Hi,

I would like to put some details on my profile first:-

An engineering graduate with 7 years of Work Ex(4 yrs managerial) working in IT domain (Alas! the most common profile) with a FMCG company. Currently based in India.

I have got 670 score in the first GMAT attempt which I took last week and planning to retake by August end.
I want to concentrate more on the Strategic Planning Management in my MBA course and I am only looking for 1 Year MBA courses which would provide me International Exposure and mobility.
I am aiming for 2016 intake and want to select the school aptly.
I have gone through the link below
http://board.find-mba.com/gmat/gmat-tiers-strong-schools-for-your-gmat-23247

My questions are:--
1> Considering I know only very basic French but no other European Language, should I consider the schools in Germany, SPAIN, France or Netherlands even?
2> Considering the economic situation, it is a bit difficult to get a JOB within UK after completing the MBA. Should I consider MBA courses only in Canada, Australia or in US(Though there are very few 1 year courses available there) where chances of getting a Job there is more probable and easier?
3> Is there a ranking list available from the International Mobility aspect (for 1 year MBA courses only)?
4> Is chances of getting scholarship has anything to do with applying earlier and securing the position in the college?

Apologies for so many questions, but I assume this will help other similar candidates like me (Trust me, there are many) a lot.

Thanks,
Arnab

[Edited by arnabchakra on May 05, 2015]

A lot of things to unpack here.

It sounds like primarily, you need to focus on your career goals for post-MBA: Where do you want to work? What industry do you want to work in?

I'm of the opinion that the visa situation in the UK isn't as dire as many make it out to be: for the right international candidate who does his/her MBA at a ranked school there and puts work into their job search, finding a job and getting a visa is completely manageable. I've known plenty of students from India who did their MBAs at Cranfield, Imperial, Cass, etc. and have effectively made the transition.

Mainland European countries are a bit more complicated, given the languages; that much you're already aware of. If you really wanted to make the transition to France/Spain/Germany, you'd need to (1) start now with intensive, focused language training, (2) plan on spending time in the country for an immersion experience pre-MBA, and then (3) continue with classes during the program. It would be hard and take a lot of work but potentially manageable depending on your affinity for languages.

On your question re 1-year MBAs in the US, this can be tricky for international students, since post-MBA hiring in the US, at least for many industries, often revolves around a summer internship, which is usually not included in one-year MBAs. That said, if you're not planning on making a huge industry or functional shift, and hit the ground running with your job search, I suppose it's possible.

Thanks a lot Ezra for your guidance and input here.
I am more interested to get a job in UK itself after completing my MBA there and am currently more focused in Consumer goods and would like to target many companies which have already good operations there.
I agree with you in terms of VISA status in UK, I assume this has been portrayed negatively compared to the real scenario.
Thanks for highlighting the intern-ship part in US, I completely missed that while was assessing the schools and courses.
I have still one query,if you can kindly reply it for me:-
1> Is chances of getting scholarship has anything to do with applying earlier and securing the position in the college?

Thanks for your reply,
Arnab

Take a look at The sad facts about scholarships http://www.find-mba.com/board/37055

Thanks a lot Duncan for your input. It was very useful again.

1> Is chances of getting scholarship has anything to do with applying earlier and securing the position in the college?

I am in a very similar situation... I have about 6.5 years of work experience in IT and I am from India. I scored 670 on the GMAT. :( and I need to find a good MBA program that would allow me to go to either the US, Canada, or a European country.

With the conditions that I do not speak Spanish, French, or German, I have selected the following schools from tier 3:

Cass
University of Western Ontario: Ivey
Purdue
Imperial

And then one from tier 2, as a "dream" school:

University of Cambridge: Judge

My question is, is this a realistic strategy and do I have good chances of getting admits to these schools. Thank you in advance for any advice or guidance.

I think you might have a realistic chance at Purdue and maybe at Ivey. Cass and Imperial might still be reaches, given that you are very similar to other applicants at these schools. A better GMAT score would obviously help here, and of course it would help at Cambridge.

A good idea might be to consider other schools that might specifically fit your career goals. Think about what kind of industry/functional area you want to work in when you're done with your MBA, and research your options from there.