point because, initially I too felt the same. Many of my friends doing their MBA from India kept telling me how they could not sleep for weeks due to assignments. You will have to learn to utilize the lecture. That is very important.

With regards to the comparison between Strath and other universities around here, it is very simple. Firstly look at the FT ranking. Secondly many of the other universities are changing their teaching style to suit Indian students to suite the multitude of Indians coming there. Such courses are no different from any MBA course in India. You might as well spend less and do the course from India. People come here to get the international exposure. I do concede that there will be a majority of Indian students in Strath as well, however the teaching systems will not be compromised. They continue to maintain a level of teaching which is superior to many other universities, and hence in the industry, the Strath name is well recognized.

Doing an MBA from Strathclyde

Hello reader,

The fact that you are on this blog is a proof that you are interested in doing an MBA from UK and perhaps contemplating on doing it from Strathclyde Business School. Well thats a good start!

Trust me I know exactly know what you are going through. I was in your position a little more than a year ago. I was born and brought up in India. In Kolkata to be precise. Like many of you I had a humble background but great dreams. After working with the ABP group (the people who own Star News) in Brand management for about 4 years, I decided to leave my comfort zone and the prospect of organic growth. Hence the Strathclyde MBA...

It was a bold decision to leave a cushioned job and venture out to study in a foreign country which called for an investment of over 25 Lacs INR. But having been here and done that I can look back and say it was a wise decision.

As I see it now, the journey through my last 2 years can be divided into 3 phases:

Phase-1: Researching on the Strathclyde MBA
Phase-2: Pursuing the Strathclyde MBA
Phase-3: Life after a Strathclyde MBA

In this blog I would take you through each of these phases and try and give out the tips to overcome the problems I faced. Joining a top MBA program is difficult, but it is even more difficult to complete the program successfully. Keep visiting this space as I tell you how to secure an educational loan, the best strategy to apply for the Strathclyde MBA, how to find a suitable accomodation in Glasgow, how to tackle the assignments and dissertation, how to find a part-time job while you are studying, how to apply for a Visa extension after completing the MBA and so on...

Change is never easy, but then it promises a better tomorrow. Now that you have embarked on the journey of your lifetime, use this blog as your routemap. Fasten your seatbelts and enjoy the ride!