Hi,

I was wondering... If one would like to change his career (ie. Egineering to Finance, FMCG to Mgmt consulting, IT to I-Banking).

Would he or she get that chance to shift one's career after a one-year MBA (ie. INSEAD, IMD, IE, ESADE, Ivey, Warwick, Cranfield) ?

Once I read an article about this, and what I learned is that going for 1-year MBA doesn't allow you for internship (which leads to a new career) or build a strong network (due to limited amount of time with your peers and potential employers). While with a 2-year MBA, one can have a chance to go for an internship and, at the same time, have 2 years to build networks.

maybe going for 1.5 year MBA would be the most balance (ie. HK-UST, IESE, HEC).

What do you guys think ?

I think the internship is the key here. I get that people don't want to put their career on hold (on not earn money) for so long, but I think the possible network, knowledge and momentum you can get from an internship - regardless of whether youre offered a job there or not - would be essential for a career change. I like that 18 mo -2 year time frame. Actually I think ESADE is flexible, so if you want to take longer to get your MBA, then you can. But I'm not sure about if they do an internship.

Or maybe you could check out an experience-focused, one-year program like Lancaster, which seems all about career change and giving students contact to UK companies through several shorter "consultancies".

Good luck to you,
Alan

Thanks for the comment alan. Appreciate it.

The reason I asked this question because I'm applying for 1.5 yr - 2 yr MBA progams which are more expensive than 1 yr MBA.
That's why I need some sanity check, whether I'm doing the right thing.

I also actually feel that 1-yr MBA in West Europe is for those who want to be enterpreneur (ie. IE, ESADE, IMD, INSEAD).
because these programs have the best platforms for Enterpreneurship. That how I see Western European MBA.

I know at IE you have the option to do an internship either during the summer (its a 6 week break, I think, so it would be a pretty short internship) or it seems you can take one of your elective terms off to do an internship, but then this pushes your graduation date back by one term (defeating the purpose of a one-year MBA). You also have the option to take online electives while doing an internship, if you want. But that seems like it might be overly stressful. And, I think I would prefer to take all of my classes in person :P