5 reasons to do an MBA at ESEI – According to students
Bummed about having to leave Barcelona and ESEI after you’ve finished your Master’s programme? No need to worry! ESEI provides you with the chance to stay and do a one-year Experiential MBA Programme that consists of two semesters: a tutor-supervised internship and a thesis project.
It’s all about putting theory into practice and learning to use the knowledge you’ve acquired in a professional context. Are you ready to step it up a notch? We interviewed three ESEI students, Sara Armoul, Joanne Mattar and Julian Saemann, who are currently doing their MBA to find out what this experience has meant to them.
Here are 5 reasons – besides another fantastic year in Barcelona – why you should consider doing an MBA at ESEI!
1. Get hands-on experience in a field that you’re interested in
Learning on the job is the best way to learn – and thanks to the MBA programme, Sara has been able to test herself in the field that she’s planning to build her career in.
“The Experiential MBA Programme includes an internship for a 3-6 month period with a company relevant to my field of study. Since I decided to shift careers, I wanted to gain hands-on experience in the field that would later benefit my career path. I am doing my internship at ESEI International Business School as a Marketing Assistant intern: the experience has been great and I’ve learned a lot about the marketing field including digital marketing, which was my goal at the beginning of this internship,” Sara tells us.
“Also, who doesn’t love Barcelona! It was a great opportunity for me to stay as well as gain experience in the marketing field,” she adds.
2. Acquire new skills and expand your knowledge
Your Master’s degree has provided you with a perfect base of knowledge that you can expand on, and the MBA is a great place to get started. Whether it’s a specific field or industry that you want to know more about, or you’d like to practice applying your knowledge to a real-world context, you will have all the opportunities you need to grow.
Sara is looking for a very specific kind of knowledge to apply within a very specific field:
“I am eager to gain knowledge about digital marketing, as it is starting to branch out and boom in the marketing industry,” she says.
Julian would like to practice real-life work situations:
“I expect to gain more experiential knowledge; especially how to apply my knowledge from the master in stress situations and how to adapt myself in the company,” he says.
And Joanne is looking to add some academic knowledge to her strong foundations:
Joanne: “This programme provides me with the essential academic knowledge necessary for business management, in addition to the practical implementation of this knowledge through an internship and a thesis submission,” she explains.
3. Work at some of the coolest tech companies in Barcelona
The MBA programme provides students with the opportunity to do an internship at some of the most exciting local and international tech companies in the city. One of the main perks of living in Barcelona is being able to enjoy its amazing tech and startup scene – so why not start taking part while you’re studying?
For Joanne, this meant joining a hot Barcelona startup that uses Artificial Intelligence, a technology that she hopes to keep working with in the future.
“My position is the Product Management Intern at Cien Inc., a SaaS start-up providing an AI-powered sales productivity app that utilizes the latest in machine learning and natural language processing techniques to predict outcomes and recommend the biggest wins for firms and their teams. This internship provides the knowledge and experience of business operations, sales productivity, and market development through data intelligence and AI; and technology with an emphasis on AI is the aim of my professional career,” she tells us.
Julian was able to snag a role at a prestigious multinational cloud software company.
Julian: “I am working at INFOR. The made experiences are great and I am convinced that I am able to use my acquired knowledge for my professional career path,” he states.
4. Work with inspiring tutors
During the ESEI MBA programme, students are never left to their own devices. They enjoy the continuous support of a tutor who checks in with them on a regular basis to see how they’re doing.
Sara highlights just how easy it’s been to work together with her tutor:
“My tutor, Luca Delloro is great, always direct and straight to the point, just like me! Having an already established communication with my tutor last year has made this collaboration much smoother,” she says.
Joanne is grateful for having had a mentor to guide her through her career change:
“My tutor, Katie Carr provided me with a safe zone to discuss my internship experience and personal growth, with references to literature and concepts I could read about for the upcoming weekly blog post. It was helpful and beneficial to have a mentor providing guidance through a big career change, personally,” she explains.
Julian appreciates his mentor’s great coaching abilities:
“It was quite easy to communicate and work with my tutor, Katie. She helped me a lot to review my made experiences, gave me advice regarding proper behaviours in specific situations and was continuously available in case I needed her,” he says.
5. Step out of your comfort zone
The MBA is meant to challenge students and prepare them for the professional world. If you’re not afraid to get uncomfortable, you will learn and do things that you’ve never done before. This can be especially helpful if you’re going through a big career change, like Joanne.
“My previous experience was deeply into drilling technical knowledge and sales approaches; stepping out of the technical engineering world into business operations and management is the opportunity this MBA programme provides me.”
She explains that some of the courses that she enjoyed included Technology in Business, Strategy Formulation & Implementation, Cross-Cultural Management, International Human Resource Management, and Social Media Strategic Marketing.
Still not entirely convinced? Here’s why Sara, Joanne and Julian recommend doing an MBA at ESEI to fellow students.
Julian would recommend the programme because “ESEI helps the students get out of their comfort zone and supports them while facing challenges.”
He chose to do the programme because it creates more job opportunities worldwide.
According to Sara, the MBA is the first step to starting your professional career:
“It’s a great opportunity to gain experience in your field of choice. By doing the Experiential MBA, you not only have the knowledge basis to start a career but you also have the chance to put this knowledge to use,” she explains.
Joanne would recommend the MBA programme to anyone who’s ever even considered it.
“This programme includes all the important things a foreign post-grad student would need: academic lectures and unique assessment through writing grading system, internship opportunity, and business plan initiation and guidance,” she says.
Do you have questions about our MBA programme? Contact us today and our friendly team will walk you through your options.
