Hello everybody, what is the consensus on what the best MBA program in Spain is? I would like to do my MBA in the country with the intention of working there after I graduate. I also need a strong network in Latin America, because my long term goals are to settle in the region (eventually.)

I work for an international security firm but I see myself transitioning into either consulting or finance.

I am not a native Spanish speaker but I speak the language sufficiently for getting by in the country (I used to live there on a two year long job assignment.) But I plan on working on my accent, because I know that I do sound like a non-native speaker.

Which MBA program should I target?

Take a look at the Financial Times ranking.

Start with these:

IE Business School
IESE Business School
ESADE Business School

These three are ranked in the FT and usually place similar percentages in financial services and consulting. IESE and IE have similar salary outcomes, according to the FT, while ESADE grads make less.

Other programs in Spain that are popular are UC3M and EADA.

I know that IE has strong links to Latin America, but not sure about the others. You'll want to check Linkedin for that.

Thank you, Ralph. I'll look into these schools.

Start with these:

IE Business School
IESE Business School
ESADE Business School

These three are ranked in the FT and usually place similar percentages in financial services and consulting. IESE and IE have similar salary outcomes, according to the FT, while ESADE grads make less.

Other programs in Spain that are popular are UC3M and EADA.

I know that IE has strong links to Latin America, but not sure about the others. You'll want to check Linkedin for that.

It looks like IESE and ESADE place similar percentages of students into consulting roles. IE isn't far behind though. ESADE offers a "London Consulting Trek" where you can meet with management consulting firms. All of the schools' recent career reports say they've placed people in at least a few of the top-5 consulting firms.

Thanks, Ralph. Is it really reasonable to expect placements with the top five firms? I've heard that it's hard to get jobs in those companies without previous experience in management consulting.

It's not unheard of, if you were to do your MBA at a school like ESADE, IESE, or IE.

One thing that will be important though in the country is Spanish fluency. I doubt that there are many consulting jobs in the country that wouldn't require you to speak the language.

I minored in Spanish at University, I would say that while I'm a bit rusty I do consider myself fluent.

Mostly what I've heard though is that the management consulting firms tend to recruit younger (read, mid-20's) people for their entry level positions. This worries me because while I'm not that much older, I will be 36 when I exit an MBA. Should I worry?

I think it's challenging but not impossible. For instance, it looks like this person transitioned from chemical engineering to a "top-three strategy consulting firm," after an MBA from Insead and also an internship at McKinsey:

http://find-mba.com/articles/post-mba-careers-in-management-consulting

I think those things are the key factors: doing your MBA at a school that has strong ties to the firms and getting some practical experience in the form of an internship or project.

Good read, thanks for posting.

It looks like all of those schools, IE, ESADE, and IESE, all have some kind of internship option. I will explore those in more detail. Thanks for your help.

Ralph, is UC3M a good choice for somebody who wants to end up working in Spain?

It doesn't looks especially good for people who are not Spanish: https://www.linkedin.com/vsearch/p?keywords=MBA&school=Carlos&openAdvancedForm=true&locationType=I&countryCode=es&f_ED=12197&rsid=2007051431867577997&orig=MDYS