WHAT DO EMPLOYERS WANT?
What you did is more important than where you did it.
Whilst it is great to further your education with an MBA from an accredited business school, does this really help you secure a better career opportunity and does it really matter where the location of the business school is in Europe or the Middle East?
Over the last 10 years, the UAE and in particular Dubai has seen a steady rise of International business schools opening campuses or centres to cater for MBA programmes ranging from a one year-MBA, Executive MBA or a Masters in International Business.
These top performing Business Schools have brought a new level of global education, wisdom and international experience to the region, allowing individuals to further develop their business education with a more hands on approach to international business. The opening of these new campuses has certainly allowed individuals the opportunity to stay in their home country or relatively close to their home country to further their education.
In many cases, individuals that are already part of the workforce and want to further their education with an MBA, now have the opportunity to do so in their own country. What a great opportunity to attend such prestigious schools with a more limited cost factor, as there are limited relocation costs.
Employers certainly see an MBA as an added bonus when interviewing a candidate for a potential role and in some cases the MBA would hedge you over other candidates, however, in all likelihood these roles would be more financial or professional services businesses.
As long as the MBA is from a recognised international business school, I do not believe an employer will be concerned where the school is located, it is more about actually obtaining the MBA.
I haven’t ever seen a client hire a candidate purely based on education, however, I certainly believe more knowledge and the opportunity to educate yourself further is key to success. Whilst education is certainly important, future employers also want to see drive, initiative and enterprise from graduates.
The value of an education is important, however, just having an education isn’t going to make you a success, success is down to every individual and you are only as good as what you put into practice from your education. As Jim Rohn said “Formal education will make you a living, selfeducation will make you a fortune”