[baccardisprite]

Hello PGs,

Having been a PG for the last 2+ years, and having observed posts and threads across the International Section of the forums, I find that many are relatively less aware of some of the other interesting educational avenues available to people (depending of course on ones and career objectives and profile).

Through a series of posts spanning this thread, I would like to make PG's aware of avenues beyond just MBAs to build and enhance careers.

While Top International MBAs are justifiably hyped and normally boast of professionally very successful graduates, they're not necessarily the only feeders into top jobs at some of the top companies. You have many programs that don't offer the MBA (the degree), BUT they do offer strong, focussed and career relevant education; that would help (in some cases) position oneself for the same opportunities that MBAs enjoy; perhaps with the advantage of rigorous specialist education to complement / enhance business subjects. The attendees of such programs are often just as experienced, educated and capable as those in MBAs, and go into the same / similarly great business-oriented jobs that MBAs do, including consulting & banking.

Some of the salient features of such programs are as follows:

1. They're normally not called MBAs, though some might offer an MBA as one degree in a dual-degree program. They're Master's, M.S or M.Sc or even M.A programs.

2. Entrance requirements (4 year degree), GMAT / GRE / TOEFL / IELTS are as rigorous as those for business schools if not more. Some programs in systems or high-tech may require previous education in the hard sciences, relevant social sciences (like advanced micro-macro economics), or engineering.

3. Some of these programs (particularly those in the US), given their delivery out of a hard / social science or engineering school or department, offer a greater probability of scholarships or graduate assistantships (refer point 6 for main reason). Co-signor free loans however might not be easy, if at all available.

4. The education is a healthy mix of technical and business subjects. Please note that I am not referring to M.S in Engineering / Science Programs that fresh Engineering or Science graduates attend immediately after graduation. The programs I will cite as examples might involve a little of hard engineering, but are focussed on core - operational, design, financial and commercial aspects of and applicable to business at large.

5. The program is not always run by the business school, but by a department or school in the hard or social sciences, engineering etc.. with attendees normally required to attend or able to cross-register for core / elective subjects in the business school affiliated to the same or neighboring university. The flexibility in the curriculuam and it's delivery means you might seek skills beyond just your education (like learning a language) at no additional cost!

6. There's a strong research element involved, leading normally to an almost Ph.D level Thesis. Many programs will however, offer the same opportunity for internships - perhaps connected with the Thesis one has to complete to graduate. This is the truly rigorous part of the program.

7. Subject to the same working rules as those offered to MBAs. The work-permit rules, job-market economics, employment conditions and salaries are the same that MBAs are subject to, meaning it's just as challenging to get a job out of these programs as it is out of an MBA. However the combination of business and technical education + previous experience occassionally makes these candidates a more attractive recruit for a company than one who has just an MBA.

8. Depending on the school, location, age/experience profile and the quasi-specialist nature of the program involved, career services will be offered to attendees, either specially attached to the program, or as part of the graduate school of the university or even in conjunction with the business school's career services. One have 3 potential career service avenues.

9. If you go into the websites of some of these programs and see the profiles of those who attend (particularly the more experienced ones, you will be seriously awe-struck).

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Hopefully, the posts that follow will offer all of you options you can consider to either:-

1. start a business career at a fairly functional-specialist level, which is supremely important to build

2. if you're more experienced, an option towards a broad and deep education that would offer you a leg-up with the companies you want to work for.

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Before reading further, three key watch-outs:

1. The rule of being crystal clear about your professional goals applies just as much for these programs as they do for MBAs

2. You might not find as much information on the net (like rankings, profiles etc.) about these programs as you would for MBAs. So it is extremely important for you to be proactive, start contacting schools for the information you want and perhaps establish contacts with current students and alumni. Don't depend on fellow forum members to feed you information or opinions that you need to find & form yourself.

3. These programs are NOT time-pass. The education and subjects are rigorous and some are quite tough to get into.

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Enjoy the thread, please use the information therein and as always, please do your homework....

Cheerz
Baccardisprite

Next Post - Some very special Master's Programs from MIT, Cambridge, USA

[baccardisprite]

Are you:-

1. An engineering / hard science / mathematics graduate working in a core - operational, technical, system design, supply chain / excellence, project management (not IT consulting / contractor), in any high-technology, precision engineering / manufacturing industry?

2. A graduate of any stream (normally engineering) who's working in a core manufacturing / industrial management / operations research / supply chain / procurement or similar such role in a core industry like automotive, machinery etc...

3. An IT professional who has gone beyond programming, and has gotten into things like high-end software engineering, application development and large scale system design? Example - were you in a company that designed the wing for the Boeing 777 / Airbus A 380 (I am aware an Indian company designed at least some parts of the new Airbus :-)

4. In the healthcare (pharma, biotech, medical devices, or diagnostics industry) in a core function like any from the previous example, or even marketing, sales, regulatory or quality assurance etc..?

5. Do you have 5-10 years of experience behind you in the functions & jobs stated above? A reasonably good career and academic record? Do you believe you have acquired a reasonable level of expertise in your current function / industry?

6. Do you wish to enhance your prospects for international employment within this industry, but at a broader business level, yet retaining and applying your previously hard-earned knowledge and experience?

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If one or more of the above apply to you, you might want to consider any of the Master's Programs offered by MIT's Engineering Systems Division (ESD - MIT's Engineering Systems Division).

The University doesn't need any introduction it's school of engineering. The ESD was brought together in the mid/late 90's to offer education that straddles business, engineering, technology management and policy. Have a look at:

Technology & Policy - Home. Flexible curriculum that can be strengthened with a choice of electives from any technical department in MIT or the Sloan school. 2 full years, fall entry.

Leaders for Manufacturing (LFM - Leaders for Manufacturing (LFM) PROGRAM AT MIT - Leaders, partners, change agents...) - this is a truly special program. An MBA and M.S degree (in an engineering branch of your choice). 75% scholarship, the opportunity to intern with any of the sponsoring organizations for 6 months. Supremely tough to get into, but the advantage is studying with great peers. In addition to opportunities with sponsoring companies, access to the normal MIT-Sloan career services. 2 full years starting with summer semester.

System Design & Management (SDM - SDM Program at MIT - SDM Program at MIT) - 13 month course, normally more experienced candidates, average entering age is early-mid 30's.... Applicable particularly to those with the profile as in points 1 to 3 above.

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For profiles in Healthcare seeking to enhance careers in this industry, you might want to consider MIT's Biomedical Enterprise Program or BEP - Biomedical Enterprise Program - Biomedical Enterprise Program.... A program run by the MIT-Sloan School in conjunction with the MIT-Harvard Division of Health Sciences (hst.mit.edu), this is probably the finest program in Healthcare, and in its rigour will easily surpass an MBA with Healthcare focussed electives!! 2 options offered - a 3 year option for younger professionals in healthcare leading to MBA / M.S in Health Sciences; and a 2 year option leading to an M.S degree for those who have an MBA already.

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Cheerz
Baccardisprite

Next post is for those interested in the field of Logistics and Supply chain management......

[baccardisprite]

This post is for those interested to start or build on specialist and business focussed careers in Strategic Operations, Sourcing, Supply Chain Management, Transportation and Logistics. These careers are of three types:

1. Directly with transportation service (including air & sea-ports), logistics, and supply chain service providers - airlines (cargo transport), shipping companies like Maersk / NOL / Evergreen, 3rd party logistics (3PL) - which might be independent companies like DHL (through both it's courier / Exel Logistics arm), Sembcorp Logistics, Schenker and Kuehne Nagel or the 3PL arms of major shipping companies like Maersk, APL, NOL, Evergreen. These companies execute the operations of global trade & commerce. The best ones create / expand business opportunities for the companies they serve - essentially these are the ones you need to target.

After a year with L&T, yours truly's started his career at 22 with one of the companies mentioned above, spent 7.5 years before going for an MBA.

2. The operations, strategic sourcing, supply chain, distribution and logistics functions of major light / heavy manufacturing, core process and capital intensive industries. The profile of these functions coorelates directly with the competitive dynamics of the industry where the function is performed. Simply put - the more competitive the industry, the greater the focus on cost / optimization and efficiency, therefore the greater the focus on operational functions like these. To have a good profile, you need to target these companies or companies whose industry is likely to get more competitive in the future. Example - a supply chain director is a BIG job in Unilever / Nestle / Tata Steel / Mahindra, because these companies play in brutally competitive and cost conscious industries. A supply chain & procurement director in a medical devices company will become a big position 5 years from now when the industry becomes more competitive (medical devices is probably the world's most profitable core industry now).

3. Specialist technology and software development / service providers to both industry and companies above. You can count our very own Infosys, TCS, Wipro, Cognizant and international majors like SAP, Celerant, Accenture etc.. as leading technology deliverers to this function. The technical & business people in these companies / vertical tend to have both technology training / education + specialist functional training in Logistics & SCM. As the demand for cost optimization and effective supply chains increase, it's people like these who will continue to be in demand.

Historically, people tended to start their careers in this field earlier by entering companies at a very young age - the physical nature of work gave it a perception of being less-than-classy, unless they started in the IT field (#3 above)

Technology, education, broad awareness of the value deliverable by this function / skill and (most importantly) a realization that these profiles can develop into business leadership positions has since attracted a more sophisticated, educated and urbane group to careers in this field - both industry and functional. The industry (#1) and function (#2) as mentioned above, are among the largest and fastest evolving client groups for advanced technology development and application.

If you are in or intend an MBA - and are interested in this career - your typical elective group should include strategy, operations management, advanced cost accounting, process excellence etc... The good schools are the same - US Top 10 (specially Stanford, MIT, Michigan, Cornell etc..), EU Top 3 and the famous Asian schools.

Outside of typical MBAs, Master's Programs offering broad & deep education in Logistics and Supply Chain management have gained importance, visibility and attraction. Here're only a few good ones I know of, offered by well-known universities that you could think about:

1. The Logistics Institute, Asia-Pacific (TLI) and Georgia Institute of Technology's (called Georgia Tech or GaTech) School of Industrial and Systems Engineering offers a dual M.S program (The Logistics Institute - Asia Pacific). For those who are still young i.e 1-3 years of experience, interested in this field - this is an almost perfect program to apply to and develop a career. Scholarships for internationals are on offer, but the cracker is an opportunity to be sponsored through a scholarship and work for 3 years with one of the companies offering the scholarship. Effectively the scholarship is a loan you pay back with 3 years of work! GaTech is the world's finest school of industrial engineering, supply chain management, transportation engineering and logistics.

2. MIT's Engineering Systems Division (check previous post) runs a 9 month Master of Logistics (MLOG) program. This feeds of the MIT name, the strength of the MIT coursework, the Center for Transportation & Logistics (MIT's CTL) - to attract some seriously good profiles... many former MBAs. Most of the attendees are specialists or experts in the field already. Very optimization, technology and systems focussed. Good for people who have either strong core industry experience or IT careers with a focus on retail, supply chain, transportation and logistics.

3. The Cranfield University School of Management (UK) runs a well regarded 1 year M.Sc in Logistics. Best to have 2 years experience with at least one foreign language before entering the program.

4. The Cass Business School of the City University of London (Cass Business School, London|MBA, Masters MSc, Undergraduate, Executive Education, PhD) conducts 3 very quantitative and finance heavy programs in Logistics / Shipping / Energy + trade & finance. While related to the operational aspects, these are finance heavy courses and should be attractive if you want to marry previous experience in transportation and SCM with a career in (example) freight futures / commodity trading. You typically end up working for shipping consultancies / brokerages, commodity trading houses (like Cargill) or metals & mining companies as transportation or shipping specialists (very important)....

5. M.Sc in Transporation & Logistics - 2 year Master's Program from one of the Top 4-5 technical universities in Europe, and certainly the best in Holland. The program TU Delft - Master Transport, Infrastructure & Logistics, is delivered in English. With more EU countries now looking for technically trained and experienced talent outside the EU, you can expect a favorable work permit environment particularly if you get a job with a multinational, and if you speak one of the major EU languages (German, French or Spanish).

Have a look at these, all the best.

Cheerz
Baccardisprite

Next - A shorter post :-)

[baccardisprite]

Many PG´s ask questions about Masters Programs abroad in "Management", and "international business".... Many are 21-22, fresh out of college and normally appear less than sure about what they want to do with their lives, more often than not ask for opinions on mostly obscure, unknown, less-reputed or lower ranked universities / colleges / institutions. To this group, I would advise as follows:

1) If you absolutely must do a Master´s degree abroad immediately after undergrad education, please do it in a fairly quantitative subject like finance, systems engineering, economics, operations etc.. - applicable to a broader swathe of industries and companies. Plain vanilla management, marketing and international business programs tend to focus on aspects of business where strong local professional experience / cultural assimilation is required which would almost certainly exclude you from these jobs at an initial stage of your career. Technical / quantitative education opens possibilities to enter a company / industry on a more equal footing compared your local peers. Example - as a 23-24 year old fresh Master´s in Marketing degree holder from a UK university, you´d be hard-pressed to get a marketing job with any company. However, a degree in Economics or Finance and you´ll have a chance in these jobs, and later enter marketing after a few years of experience.

2) The name & reputation of your university matters (not necessarily always reflected in a ranking), because a better university will almost always have a career service department, that either or both - has street-credibility to attract the best companies to present on campus (or hold job fairs) and the resources to train you to effectively find jobs in the companies and geographies that matter. Think about it - do you think you will be better off at University of London Institution or a University of Teeside??? If you ask a question about an obscure university and no one answers, it should tell you something, very few know and that unfortunately matters.... Over and above the VERY important aspect of quality students and instructors, an educational institution is judged by the quality of the employment secured by it´s graduates and the success they enjoy in the future.

Choose your program carefully (of course - at the cost of sounding irritatingly repetitive, that´s AFTER deciding what you want to do with your career).

Cheerz
Baccardisprite

Next post - International (Professional) Accounting & Finance Qualifications

[paagalboy22]

hey... its said that Accountants r of high demand in Aus.. cud u share some info on MPA (Aus)..nd is it better to do MS finance frm Aus than UK?..or is it the other way round? ...looking forward to your nxt post on International (Professional) Accounting & Finance Qualifications....

regards.

[baccardisprite]

In this post I will focus on (International) professional accounting and financial qualifications.

Many countries have their own Chartered accounting qualification(s), like India has it's CA & CWA. With differences between these national qualifications based primarily on accounting, audit, financial reporting and tax related national regulations, these qualifications essentially teach you the same things - starting with basic accounting, economics, business law going on to local / international taxation, financial reporting & information systems, performance / decision management, and finally leading to broader organizational aspects, business strategy and corporate finance.

In terms of a fairly all encompassing all round financial education (accounting and corporate finance), there're very few qualifications that can actually beat professional / chartered accounting.

In terms of global reach, recognition and acceptability - the UK's 3 main accounting certificates

ACCA (Association of Chartered Certified Accountants, Glasgow - ACCA - the global body for professional accountants),

CIMA (Chartered Institute of Management Accountants, London - www.cimaglobal.com) and

ICAEW (Institute of Chartered Accountants of England & Wales - ICAEW)

- are broadly accepted all across the commonwealth as a symbol of proficiency and evidence of having gone through a fairly tough academic regimen, which along with rigorous experience qualify you for most financial roles at the same level as MBAs (in fact more).

For those of you who are already qualified CAs or are getting there, and if you have international ambitions, it would be particularly advisable to register yourself for and complete one of either ACCA or CIMA, so when you seek opportunity abroad (with or without an MBA / other Master's qualification) you have globally recognized credential in the bag. Also, as an Indian CA or CWA, you're eligible for exemptions from several papers of ACCA / CIMA.

ACCA & CIMA have a long established presence predominantly in the commonwealth, with connections well estalished through the British Council + (in some cases) locally based tuition providers. While tuition provision in India is rather limited, the qualifications are designed for you to study on your own and give exams anywhere in the world where there's a British Council.... Hundreds take the exam in India.... Books / Study materials are locally sourceable (you can find information in the India specific menu of CIMA for example).

The next question obviously is the cost. I broadly estimate that giving the exams in India, studying in India and getting the certification should cost about INR 3-4 L (3500-4500 Pounds) spread over 3 -4 years.

Please surf the websites for more detailed information.

Good luck
Baccardisprite

next post - CFA

[baccardisprite]

Hi all,

Been an extremely busy couple of weeks... Travelling a lot as well.... Will be back with the next couple of posts in a few days...

Cheerz all.

[Apurv]

This is just breathtaking depth and breadth of research and information! Wonderful work
Could you also throw light on how one usually goes about raising funds for these courses?

[smarthead007]

hi, this is one of the best articles ive read...
just a question, if im planning for something in media- as in a production house (say warner bros, 20th cent fox, etc)... what would you suggest...

please help me out, i dont wanna do an mba only to realise i shouldn't have.

[baccardisprite]

Back posting after quite a while. Been quite busy lately at work. Anyway, as promised this post like the previous one will focus on financial careers, specifically on corporate finance and investment management.

Investment managers i.e those who manage money of investors (institutions and individuals) function on the buy-side of the financial industry. They buy investments, in the form of either shares (equity or stock) or bonds (against which they lend their investor´s money) to companies or other similar institutions.

An example is an LIC in India, whose investment managers invest the funds (mostly capital provided by shareholders and the premiums of their policy holders) in company shares, or with private equity investors or lend to banks and so on.... The managers who manage LIC funds need to have the skill to judge the attractiveness of their financial investments, behave in an ethical and legally compliant manner and deliver returns to the investors and policy holders... This is a process that repeats itself in various forms everywhere around the world. The common thread is the investment manager.

It´s a tough career that requires skill and education that rigorously tests quantitative ability and ethical thought, the latter of course given the huge sums of money they manage.

While skills are gained mostly on the job, the most recognized qualification to get into this field is the CFA - Chartered Financial Analyst, offered by the CFA Institute (CFA Institute Home). In many investment management companies this is almost the norm. This qualification comes in three levels, all of which you have to pass + gain experience in the investment management industry before you can call yourself a CFA. Don't confuse this with the CFA run by the ICFAI (Hyderabad) which is NOT recognized outside India.

So we do all wonder what the CFA actually tests and how different is it to the professional accounting qualifications. The CFA is an investment management degree, i.e how to invest funds externally for best returns in a legal and ethical manner. The accounting qualification trains on how to quantify, record and control the flow of money within and in/out of an organization, legally and ethically. The basics of both qualifications however is the same - a sound understanding of economics and financial statements (balance sheets, income statements, cash & fund flow statements). After the common basics however, a CFA goes straight into corporate finance, derivatives and advanced financial and technical analysis.... quite quantitative and challenging by any means.

There are no age restrictions on appearing for the CFA, but this is best taken when you´re young and still physically & mentally able to combine studying for this with your work. It´s quite cost effective, with study material, registration and other expenses undertaken for <USD 2000 per year. So less than INR 4L over a 4 year period.

Note however, that the CFA is facing legal wrangles in India as the ICFAI (the Indian CFA) has had the courts stay the delivery of the CFA in India. CFA Institute in India. Even with this however, flying to Dubai or Singapore to appear for the exams is actually worth the effort to get a qualification that´s as well respected as an MBA in finance from any top business school.

Good luck