An MBA journey is a transformative experience that equips aspiring leaders with the tools to navigate the complex world of business. For many, an MBA is not just a degree but an opportunity to explore a plethora of career opportunities and personal growth.
An MBA provides a competitive edge in today’s job market. Graduates are often sought after for their strategic thinking, analytical skills, and ability to solve complex problems. The IMD curriculum additionally offers a high level of topical and tangible applied experience that prepares students to hit the ground running when they graduate.
I joined the IMD Career Development Centre in April from London Business School, where I led the Career Centre for six years after joining the team five years earlier. I had previously spent 27 years in the finance industry in a variety of functions and roles, largely spanning banking and private equity.
The appeal of IMD was simple for me: It is a business school for businesspeople. It is where corporates and other organizations send their executives to be trained. This enables IMD to stay ahead of the competition in understanding the challenges businesses face every day, which, in turn, feeds into the MBA classroom, enabling our students to have a real impact in their post-graduation careers.
The career paths for IMD MBA graduates are diverse and rewarding. Our students often transition in and out of consulting, finance, technology, healthcare, manufacturing, and NGOs. Others leverage their entrepreneurial skills to launch successful startups or take the helm of family businesses.
One of the most valuable aspects of the IMD MBA program is the network of peers, alumni, and industry professionals it offers. Building relationships with fellow students and engaging with mentors can open doors to career insights, internships, job offers, and collaborative ventures.
The IMD Career Development Centre complements classroom learning with a program of career coaching and advising, career workshops, career networking, and access to career insights and opportunities. Our purpose is to expand students’ career potential.
Historically, many large corporates hired entire cohorts of MBAs into cookie-cutter rotational leadership programs. Today, these programs are fast disappearing, and our graduating MBAs have to compete in crowded lateral individual hiring processes, where a surplus of wider talent is laid off from roles that technology has rendered redundant. There are nonetheless plenty of jobs available, new jobs that require a different mindset and a wider set of transferable skills than the jobs of yesterday. Our mission is to help students compete for these opportunities.
So, an MBA is more than a degree; it’s a professional and personal transformation journey. With our support, MBA graduates can unlock a world of career opportunities and continue to grow long after they’ve graduated.
