Is MBA beneficial for international students in the current market scenario? I am hearing stories about people who invested huge amount of money into their MBA and then were unable to get a job and had to return to their country and were under financial crisis. How is the current campus recruitment situation and is it wise to go for it? I particularly wish to know about the top15 schools.

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Benefit of MBA for intl students in this market scenario

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jayzen

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02 Jun 2011, 09:57

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ardk

Any one has any inputs if/how this scenario differs for a H1B to go back to b-school, and use the rest of the H1B during MBA recruiting? In other words, any advantage for an international already on H1B (say like he uses 3-4 years of it) to get a desired job post-MBA over someone that came to US as a student?

Well, there are different facets to your question. Firstly, if you have completed your H1B limit of 6 yrs, then, I believe, you should be out of the country for a year before you can continue on another H1B.
Instead, if you choose to file for immigration, then after your labour is approved, you can keep extending every 3 yrs.
If your H1B limit is not reached and you take the time off to pursue a MBA fulltime while NOT working, your H1B status becomes invalid since it is valid as long as you are working and meet minimum wage requirements etc.
If that is the case, you cannot continue on that H1B again. Your scenario works if you pursue a part time MBA with full time work or part time work meeting minimum wage and full time MBA or even full time work and MBA if your employer is willing to adjust your work timings etc and you can handle the load of MBA and work.

For an international applicant on an H1B, your best best is to wait for an approved or pending 1485 before starting an MBA. By the time you graduate, you will, most likely, have your green card or EAD and employeers will not have an issue with hiring you because of work authorization hurdles.
I also hear that if you have already appleid for a green card, then you will not get a student visa to pursue full time studies. So in that case the only choice you will have is to pursue your studies while maintaining employement.

Just to be clear, whatever information I have posted here is what I have understood from immigration/visa forums, talking to other people and lawyers etc. You can get more information on this on any immigration forum such as immihelp etc. or best option is to consult with an immigration attorney.

ardk

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02 Jun 2011, 19:02

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Thanks for the reply !! I was thinking on these lines but wanted to know a second opinion.

Alchemist1320

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02 Jun 2011, 19:20

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interesting thread...thanks everyone for their posts

What is scene in UK ?....I was told UK is much more cosmopolitan than NY ( for intrntl students)....but recently they have scrapped HSMP( Tier-1)....not sure of new norms

fedexunledded

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02 Jun 2011, 20:27

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jayzen

Having lived in the Middle East most of my life, I would venture to say that majority of the high paying, MBA type jobs in the Middle East are usually reserved for local candidates or experienced international professionals who have an MBA from a world renowned school. Since a lot of the brand name schools are US schools or European schools, it makes better business sense for people to study there in order to get that high paying job. If there were comparable schools in the Middle East, people from the Middle East wouldn't spend all the time and effort to go and study in US or European schools.

I believe, as an international applicant, if one has the opportunity to study in a top business school, one should go for it. You may or may not get a job in a high paying job market due to visa regulations or other restrictions, but the experience and the network that one would have gained studying there along with the brand value of the school will definetly pay dividends in the long run.

Ok...Got your point... I just thought that a lot of schools have opened their centres in Dubai and that jobs would be available to those who graduate from the schools...

However, out of curiosity, what are the job prospects for somebody from the Middle East to find a job immediately after his/her MBA from a top US or European school??

Cheers!!

jayzen

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02 Jun 2011, 20:46

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fedexunledded

jayzen

I would imagine that getting a job would depends less on which part of the world one comes from and more on one's internship, networks etc.
If you intend to work in the middle east after graduation, then you would do best to focus on companies that actively recruit from your school that have a middle eastern presence. Either that or leverage your own networks there. And if that doesn't work and you are still adamant about working in the middle east, then go the traditional route- work for a couple of years and use that experience to get a job in the middle east.
I'm sure most schools post statistics on what jobs its students got, where and when.

ashish3

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05 Aug 2011, 12:14

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myself ashish from India , from a middleclass family taking a loan [100%fees]and thought to do mba in usa ,i have few questions
[1]is mba from average university in usa is worth to be taken as loan to pay tuition fees or there is hamburger of universities like scene in India and one cant pay loan so easily
[2]in order to pay loan i have to remain in usa for long time [as there is currency difference and if i come to india i cant pay loan],and to stay in usa i have to file h1b during opt status ,what are chances of this narration as of international student previous experience in this regard
[3]IS only top ranking 15 business school in usa fruitful in my case ,if yes their 2years tuition fee is around 100 k but i donot have that money and i have to take loan do they provide loan for international student?
[4] is scholar ship available .please comment
[5]my email id is [email protected]
[6] my phone is 09460550497
[7] what are chances of h1b visa and job sponsership after mba in usa ,can opt be changed

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07 Oct 2011, 11:24

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Hmm, this is an interesting thread, for someone from Australia (eligible for the lovely E3 visa), currently working in NY and looking to go to B-school in the US.

My situation: temporary contract working in the US ending very soon; want to remain in the US, but given the job market, and the way employers seem to discriminate against non-US schools, very few prospects. Did have a job lined up through industry contacts, but fell through a couple of months back. Thinking a US-based degree is the way to go to become anywhere near competitive in the US and global markets.

Lolcat33

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13 Dec 2011, 04:51

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I agree too that this is a great thread for internationals. I guess I could pitch in some information I have. I got my undergraduate degree in US and I am from South-Eastern Europe. This is where I live now.

The whole thing with "we do not discriminate international job applicants" is bull, at least in this kind of economy. I have many friends who studied in the US, from junior colleges to Ivy League schools and vast majority of them had the same problem. Good resume, no job. Yes, we all know that the job market is awful but from what I have seen, American students I know got jobs even though their resumes/skills/etc. were not as great. This is to be expected and one should not have grudge because it is simply the way it is. I know that one day when I graduate from an MBA program (I want to go in the US), I will have this in mind. I guess I simply have to be waaaay more competitive than US applicants in order to land a job.

An interesting thing happened to a great friend of mine. He (also an international) just graduated from UT-Austin with a degree in BA-Finance. He had an audit internship at KPMG in the summer b/w junior and senior year. Then, close to his graduation, he got an interview for valuations services (or whatever it is called) at PwC. Long story short, he did not get the job. However, he had sent an e-mail to a partner that interviewed him to ask her about other possible jobs that they had at PwC. She ended up getting him an interview for an auditing job in a different town. He ended up getting the job. He also got the H1B visa sponsorship. Now, what is interesting here is that he will start his job in October and in the meantime, he will come back to Europe. I guess they really wanted him. He is a bright student and did well in school, got experience and landed a job.

The important thing to consider is that accounting firms in general hire at any given moment. I think that the bottom line is that as an international you need to adjust your job expectations to the situation in the US economy. It is more challenging to get a job in market conditions like this, so in order to succeed, you need to take smaller steps that will help you in the long term.

Finally, I was able to talk to a person who worked in IB industry in NYC some time ago. He told me that in competitive market like IB (and similar ones) it all breaks down to who you know. Sad, but true. But I think that networking is one of the reasons for getting an MBA, right? You need to learn to be better at networking and not just rely on your academic skills, which also need to be great in the first place.

I wonder how is the situation going to be in the future when, or if, the job market in the US recovers. The way I plan right now, I will graduate from an MBA program in 4 years, plus minus.

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