[photopress:mba_prysiani_1.jpg,full,alignright]For MBA graduates — especially those from prestige universities — the world is their oyster and they can make a career choice based on geography rather than other factors.
According to Hill & Knowlton’s annual Corporate Reputation Watch, a survey of MBA candidates at leading business schools most graduates are attracted to well-established companies in well-established trading areas.
Thus if a newly graduated MBA chooses to work for a newly formed company in one of the key emerging markets, including Russia, Eastern Europe and Asia, they are in the minority.
Paul Taaffe, chairman and chief executive of Hill & Knowlton, says: ‘MBAs graduating in a post-Enron world have a strong preference for the companies and countries with the best reputations.’
Taaffe says that the priority for MBA graduates is to enhance their CVs and to make money which seems logical.
Pick your emerging market with care, advises Giovanni Calimani, plant manager at Prysmian Cables & Systems in China. (The illustration is of a group from that company.) The Italian would not jump at a job offer in Russia or India. ‘Their reputation, particularly in manufacturing, is not as good as that of China, which has worked on making itself attractive to Western businesses.’
However, Calimani would still hesitate to work in a Chinese-owned company. ‘I would want to know why a Chinese business wants to hire me, as it would be a very difficult challenge. Currently I am the only foreigner among 300 staff but I know my HQ bosses support me 100%. In a Chinese company I’d be caught in the middle.’
Calimani, who has done a Manchester Business School Worldwide MBA since going to China, advises: ‘If you have an MBA and can speak Mandarin there are no limits to your future.’
Source: Times Online