I am a post-graduate in electronics with roughly three years of work experience in academic research and technology writing. My academic background is quite strong and I have done well professionally during the time I was employed; however, I have a huge gap of 5 years in my work profile (currently not employed). I have completed my applications to Hult and SP Jain, and am considering applying to Manchester Business School and the University of Wollongong in Dubai. Following are my concerns about these schools and why I am having a hard time making up my mind about them.

I received an offer from Hult; although, after extensive online research on your forum as well as other feedback, I decided not to take it.

SP Jain has a Masters’ program suited for beginners like me, and their modules are well segmented for me to suppose what I would be learning in each one. However, I am not keen on the globetrotting aspect due to family reasons. They provide a reasonable guarantee of employment beginning with the internship.

Pre-supposing my selection into the part-time global MBA at MBS, I feel I would be misplaced among professionals with much greater experience than me. Besides, I am skeptical of how much I can learn from 30 days of face to face classes (in two years) supplemented with online learning. I also find their course structure quite broad and non-descriptive. For e.g., a module titled ‘Strategic Brand Management’ or ‘Marketing Analytics’ (as offered at Hult, SP Jain, UOWD), makes more sense to me than ‘Strategy and Competition’ (offered at MBS). It makes me wonder if the course covers business fundamentals of accounting, marketing, etc. at all or expects students to already have a base from their place of work. Lastly, will this program provide a reasonable guarantee of landing a good position in marketing (not because the degree isn’t valuable but because it isn’t well-suited to my profile and the fact that it is a general MBA)? They do have good career support it seems.

UOWD does not have global accreditation but their Masters’ in Marketing is accredited by the Chartered Institute of Marketers and entitles you to its membership. I assume their faculty is quite good as they come from renowned business schools. Their course structure is neatly segregated and sounds suitable for beginners and I can complete the entire course in Dubai in two years or choose for a dual specialization without breaking the bank. They provide a reasonable guarantee of employment through live projects and career support.

Please advise on which school I would be better off choosing, both in terms of getting a solid base in business fundamentals as well as boosting my employability in the UAE. I really appreciate any inputs that would help me take a decision.

Any accredited masters will be accepted by the CIM. I did my MBA at LBS and that go me accepted as a Chartered Marketer.

Okay. I did not know that. Thanks Duncan for your input. If I had to choose between MBS, UOWD, and SP Jain, for my profile and my expectations from MBA/Masters' (specializing in Marketing), which would you suggest? Will I learn more from MBS' part-time program or UOWD's 2 year on-campus programme? Where do I have better chances of beginning a career in Marketing?

Your focus is on working in the UAE?

Yes. I do not have any plans of moving elsewhere, at the moment. I also would like to ensure that I get a thorough grounding in business fundamentals. I like MBS for its strong ranking but am bothered by whether I would fit it the cohort and would get to learn as much as peers at other schools.

Is the part time program at MBS only targeted at mid-career professionals or can a person looking to change their field from research/writing to say, brand development, benefit from the course structure and networking?

[Edited by Globetrotter on Feb 25, 2019]

Transitioning into brand management, with a solid MBA program, is not out of the question. For me, the biggest uncertainty between these school choices would be the quality of the cohorts—who's recruited into them, from which industries, and at what career level—and which of these cohorts would best suit your networking needs. You can ask the schools directly about these points.