Accepted: EMBA Employment and Career Services

Ace the EMBA Employment and Career Services

Ace the EMBA: Expert Advice for the Rising Executive - Employment and Career Services

This is the fourth post in our Ace the EMBA series on how to apply successfully to a top executive MBA program.

Given today’s volatile business climate, almost everyone in the business world must continuously evaluate and recalibrate their career path, whether they are planning an imminent change or not. It’s an ongoing part of being a business professional. EMBA applicants who aren’t planning a career change still know that their well-laid plans can erupt in an instant. And, increasingly, applicants are pursuing an EMBA specifically to facilitate a career transition. At University of Michigan’s Ross EMBA program, Lisa Morgan, a Ross EMBA career coach, states that “80-90 percent of the clients I work with come to me looking to conduct an external search and change employers.”

To address this trend, EMBA programs have beefed up their EMBA career services. The Executive MBA Council’s 2014 report shows that now almost all member programs offer career counseling – 92% as of that year. This jumped from 74% in 2006 and 67% in 2004 (per the 2006 report).

“Career services” include various types of career coaching, self-assessments, alumni networking and events, etc. While career services are common among EMBA programs, the line is usually drawn at regular recruiting (a major draw of regular MBA programs). There are notable exceptions – for example, UCLA Anderson states that “on-campus recruiting is open to EMBA students in their second year for full-time positions, and in the beginning of their first year for summer internship positions.” Wharton also offers recruiting access.

Mixing sponsorship with career services, however, may present an ethical dilemma for the EMBA program. Wharton divides its EMBA students into “job search eligible” and those who are not eligible: “To be eligible to access the Job Search Resources listed above, a student must provide the required documentation to indicate that s/he is self-sponsored or has permission from her/his sponsoring company.” Further details explain that some forms and levels of financial sponsorship may be permissible for job-search eligibility. Wharton’s career services are similarly divided into those all students can access, such as career planning and resume review, and those only open to job search eligible students, such as recruiting and participation in Job Search Action groups.

It will take some work to sift through the various EMBA programs to identify those that offer the level and type of career service options you particularly require. The upside is that, while recruiting is still rare, those options are increasingly deep and broad. A representative example of a relatively rich offering is Columbia University’s.

In the next post, we’ll turn to the qualifying factors adcoms look for in EMBA applicants.

Do you need help applying to your target EMBA programs, efficiently and successfully? Work one-on-one with an EMBA admissions expert for comprehensive application assistance. It’s time to get you ACCEPTED! View our EMBA services here.

Cindy Tokumitsu has advised hundreds of successful applicants, helping them gain acceptance to top MBA and EMBA programs in her 15+ years with Accepted. She would love to help you too. Want Cindy to help you get Accepted? Click here to get in touch!