Thanks Duncan !
I do love Germany/Netherland
Their languages are also closely related.
In those 5 years, I want to save some money, and side by side work on the scripts I want to develop.
The German govt has good funding for their films as well.
That is the reason I zeroed on to Germany.
Now all of it sounds quite okay to my mind except the part of getting a decent job after the MBA, of which I am not sure.

I have a few MBA friends but they all graduated from Indian/US colleges, so they don't have any idea about the scene in Europe and you seem to know a lot.

So doing my best, getting a good GMAT score, hopefully doing good in acads there and learning German, Do you really think I stand a chance or is it a matter of luck ?

Thanks again Duncan!
Any insight/suggestion is greatly appreciated !

I don't know about the film industry, but if you have business-level German and an MBA from one of the top schools in the German-speaking region (ESCP, ESMT, HHL, Goethe, GISMA, HSG, Mannheim, WHU, WU) then you should do well. I think the ESCP and ESMT in Berlin are interesting since that's the centre of the film industries.

Also look at firms that might employ MBAs. I'm think of ProSiebenSat.1, Deutsche Welle, RTT, ZDF ARRI etc.

But... Also consider the non MBA route into Sky, Bertelsman, SWR etc, firms which don't traditionally hire MBAs. Schools like the Steinbeis-Hochschule, Freie Universität Berlin, Universität zu Köln or LMU in Munich might also offer a path?

Okay I see.
So which course from Steinbeis-Hochschule, Freie Universität Berlin, Universität zu Köln or LMU in Munich might cater my the way into Sky, Bertelsman etc?

And most importantly...about the top German MBA colleges that you suggested, you think with my last three years without any corporate work experience I could be hired into the mainstream MBA roles (rest all factors being well attended to) ?

If you think chances are decent enough in any sector, I am going to give it a fight... If its not that good, then maybe I should not.
And this is where your suggestion might be most valuable to me...

Thanks a ton !

Hi there, Yes, I think you sound like you could be an interesting candidate. The fact that you have non-corporate work experience isn't the problem. The problem is that you'll need to explain to them: why you are taking an MBA rather than a degree in film; why you want to study in Germany; and do you have the sort of character that would make a firm want to employ you.

In terms of the non-MBA options, I used this approach: http://www.find-mba.com/board/33571 (maybe this search might work for you: http://www.linkedin.com/search/fpsearch?keywords=film&searchLocationType=I&countryCode=de&keepFacets=keepFacets&page_num=1&pplSearchOrigin=ADVS&viewCriteria=2&sortCriteria=R&redir=redir#facets=keywords%3Dfilm%26search%3DSearch%2520Search%26fname%3D%26lname%3D%26title%3D%26company%3D%26school%3D%26postalCode%3D%26companyId%3D%26facetsOrder%3DCC%252CN%252CI%252CPC%252CED%252CL%252CFG%252CTE%252CFA%252CSE%252CP%252CCS%252CF%252CDR%252CG%26inNetworkSearch%3Dfalse%26pplSearchOrigin%3DFCTD%26searchLocationType%3DI%26countryCode%3Dde%26keepFacets%3Dtrue%26facet_I%3D35%2520126%252036%26openFacets%3DCC%252CN%252CI).

Use LinkedIn to see what courses were taken by the people who are ink those firms (or the websites of those universities to see what programmes exist). For example, the FUB has this: http://www.fu-berlin.de/en/studium/studienangebot/master/filmwissenschaft/index.html Of course, most of these will be in German, and for that you might need to first take a year taking an intensive German course.

Thanks a whole lot !

The Linkedin Factor would definitely help a lot !

I understand that a lot of MBA schools look out for diversity in their student's profile and it would make sense that they would include me in their program owing to a different work experience. So far so good.
But when it comes down to placement / job offer, firms don't care about that isn't it? They would ideally want a guy who can perform well, in which the relevant previous work experience matters to them.

So my questions are:-

1)Post MBA, will the non-focused profile of mine, if I may call it 'diverse', work in my favor ? Do you know of any such cases ?

2)However good my aptitude might be in Quants, it won't fetch me a job in Finance sector, because of non existing work experience there, is that the same for Marketing/Operations/Consulting profiles ?

Thanks again !

Firms care about more than the prior experience; if that was not the case, then MBA degrees would not be so effective at helping people to transition industry and role. The question for you is: what sorts of roles are most credible with your background? If you're unsure, then perhaps you need to look for MBA programmes with internships and projects?

But consider your background: Accenture; educational start-up, film-making. I don't know the industry, but I can see that you could list the skills you developed in each role, then write those in a Venn diagram, and then think creatively about what sort of role might work for you. Should you be consulting to, or in some media firm focussed, the education sector or start-ups? Focus on the skills you have.

Personally, I think you need to find a careers guidance counsellor, take some careers aptitude tests (CareerLeader is great) and think more concretely about where you want to be.

Some more self reflection is needed.
For the rest, Thanks a whole lot !!

Hey Duncan,

I read through a lot of posts about the MBA schools in Germany.
Since WHU starts intake earlier, I think I won't be able to apply for it. So how idoes the rest ESMT,Mannheim,HHL and Hochshules Offenburg and Pforzheim fare without WHU?
Will I be missing too much if I leave the chance for WHU?

Also, should ESMT be placed on a good pedestal considering that I want to work in Berlin/Munich/Frankfurt, or is it that the better ones (HHL, Mammheim) would have the same, if not better, chances of placement in those places ?
Which is to ask, how good is ESMT for a placement in Berlin, if it is ?

And lastly, on a different note, how does NHH,Bergen fare in your book, generally and compared to the above ones ?

Thanks !

ESMT, Mannheim and HHL are all excellent; I'm not sure that ESMT is worse than Mannheim and HHL, but it is different. The schools publish placement reports, which you can find or get from them, and you'll see that placement is similarly strong between them. All of them are national schools, so ESMT isn't placing into Berlin much more than Mannheim or HHL place locally.

NHH is very different. It does not have an MBA, for example.

Yes, It doesn't have MBA...
but isn't its Masters in International Business equivalent to it?
Technically not the same but practically in terms of curriculum and salary at placement?
Or is it a different thing altogether which I should be introduced to ?
(For eg. the role of an MBA graduate would be totally different from what the role you'll have after doing your masters here)

Likewise, you had suggested Goethe Institute to me, there also they don't have proper full time MBA but masters, right ?
And what about Munich Business school and Frankfurt school of finance and management ? Where would they lie in the ranking and reputation ?

Thanks again !!

No the MIB is a pre-experience MSc inside the NHH "MSc in Economics and Business Administration" family. You can see the placement at http://rankings.ft.com/businessschoolrankings/nhh-2/masters-in-management-2012#masters-in-management-2012

The Goethe Institute isn't the same as the Goethe University, which has an MBA: http://www.goethe-business-school.de/en/Full-Time-MBA/Goethe-Full-Time-MBA.html

MBS gets good student ratings for teaching, but it doesn't seem to have a stronger placement record than a regular Fachhochschule. Frankfurt school of finance and management is better known, especially as a banking academy for apprenticeships, but they don't have a strong record of placing international students.

Hi Duncan,

I have received comfirmation e-mail fron GISMA and Goethe business school that they have discontinued full-time MBA
no reason why they have done so:-(
According to you,how is munich business school?

Discounted? Do you mean discontinued?

Thanks !

So does that mean that with 6 years of experience, doing an MBA makes more sense then doing 'Masters in Management' ?

Also can you tell me a bit more about Goethe Business School in terms of reputation and placements? They haven't put up any such information.They don't even have the tuition fees listed !

Discounted? Do you mean discontinued?

Thanks !

So does that mean that with 6 years of experience, doing an MBA makes more sense then doing 'Masters in Management' ?

Also can you tell me a bit more about Goethe Business School in terms of reputation and placements? They haven't put up any such information.They don't even have the tuition fees listed !

Are you sure that both Gisma and the Goethe university MBA have closed? I'd find it very easy to believe that the Goethe MBA is on hold: that was a partner MBA with Duke university, who have pulled out so I imagine that can be on hold. But the GISMA MBA is really well-established. The intake is planned for August..

Are you sure that both Gisma and the Goethe university MBA have closed? I'd find it very easy to believe that the Goethe MBA is on hold: that was a partner MBA with Duke university, who have pulled out so I imagine that can be on hold. But the GISMA MBA is really well-established. The intake is planned for August..

I have also heard that the Goethe MBA program is not offered anymore - and they have no plans to offer a new one in the future. It's a shame, because that was one of the better programs offered in Germany.

I hadn't heard about Gisma - from the website it looks as if they're still taking applications?

Hey Namita

Thanks.
I'll be applying for 2014 though.

Its sad that both these schools have discontinued their programs.
Hope this has nothing to do with the ongoing Euro crisis.