hi I have received acceptance letter for MBA IM at Pforzheim. I am an electronic engineer with around 6 years of experience and my GMAT is 680. I am considering Pforzheim because of financial constraints. I want to know that whether Germany in general and Pforzheim in perticular is a good choice for MBA for non-EU students in terms of job opportunities post MBA. Secondly are there any better options for me???

How about the bottom five schools on this list?

http://www.find-mba.com/board/41143

Maybe look into the FT-ranked options in Germany - there's ESMT and Mannheim, you're in the ballpark in terms of GMAT and work experience for both of them.

More broadly, your career options in the country will depend on how good your German is.

Thanks for your prompt reply. As far as ESMT , Mannheim and other ranked schools are concerned they are very expensive, around 30-35k euro. Which i may not be able to afford. Pforzheim does not release any job placement record officially. Do you know how there placement record is?? Is it comparable to those of ranked schools?? Were Pforzheim grads able to find jobs in germany or they had to come back to their home countries??

Thanks for the list Duncan. But the primary reason why I selected Pforzheim is its low fee and Job opportunities post-mba in German market. The St Gallen, ESMT and Mannheim are way beyond my reach because of financial constraints. Do you know any good school which can provide a loan of about 70-80% of cost of attendance??? As far as Durham is concerned it is not only expensive but also the british job market is not good for non-EU students. Most of Pakistani students had to come back after completing their studies and they have to pay a large portion of their salary as installments of the loan.

I'm not sure if that is right about Durham: it ranks #27 worldwide for international mobility (the ability to move international students into new countries) http://rankings.ft.com/businessschoolrankings/global-mba-ranking-2014

ESMT has a great loan scheme: https://prodigyfinance.com/get_a_loan WHU has the Brain Trust scheme.

Pforzheim does not release any job placement record officially. Do you know how there placement record is??

Is it comparable to those of ranked schools??

Pforzheim salaries are much, much, lower than ranked schools (maybe 45k or 55k euros, I guess).

Good to see so many questions on HS Pforzheim after ages. Duncan is partially right with the numbers - in the last couple of years, I can say that the average salaries have had a shift from 45000 - 55000 to 55000 to 60000 Euros pa. It is on the rise with every subsequent batch and that makes me very very happy. As far as the last batch is concerned, everyone is employed in middle management or management trainee positions (for all those who had less than 3 years of experience). Blablacar, Pirona Dental, NSN, SAP AG, MBG Innovation Business Consulting, Boehringer Ingelheim, EON, Bombardier are the employers from the last batch. The present batch scheduled to pass out in August 2014 is interning with SAP AG, BASF, Daimler, Kaercher, Mann Hummel, C. Hafner, Puma, Experteer, Merck Group, KPMG, John Deere, Bank of China. They had past working student contracts, 2 month internships and company projects with Carl Schlenk, MBG Innovation Business Consulting, Siemens AG, Henkel, Rocket Internet GmbH. All of this should give you a snapshot of the industry domains, brand names and the profiles mentioned earlier. HS Pforzheim is one of the best choices to make if you look at a cost benefit analysis. The effect of a comparatively lower salary to start with is always compensated by the amount of Euros you do not spend every semester.

Thanks for your reply avigyandutta. I know that you are a senior student at Pforzheim. I have a few questions about the employment of non- German students. I have heard that most of the companies still conduct business in German language. Is it true?? and how important are the German language skills in getting a job in Germany. Were all the non-EU students such as Indians able to get jobs or some of them had to back to their home countries.

Most of the companies, mid size and hidden champions conduct their business in German - that is true. It is mostly because, a bulk of their major clients are German and from areas of Europe around Germany that speak German. English comes in when they cater to English speaking clients. Even if you are catering to just those English speaking clients, you would still want to speak in German with your colleagues and also during lunch time in order to avoid being an outcast. German language skills are the most important - cant emphasize more. The 2013 batch Indians - all of them were able to secure jobs in Europe. The 2012 had some who went back only because they wanted to and not because they failed here. The 2014 batch looks bright - the course ends on the 31st August but we already have 4 placements (all non Germans) - Siemens, KPMG, Helbling Business Advisors AG and Trivago. Rest are all interning at this point of time.

The 2013 batch Indians - all of them were able to secure jobs in Europe. The 2012 had some who went back only because they wanted to and not because they failed here.

Most of the companies, mid size and hidden champions conduct their business in German - that is true. It is mostly because, a bulk of their major clients are German and from areas of Europe around Germany that speak German. English comes in when they cater to English speaking clients. Even if you are catering to just those English speaking clients, you would still want to speak in German with your colleagues and also during lunch time in order to avoid being an outcast. German language skills are the most important - cant emphasize more. The 2013 batch Indians - all of them were able to secure jobs in Europe. The 2012 had some who went back only because they wanted to and not because they failed here. The 2014 batch looks bright - the course ends on the 31st August but we already have 4 placements (all non Germans) - Siemens, KPMG, Helbling Business Advisors AG and Trivago. Rest are all interning at this point of time.

Yes, but it would be interesting to see some updated info for the most recent groups. They don't have any career data on their website.

Yes, but it would be interesting to see some updated info for the most recent groups. They don't have any career data on their website.