MBA

Broader horizons open when career development is an integral part of your MBA programme

EDHEC's Global MBA programme takes a unique holistic approach to career development, integrating it into the curriculum as a subject intrinsically linked to other career-defining life skills

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23 Nov 2022

EDHEC's Global MBA programme takes a unique holistic approach to career development, integrating it into the curriculum as a subject intrinsically linked to other career-defining life skills including leadership, communication and strategic thinking. In fact, EDHEC accompanies MBA students and graduates from the day they start the programme – and for the rest of their working lives.

At EDHEC Executive Education, we believe career development is far too important to be relegated to a one-off seminar or coaching session. While the skills our students acquire during their Global MBA journey, from leadership and change management to team-building and decision-making will help them advance or transform their careers, we recognise that career development skills and tools are equally essential for preparing their post-MBA futures.

EDHEC’s Global MBA delivers what future-minded students seek. Our GMBA is recognised among the top ten in the world for return on investment, with one of the shortest payback periods (just 20 months), by Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) which assesses 286 full-time MBA programmes worldwide. The Economist’s 2022 “Which MBA?” ranking places our GMBA at #3 for Opening New Career Opportunities (90% of our participants are employed within three months of graduation). Our GMBA is a springboard to the world as well: in the Financial Times 2022 ranking, EDHEC’s Global MBA is #5 in the world for international mobility in terms of international career opportunities.

LEAD360: A leadership and career development programme tailored to the personal journey of each student

The EDHEC Global MBA Career Development Team: Cecile and SpencerLead360 is based on feedback and opinions from students, alumni and professors, as well as research in the fields of personal development, leadership and careers. Spencer Hamilton, Head of EDHEC’s MBA Career Services, comments: “Much of what is learned during the MBA is essential to people's future career. Lead360 weaves together the interdependent elements of Leadership, Personal Development and Careers ”.

EDHEC’s Global MBA Programme Director, Sandra Richez, adds: “Our MBA programme is highly personalised to reflect individual career and learning goals”. “We meet each of our students where they are to get their career to the next level with cutting-edge electives and specialisation tracks., This personalisation is worked into the academic curriculum, but also takes the form of personal development, focusing on leadership learning through workshops, self- and peer-assessments, and individual coaching sessions”.

Students launch their MBA journey with a day of exercises with their peers, observed by coaches, to demonstrate a series of behaviours. The outcome is an assessment of over 25 skills in four different categories, that become a baseline for personal development throughout the year. As students progress through the programme, they can see how they are evolving and developing through peer evaluations of their skills.

To assist students in developing their networking and presentation skills, EDHEC creates active learning events like the Global MBA Hackathon, work shadowing, and opportunities like consulting projects and internships to give them opportunities to display their capabilities in real-life situations.

CareerSMART: Helping students identify and achieve their personal post-graduation career objectives

EDHEC’s CareerSMART programme is a five-part approach aimed at helping MBA students fast-track their post-MBA futures through:

Self-assessment:

Individual career coaching sessions and group-based assessments enable MBAs to pinpoint their individual strengths, motivations, and goals as they design their professional career projects.

Marketing Strategy:

MBAs research and assess job markets that interest them, understanding and developing the unique value proposition that they will bring to their preferred organizations.

Analysis of Sector:

Understanding the macro conditions affecting their chosen sector, as well as those which are specific to the sector, EDHEC MBAs demonstrate their understanding of the issues - and how they will be able to bring solutions.

Relationship Building:

Networking with MBA alumni and other contacts helps EDHEC MBAs to refine their knowledge of their chosen sector and the organizations that interest them, as well as showing their capabilities in formal and informal settings.

Targeted Approach:

MBAs integrate their individual aims, self-knowledge, and understanding of their chosen sector to make targeted approaches to organizations.

With the help of the CareerSMART programme Patricia and Adriana, for example leveraged the tools in the CareerSMART programme to identify their strengths, choose new career options and make impressive career changes.

That’s our career development goal at EDHEC: “We help students to understand and believe that they’re not just generic products. When they can identify what they’re good at, what’s special about them and which sector they can add value to, they can start making an impact,” sums up Spencer Hamilton.

Are you ready to transform your career?

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