Hello ,
I am working as Senior Staff Engineer with a Multinational Engineering Contracting company in Norway. I am a 32 year old Piping engineer. I have limited management experience as most of my experience is engineering and CAD design.I am an Indian citizen with a Norwegian Permanent Residence card.I have 11 years of work experience(4 years International - UK and Norway). I have droped out of an Advanced Post graduate Diploma in Renewable Energy(in distance mode) from TERI due to logistic reasons as I have moved to Norway during the course. I have an A+ in the first year of that course. I have an undergraduate percentage of 70 from my mechanical engineering degree and a GMAT score of 700. I don't have much extra curricular activities in the past two years. But before that I was involved in a few NGOs in a volunteer capacity. I have a decent grip of Norwegian.

My post MBA goal would be to move into senior managerial role with business strategy / business development functions in an engineering/operating company in oil and gas sector
I am not planning to switch the sector but trying to steepen my career progression curve. I have an idea of moving into Singapore/Australian/Canadian/Middle-East Market(read English speaking country) as a long term goal in view of higher purchasing parity. My present salary is around 100K USD per year but it doesnt buy much taking into extremely high cost of living in Norway. I am married. In short term perspective(read 3-4 years post MBA) I wish to work in Norway in a managerial role after my Graduation due to mortgage committments.How competitive is my profile and what schools should I target ?

Thanks a ton for your Time.

Regards,

RK

If your short term focus is Norway, then either do a top MBA there (NHH or BI) or a top international programme (INSEAD, IMD or LBS).

Thank you very much Duncan. You are quite quick in answering.

My realistic analysis was that the top schools are a little stretch for me because of my age (32.5) and somewhat generic profile of an indian engineer with a gmat 700. Either I should write GMAT again and improve my score tremendously(750+) or I should do some miracle to make my profile outstanding.I have decided to write GMAT again. I have in my mind UK business schools (Judge, Imperial, Warwick, Cranfield) - 1 year course length and a little ease of getting in when compared to LBS or INSEAD

Regarding Norway,I was thinking in the same line. But in BI there is no MBA they have only MSc in Business and Economics. NHH is out of question because they admit only under-graduates with business majors.

How well does BI MSc compare to MBAs. There is a double masters from Queen college Canada and BI. Or whether an exchange semester with more known B-School will help me to overcome the low profile nature of BI(not even a single alumini in India) when I try to continue my career outside Norway. (the biggest downside of BI is the average age of students - 25 )

Improving your GMAT will help, but I would not be too pessimistic. Insead is a stretch, but it would be a great outcome for you. My friend has a background similar to you, and is starting at LBS next month. If you retake your GMAT and apply early I think you might be successful. It's important to not under-sell yourself, and to have a 'stretch' school.

Obviously NHH and BI do offer MBAs, part-time MBAs, and that's what I had in mind. If your short-term target is Norway, why give up your job if either your current or future will let you study? At BI the EMBA is in English, and at NHH in Norwegian.

In Norway, both BI and NHH are excellent schools but the Nordic tradition isn't of giving up work to take an MBA but of taking an MSc followed by part-time study.

The UK schools you mention are good. For MBA network and brand awareness in the oil and gas industries, the order will be Imperial > Cranfield > Cambridge > Warwick.

PS Also look at Calgary and Texas?

If your short term focus is Norway, then either do a top MBA there (NHH or BI) or a top international programme (INSEAD, IMD or LBS).

HI,

What about Warwick Global Energy MBA?
I think studying at BI and NHH is a good choice because culturally Norwegian employers tend to trust the Norwegian higher institution more than anything else. If all those interviewing/employing future candidates have studied at BI or NHH then they usually tend to be more open to employ people from the same schools. However, neither BI nor NHH have either AMBA or AACSB accreditation, but EQUIS. Either BI or NHH have fulltime MBA. Both of them have Executive MBA and master degrees. None of them are well known outside Norwegian borders but are highly regarded inside Norway. Bi and NHH are mostly known for their ?master in economy and administration ? siviløkonom! So if you want to use your MBA/master degree outside Norway in the future then you have to consider the school's merits beyond Norway or Sweden!

The Warwick programme seems to give you the best of both worlds. Don't underestimate BI. It has a good international reputation in the right circles.

As I mentioned BI and NHH are known for their Siviløkonom (which is by the way a 5 years education) degree! I don?t know much about their masters of managements! But my friends who work at HR were telling me many of their graduates with Asian profiles were applying for public sector?s entry level advisory jobs (not even managerial jobs).But again these guys didn't have experience!
BI?s executive MBA is quiet new. If I was going to pay 340,000 Norwegian kroners (45,500?) for an executive MBA then I would be looking for something more than just ?the right circles?. In that price range one could also apply for Manchester accelerated MBA as an example or for IMM executive MBA. When 2 leading business/economy schools in Norway do not run a fulltime MBA it doesn?t mean the Norwegian don?t study MBA!! The Norwegian students who want to study MBA take their MBA?s abroad. And the rest study at BI or NHH but mostly master degrees. For me it is really strange that neither BI nor NHH run a fulltime MBA!! In contrast to them there are several schools in Sweden and Denmark who run fulltime MBAs. And Copenhagen Business School is gaining good reputation quickly.

IMM is a great programme. Also look at the Euro*MBA.

If I was going to pay 340,000 Norwegian kroners (45,500?) for an executive MBA then I would be looking for something more than just ?the right circles?.

The Norwegian students who want to study MBA take their MBA?s abroad.

Thank you Duncan for a detailed reply.

Do you recommend an Executive MBA from BI or a part time MSc ?.
For MSc the average age of students is 25 and for executive MBA it is 37 and for executive MBA the total cost would be 500000 NOK.
BI and NTNU is where a 'manager' in any oil company of Norway has studied. But I didnt find many of them in anyother countries.
There is a possiblity for a double degree in International Business from Queen's Canada, will that someway enhance the brand equity of BI. And what exactly do you mean by ' Right Circles'. Can you throw some light ?

By Texas Which B-School are you referring McCombs / Rice / Bauer / Mays ?

Calgary looks really interesting.

Hi,
?BI and NTNU is where a 'manager' in any oil company of Norway has studied. But I didnt find many of them in anyother countries.?
That is exactly what I meant! Because from what I read ?rkun? is considering to work in other countries including Australia, UAE and ? in the future. Therefore it is important for someone like him to take into consideration if an EMBA from BI could help him to achieve his goals!
Even though all managers working in oil industry in Norway are graduates of BI, NHH and NTNU, it is very important to see what have they studied!! Did they study EMBA or something else?

Hi,
?BI and NTNU is where a 'manager' in any oil company of Norway has studied. But I didnt find many of them in anyother countries.?
That is exactly what I meant! Because from what I read ?rkun? is considering to work in other countries including Australia, UAE and ? in the future. Therefore it is important for someone like him to take into consideration if an EMBA from BI could help him to achieve his goals!

Hi,
If you have been working in Oil industry in Norway then perhaps you know the majority of CEOs in important Norwegian companies are headhunted from McKinsey (and in some extend from other big consulting firms). For example ?Helge Lund? the CEO of Norwegian Statoil is a former McKinsey consultant and a former political advisor of Norwegian Conservative party. He has an MBA from INSEAD. Another example is ?Rune Bjerke? the CEO of largest Norwegian bank DNB. He has a master degree in Social-economy from University of Oslo and MPA from Harvard. You can also look at the Important State Owned companies and you will find out the same trend.
From what I have been told by people in consulting business (with 10-20 years of experience and MBA from top 10 schools) in Oslo ?as an immigrant if you want to break through the ranks and being considered for important positions then you have to have an MBA from one of the top 20 (30 is the stretch) business school ranked by Financial Times annual ranking. I mean you know that Norway is a pretty homogenous society. And you are lucky in terms of working in one of the most colorful sector in Norwegian economy: the Oil and Energy sector 
However, in the end BI is a very good school with lots of connections. But in what extend an EMBA from BI would carry prestige outside Norwegian borders is something which I really don?t know, especially in regards to MBA.
And replying to Ralph: the carrier center is almost non-existence in BI. On the one hand it is a cultural issue because in Norway you suppose to do it yourself (even though the Norwegian use their existing networks)!! On the other hand since the school doesn?t run a full time MBA and therefore do not compete for rankings then the placement is not an important issue (especially for participants at EMBAs).

However, in the end BI is a very good school with lots of connections. But in what extend an EMBA from BI would carry prestige outside Norwegian borders is something which I really don?t know, especially in regards to MBA.

And replying to Ralph: the carrier center is almost non-existence in BI. On the one hand it is a cultural issue because in Norway you suppose to do it yourself (even though the Norwegian use their existing networks)!! On the other hand since the school doesn?t run a full time MBA and therefore do not compete for rankings then the placement is not an important issue (especially for participants at EMBAs).

HI,

Exactly; and this will be a very important point for no-native-Norwegians to consider if they want to study EMBA at BI. Because as a small society where connection(s) still is the number one key to finding jobs (of any sort), the immigrants and foreign students are left on their own while Norwegians have a whole different platform to succeed! And when you consider the price tag, then you will conclude that it is really unfair!
In my view BI is an excellent school for native Norwegian students and the foreign students who want to study ?Sivil-Økonom? (5 years economy and administration study). The school is known for this subject and the majority of those who occupy good position have studies this subject. The list includes ?Helge Leiro Baastad? the CEO of Gjensidig Insurance (one of the biggest in Scandinavia) as an example!
And the other point about Norway: MBA is not yet very well known amongst the people. For example in many countries (surprisingly this includes Iran) there is an immense interest in MBA. You have lots of advertisement and banner everywhere. But in Norway such trend is non-existence! For example the Iranian Oil Company pays for his middle rank managers to participate in an executive MBA (with concentration on Energy) at Kish Island on the Persian Gulf which is a joint project between Sharif University of Iran and Calgary!
500,000kr is a lot of money (82,000$). One have lots of good options to choose for an EMBS at this budget category.