Wednesday, March 7, 2012

Is the Executive MBA Program Still a Good Idea Today?

The main thrust of an EMBA only a few years ago was to prepare businesspeople sent by their firms to study in the program for the purpose of gaining competencies necessary for their advancement in their firms. The number of persons being sponsored by their companies for an executive MBA program is declining, though, with an upward trend seen in the number of persons putting themselves through the classes. They say that this is why a lot of people in the ocurse are ending up shifting careers during or after the course.

The EMBA originally became popular some years back. After the financial crisis in 2008, the need for executive MBA career programs accelerated further. A fairly large number of people in a poll answered, when asked what they wanted out of the program, that they wanted to be able to change career directions.

The business school has become a kind of temporary resting ground. A lot of Executive MBA takers are electing to actually do that career change, one way or another. The universities responded by offering advisers for the students thinking about taking their careers in another direction.

Most of the persons in the Executive version of the MBA simply trump their non-executive counterparts when it comes to the years they have spent in the actual business arena. A good number of colleges are still trying to work with them to assist them in finding the jobs they want. According to the Bloomberg Businessweek graduates survey, many students complained on their schools’ inability to assist them in finding jobs, not getting any real support from their school’s career management recruitment office.

Now, most business schools provide EMBA students with career counseling services and resume review, which often replaces actual recruiting, and many graduate students are satisfied. Some schools provide one-on-one counseling and career workshops for students. Obviously, the services are all meant to help the students end up in the profession they desire.

The number of students seeking assistance is still rising. Currently, there are many programs but not too many open positions to match students. A lot of the people in the course are in it partly to make it easier for themselves to find a good alternative for their current positions.

The argument a few universities make is that there is still a fair number of company-sponsored degree-takers, and so career services are unnecessary. This has changed. Shifting careers is becoming more and more common.

Indeed, times have changed. Many establishments are now helping each other to provide better career counseling for There remain some holdouts against the trend, though, most specifically to the idea of truly formalizing these services.

Some students would opt for on-campus recruiting opportunities that match students with possible employers. There may be issues with this for the universities, though. They argue that graduate students attending an executive MBA program are already employed and are experienced in their careers, hence there is no burning need to search for jobs for them.

The Executive MBA program is basically a resource center, not a hiring center. The general opinion, when it comes down to it, is that the EMBA is fast developing a trend of students seeking career shifts. Universities shall simply have to keep up with the times.

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