lbkova wrote:
I also had to send the certified copies. I don't see any point is this either. Why the extra cost if I'm not admitted in the end? I took it for some kind of Oxford eccentricity...
LBS and IE didn't ask for anything.
By the way, a quick question: how do you see the quality of career service in Oxford? I heard that this is the weak point there even if the 89% placement rate for 2011 does seem to be OK. Also why only 14% of students do an internship? Is this connected to the poor quality of career service, namely that on-campus recruiting is weak there? I would think that an internship is a major attraction for every MBA student...
Thank you for your remarks Sanjuro9! However I would like to add my own ones to yours...I think Oxford SBS has one of the better designed career services anywhere. First, there is a specific person assigned to each of the major industries (Consulting, Finance, Industry, Tech), then you have access to has 1-on-1 mentoring sessions with sector consultants (fellows of the school who have worked in your targeted industry). Then there are usual assistance such as connecting you to specific company recruiters, alumni in specific companies, organizing presentations and so on.
In my opinion every decent MBA course offers the above options, ESADE, IE, LBS, etc. So I don't see anything special here actually... SBS does what is expected in this respect. The issue is students don't want to work. Let me explain. If you are coming to UK looking for a job in investment banking or M&A or trading, and you don't get a job, don't come running saying the career services is worthless. Bulge bracket class sizes are in teens (compared to triple digit numbers few years back) and if they must fill these classes why not fill it with undergrads. Do you have previous experience working in M&A analyst and are looking to go work for your preferred bank as an associate or perhaps move to PE or hedge fund. I am sure you will have no problems finding your preferred job. But, if you have technology consulting experience and you have an unrealistic goal of a job in PE or HF, then tell who here is at fault.
Does that mean switching over to finance is impossible? No, its easier in a two year program where you have a chance of a four month internship.
Recently, I went to two presentations of couple of largest oil and gas companies (I never wanted to work for them, just wanted to make sure). The one in London had zero other MBA representation from Said. Sure, London is an hour away. But, if I knew about it and got an invitation, someone looking for a job should have made it there. That doesn't mean Said MBAs are lazy. That means that none of them want to work for that oil & gas company. There are so many in class whose career goals are social enterprise. Of course, you will never see them looking for a traditional job.
Ok, that's fair enough what you write. Everybody should do his/her own part. There's nothing wrong with that. By the way, I don't want to change industry (investment management) only location / geography. So I don't expect to be transformed into a NASA astronaut in a year...Back to internship. lbkova - I have to say, you haven't done enough research regarding this. There are two kinds of internships at Said. Pre-MBA and post-MBA. Pre-MBA internships are available to those who have relevant industry knowledge. This should be obvious if you think from the hiring companies perspective. You don't have any industry background and you don't have business knowledge why should they hire and pay you for 2 months when you are essentially worthless to them.
I have to say I did my research. I know about the pre-MBA internship option. And may I ask for how many people is it offered? To ten maybe? Wow, that will increase the 14% internship rate (for 2011, from the school website) dramatically! It will add another 4% (10/250) to the above reported figure... It's still low, sorry to say... Post-MBA internships are only if you don't want a strategic consulting project. Strategic consulting projects are not only more lucrative in terms of their variety and offering, but in terms of the level of work you do. People have worked in all kinds of industries, geographies in the past. Someone I knew did one at Ferrari's headquarters. Someone else spent the two months consulting for a shipping company in Greece (I think that particular group spent every afternoon on the beach).
I just hope that you are not implying that those guys/girls paid 40k pounds to sit on the beach for 2 months... That would make it a rather expensive holiday... But seriously, if strategic consulting project = paid internship at Said and if those projects can be turned into real job offers in the end, then it's all right and will explain the seemingly low figure.Hopefully, this answers your questions/concerns. If any of you have a industry/function specific career question, feel free to ask. If I can't help you, I will connect with someone with relevant experience from the class.