Jan 21, 2012

A wise move from Oxford's Said Business School: Pre-MBA Internship


The University of Oxford’s Saïd Business School will launch a pre-MBA internship program this year designed to introduce students to new work opportunities before they start the one-year, full-time MBA program. The school is introducing the program so that participants can crystallize their career interests and gain a competitive edge in their chosen career sector before embarking on the full-time degree. As per school, participants on the pre-MBA internship programme will benefit from focused placement in a selected industry and will gain a competitive edge before embarking on the full time degree at Oxford.

The pre- internship programme is exclusive and selective. There will be a maximum of 10 places available to participate and candidates will be carefully selected according to the following criteria:

• Internship candidates must have gained admission during stage one or two of the programme’s admissions cycle.
• Candidates must have confirmed their acceptance of a place to the Oxford full time MBA programme.
• Candidates must be authorised to work in the country where they intend to pursue the internship.
• Candidates should demonstrate a clear and consistent career development plan throughout the whole admissions process: from programme application to admissions interview.
• Candidates must be committed to work for the selected industry post-MBA.
• Candidates must demonstrate excellent communication skills.
• Candidates must be willing to devote at least 8 continuous weeks full time to this opportunity.

Interested candidates will be given the opportunity to apply for this programme in late April 2012. "Many students undertake an MBA to make a career change either by sector, role or geographical region, but in today’s economic climate making that shift is difficult and MBAs need to stand out from the crowd,” says Derek Walker, Director of Careers at Saïd Business School.

“Our new pre-MBA internship programme will help students to be better equipped to respond to the challenging job market and to find post-MBA work in new industries. It is a unique programme designed to introduce students to new work opportunities, evaluate a prospective employer and potentially secure a full-time job offer.”

The pre-MBA internship will be 8-12 weeks in length and will conclude before the start of the MBA program in October. Candidates with a clear and consistent career development plan may apply for one of the 10 internships initially being made available once accepted onto the MBA program, and they must be committed to work for the selected industry post-MBA. The Careers Service at the Saïd Business School says it will work in collaboration with members of the Young Presidents Organization (YPO) to source internship opportunities for the selected students.

BizSchoolPrep's Comments:
This is a wise move by the school to better place itself in a challenging economic environment where career placements numbers aren't as attractive as they used to look in pre recession period. Considering that Said is a one year MBA program and lacks a formal internship process, a pre-MBA internship will be really useful for career switchers to show some exposure of a particular industry in front of the recruiters and gain some competitive advantage over other one year business schools in the UK and Europe. Tricky Part? Internationals will still need work authorization if they want to work outside their respective countries.

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