And, these days at least, the degree can unlock a diversity of careers.
At ESADE Business School in Barcelona, Spain, more than 80% of MBAs were employed three months after donning their graduation caps.
And 96% of them used the degree to change either region, industry or function, sometimes all three — known as the triple jump.
Here’s three recent ESADE graduates doing just that:
Felix Lutter — McKinsey & Company
Felix Lutter used his ESADE MBA to land a job at McKinsey & Company, the prestigious management consultancy firm. “McKinsey contacted me because they saw my profile in the ESADE CV book. That was pretty neat,” the German says.
ESADE’s famed case-study method of teaching also helped. During the MBA, students must solve some of the greatest challenges facing corporations; they become professors. Felix says: “McKinsey also give you a wide case and they expect you to look at everything, from marketing and operations to the potential environmental impact of your solution.”
It’s all about using leadership skills — a key reason Felix joined the business school, in 2014. Since then, he’s certainly honed them: “The MBA has broadened my horizons,” says Felix, who graduated this summer.
Previously, he worked at private equity firm Avedon Capital Partners and before that as a senior consultant at Deloitte, both in Düsseldorf, Germany.
Yanyu Zheng — Alibaba
Yanyu Zheng used her ESADE MBA to join the sports business of Alibaba, the world’s biggest e-commerce company. She says: “Chinese companies are going global. They need talent with superb intercultural communication skills and a global vision for business. European MBAs are well-prepared to meet this need.”
ESADE’s class diversity — 95% of its 167 MBAs are from outside Spain, 50% from emerging market countries — stood out when she enrolled, in 2014: “A Chinese school is always dominated by Chinese students and culture,” says Yanyu, who’s Chinese. “At many European business schools, there is no dominant culture or student group, and it provides a truly international environment.”
Previously, the former ESADE Sports Business Club president worked at FC Barcelona, the Spanish football club. She developed and led the club’s Chinese communication strategy.
Before that Yanyu worked for Tencent, the Chinese internet giant, as the company’s first and only Chinese online sports media correspondent, in Barcelona.
Oriana Barra — Innovation Consulting
Oriana Barra used her ESADE MBA to bag a spot in an innovation consultancy firm. “Everything I’ve learned during the MBA program, I am applying now,” she says.
In particular, the myriad opportunities to work and study overseas helped Oriana move into a global career. During the degree, she worked on a project with Kellogg University of the US, went on exchange to the Guanghua School of Management in Beijing, China, and worked an internship at mining and metals company Aditya Birla Group in Mumbai, India.
Internationality was what set ESADE apart from its US peers, Oriana says: “My classmates are from all corners of the world.”
So is she. Before enrolling in the MBA in 2014, the Venezuelan co-founded a catering services company in Caracas. Prior to that, she trained as a pastry chef in Paris.
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