Wednesday, March 7, 2012

Universities, the Executive MBA Program and the Problematic Job Marketplace

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. However, majority of the participants in executive MBA program courses these days are paying for their fees themselves. Because of this, according to a top B-school, more are seeking to make a career change, whether during their program study or after graduation.

The EMBA originally became popular some years back. About three or so years ago, more and more people started asking for a career version of the EMBA. A lot of people surveyed in a recent study claimed to be interested in taking their professional lives to another direction as well.

A B-school is basically a layover location now. A lot of Executive MBA takers are electing to actually do that career change, one way or another. Many B-schools started by bringing in career counselling specifically to coach EMBA students, whose needs vary from those studying full-time.

Nearly all the people in the course are ones who have already accumulated significant experience. But a lot of business schools are still adapting to their focused career needs. The problem, say students, is that most academic establishments do not give them the proper assistance.

In fact, a number of colleges have stepped up in that regard, to the satisfaction of their students. Many universities combine the aforementioned services with other beneficial ones. The main goal is to teach graduates the skills important to develop their careers now and in the future.

There is no abatement in the increase in number of those requesting that their schools assist them. The problem is that more people are taking the courses and fewer companies looking to hire. Networking figures highly even now for the students of the program who wish to change jobs or companies.

There is still some skepticism over the possibility of corporations ever fully abandoning their employees when it comes to EMBA tuition, so some institutions do not yet go into full-blown career assistance programs. That is rapidly changing. This is now becoming a course where students decide to take themselves from their companies and to other ones.

Indeed, times have changed. Changing careers is widely accepted as a possibility for EMBA students, so much so that universities are beginning to institutionalize career services. There remain some holdouts against the trend, though, most specifically to the idea of truly formalizing these services.

There is much interest in the idea of having recruiters over the university that could assist people in finding their next jobs. However, a number of colleges are not entirely keen on the idea. 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. Even if some experts say we can expect companies to begin sponsoring employees again soon, more say otherwise, thinking the course now one where students find the resources for changing occupations. Whatever the case, the B-schools have to deal with it delicately.

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