Hello!
I've been reading the other posts in this forum and I found out lots of interesting information. Therefore I would like to ask for your opinion regarding my situation.
I'm a junior project manager, more specifically I only have 1 year experience. All the same I want to start planning my career. Since I left my Msc in management I wish to work in marketing, particularly in something related to brand management and/or cross-cultural marketing (I lack the work experience necessary to be more clear), in the perfect scenario, in a multinational company, in the luxury industry.
Taking into account that I couldn't start working on any of the areas mentioned above, or related, (yet!) I am currently exploring options in order to achieve my goal. Since I've always wanted to take an MBA, I thought perhaps I could start thinking about it right now, so that I could apply to one which would allow me to further develop these skills, as soon as possible (I know I still have to work 2 years more at least in order to apply!)
Considering this, which MBA's programmes would you recommend, preferably from European Universities?

Thank you!!

Hi Joana

In today's competitive environment a good number of students face a "catch 22 " where without a relevant experience it is difficult to get a job and without a getting the job in the preferred industry one can not gain experience.

However the story does not end there and stretches a bit beyond. The employers look towards employees as resources and they know that this resource is going to be with them for an average time period pertaining to that particular industry and few other factors like market dynamics , economic situations , availability of opportunities in cross cultural environment etc.. Hence if you are looking for a preferred job after doing an MBA in any particular industry , either you should have exposure to that industry ,or you have strong networking in that industry , or that industry is in darn need of employees ( in this case the company would not mind picking general graduates and give them OJT ) or you can take an entrepreneurial initiative in that segment / sector .

MBA is a course which stretches your ability to an extent where you know that you can become organized and can attempt to various solutions for challenging situations in a systematic manner. And after the rigorous study program most of the students change their perspective and grab the best paying jobs as per their own perception. ( a very few students even take a 360 degree turn to come back from a corporate dream to a social development sector )

When you speak of European MBAs. you would have to think of several things ..

1. Are you looking for a high paying job ?
2. Are you looking for a program which has good industrial interface and the school has a good alumni base
3. Are you looking for scholarships to fund your education ?
4. Do you have any preference to be in any particular country ?
5.Is your prior expreince contributing to your future career goals ?

There are several other questions and answer to these questions will lead to several others and joining them you can lead you near a course which fulfills most of your criteria for joining a dream B-school.

I think you should search the Europe board for discussions on luxury. Unless you speak Italian or French before entering your MBA at ESSEC, HEC or Bocconi I don't see how can MBA will lead you into an MBA-type role in the European luxury market.

Also see Luxury & Luxury Brand Management http://www.find-mba.com/board/24603

There's HEC Paris, ESSEC, Alma, Monaco, SDA Bocconi, INSEAD...

Keep in mind that a lot of the luxury jobs that MBA grads land aren't in Europe - they're in the places where the luxury industry is developing: China, Brazil, southeast Asia, parts of eastern Europe.

That said, the big luxury firms that are setting up shop in this region love MBA grads who have experience in the European luxury sector. So, an internship in a luxury company while you're doing your MBA at one of these top schools can help immensely.

I'm not sure what the attraction of this industry is.

It's sort of like rock and roll or Hollywood - unless you're of Marc Jacobs' caliber the pay is crap and there aren't many opportunities. Yes, there are opportunities in the developing countries but the real action is in the designer brands in Milan, Paris, etc., and these are notoriously difficult unless you know somebody.

Firstly, thank you all for replying me! In fact I didn't have a clear idea on the luxury industry or what having a MBA is all about. I'm just strating my research on the matter. Working in the luxury industry sounds awesome, but I understand that it may not be easy to start working on the field.
Anyway, I am also open to other sectors (such as technologies, which is one of my favorites). The luxury sector would just be the so called ?ideal scenario?. What is really important to me is to find a MBA that prepares me well enough so that I can work in something that I really like to do (I mentioned brand management and/or cross-cultural marketing previously) and be good at it! :)
I read the MBA programs from the Universities you recommended and I found some of them very interesting. Thank you!


Razors Edge:
I understand your point of view. Well, I think maybe I can put the fault on the media! :) They pass such an attractive image of the sector that it easily becomes a dream to work in the area!


Mba_aspirant1:
Thank you very much for telling me more about the MBA students perspective. In fact, that is something completely unknown to me since I don't know anyone who has taken a MBA (at least one internationally renowned).
As I said, at this stage, I wish to apply for a MBA that allows me to get the job I wish. Money is important, of course, but I value personal fulfillment the most. Therefore, I think that a good industrial interface would be very important as well as a scholarship naturally would be very useful, if possible! Since I can speak English and French and I can understand the basics of latin based languages, I don't have any particular country in mind. I'd prefer to stay in Europe though. Finally, my current experience is related with international markets research, specially oriented for the technologies sectors.
I tried to answer your questions, however I can see that many others may follow. I think you gave me an introduction to a deeper reflection I may benefit from. Thanks!

Hi Joana

Its nice to hear from you. Before taking a career decision , one must be very much clear about what they actually want. And when there are constraints , the need for clarity actually increases. Hospitality ( luxury ) and technology industry are very different from each other . However branding aspect are common to both. If you are looking for marketing specialisation then every industry needs it. Branding is a part of marketing specialization and that comes when you have the end to end domain knowledge and you have good coordination skills across Strategic business units and have project management skills. Very few students get to engage in this tasks in full capacity when they pass out from MBA schools, unless they are starting their own business. Having said that, when you want to enter an MBA , they select you basing on some criteria which might not be commensurate for job opportunities. E.g. If a hiring manager in IT industry starts " head hunting" they have specified positions based on a life cycle of a project. E.g. THey need someone in a position of sales manager for any particular product then they would need someone who has adequate knowledge of IT products and applications. their market demand and have successfully achieved targets in their past job and have adequate education such as MBA.. if they are looking for a project manager for any product , they would prefer IT specialist who have hands on experience of Software development life cycle and managerial skills as well. The bottom line is managers are meant to utilize resource of the company and multiply it in return. THat is why they look for people with such experience. So if you want to enter technology industry , and you do not have prior experience in that then you might have to start in a junior level position. and at the same time..you may see without any management education but with inherent managerial skills an IT engineer can progress much faster in the same organization.

Good luck.