Hi,
I am an IT professional from India with 7 yrs. of experience. I have worked with companies like Ernst Young, Accenture, Dell and Infosys and the clients associated with these companies are Unilever UK Ltd, Intel, Cisco, Toyota, Conifer Insurance Company and SunTrust US Bank as Developer and Consultant.

Presently I am working as an IT Architect (on one of the Niche/booming skills in the IT market) who does the strategy and planning of the application.

I am planning to do MBA from either UK or Ireland whichever suits to my future goal. I want to head my carrier into finance or consulting sector post MBA.I intend to work in the country of study as I will be studying on Loan amount. My husband would be joining me and would be pursuing employment in the UK/Ireland as a dependent, He also has a prior 2 yrs. of experience working in London on Tier2 visa.
My academics are -
10th -> 81%(distinction)
12th -> 80%(distinction)
BTech -> 8.25(Honors)

Apart from this I do have good experience of extracurricular activities and volunteer ship. I led a group of 60 people in accomplishing the Himalayan Range Trek. I have also been selected up to certain rounds in Indian Army for the rank of Lieutenant. So, these are few accomplishments which I want to highlight.

I am planning for Sep 2021 intake and not yet given the IELTS or GMAT. People suggested me to select the school apply to the earliest by October 2020 for better scholarship. As of now I am not thinking for GMAT.I do check few colleges in UK and Ireland accepting application without GMAT also, only IELTS is required.
So, my questions are:

Q.1. Is GMAT impacts application process and placement opportunity considering my profile as these colleges are not asking for it compulsorily?
Q.2. Please suggest some other good colleges which I should consider apart from these?
Q.3. UK and Ireland which will be good choice for Job for me and my husband both? He has e a good experience in IT.

Schools in my list:
1)Edinburgh University Business School (Scotland)
2)Durham University Business School (Durham)
3)UCD (Ireland)
4)TCD (Ireland)
5)DBS (Ireland)

Take a look at

Best MBAs for international students' placement http://www.find-mba.com/board/41143

How to use LinkedIn to find the best school www.find-mba.com/board/33571

Why you should take the GMAT https://find-mba.com/board/gmat/why-you-...

Re: Question 3 - The UK IT job market has been really tough for the last 9 months due to a combination of pending UK withdrawal from the EU (Brexit), changes to tax legislation for IT contractors and now Coronoavirus. The last two have led to many thousands more experienced IT people hitting the IT permanent job market. Some sectors have been hit really badly and investment and hiring in IT is minimal other than pure survival projects. 

For example, Architecture which is your area of experience, has traditionally had a lot of demand and good salaries for all kinds of architects, especially Enterprise, Solution and Data Architects. That isn't the case any more. 

You don't mention what type of consulting you want to do but many large organisations are cutting back on consultancy spend, so again, the timing to make the switch might be challenging for you.


 

Re: Question 3 - The UK IT job market has been really tough for the last 9 months due to a combination of pending UK withdrawal from the EU (Brexit), changes to tax legislation for IT contractors and now Coronoavirus. The last two have led to many thousands more experienced IT people hitting the IT permanent job market. Some sectors have been hit really badly and investment and hiring in IT is minimal other than pure survival projects. 

For example, Architecture which is your area of experience, has traditionally had a lot of demand and good salaries for all kinds of architects, especially Enterprise, Solution and Data Architects. That isn't the case any more. 

You don't mention what type of consulting you want to do but many large organisations are cutting back on consultancy spend, so again, the timing to make the switch might be challenging for you.


 

Thanks for your prompt reply @aslamo.

I am planning for 2021 intake. So, what if we keep this pandemic
situation aside for some time and think in general regarding the job market.
Which one you suggest Ireland or UK in terms of finding better job opportunity
post MBA for me and for my spouse as a dependent into IT sector.

And for consulting as I have already worked with E&Y so
my focus will be on Strategy Consultant, Financial Advisory Consultant or IT Consultant
(considering my prior IT exp).

As I am applying without GMAT so two Universities (EBS &
Durham) of UK I have shortlisted. Please suggest me any other which I target
with my level of exp. I have gone through the FT ranking and found these in top
of the list considering post study job and affordable fees factor. Ireland have
UCD and TCD so please help which is good to be considered for my profile.

Take a look at

Best MBAs for international students' placement http://www.find-mba.com/board/41143

How to use LinkedIn to find the best school www.find-mba.com/board/33571

Why you should take the GMAT https://find-mba.com/board/gmat/why-you-...

I think the difference between countries is much less important than your goals and which schools for your goals. What is EBS? Heriot Watt?

I think the difference between countries is much less important than your goals and which schools for your goals. What is EBS? Heriot Watt?

I would exclude EBS. Its not a very good school, unlike UEBS. Focus on schools with at least one of the triple crown accreditations. 

I would exclude EBS. Its not a very good school, unlike UEBS. Focus on schools with at least one of the triple crown accreditations. 

I think you need more specific career goals. Certainly, read the post on best schools for international students placement.