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A well-timed summer MBA internship may be your express ticket to the career of your dreams if you choose carefully.
According to a recent survey by the Graduate Management Admission Council (GMAC), choosing the right MBA internship can make all the difference to your future career. The MBA Career Guide looks at how to make the right move.GMAC's survey of nearly 700 companies around the world found that 62% of them took on MBA students as interns over the summer months. And of this group, almost three-quarters considered their interns, first before looking at external candidates for full-time roles. The typical company reported that half of its new MBA hires would come from the internship pool.
Consequently, it looks as if sacrificing the beach for the workplace over the summer is a useful investment for any ambitious MBA student. This year, with demand for MBAs reaching new heights, the choice of MBA internship is broader than at any time since the late 1990s. Major employers as diverse as Deutsche Bank, Gap, Mattel and Toyota are all competing for the best students and options are no longer limited to the very large organisations that provided opportunities in the past.
Whole new set of employers
According to Mike Holmes, from the online career development platform, TopMBA Careers, one of the positive results of the downturn in MBA recruitment, that lasted up until 2003, has been a whole new set of employers entering the field. "When major banks and consultancies either stopped or slimmed down their internship programmes it meant that both schools and students had to think more laterally to find relevant projects," he says. "That meant targeting less obvious organisations, such as NGOs, charities and the like. And once these employers have seen the value of getting a business school Gaining the advantage - the role of the summer internship According to a recent survey by the Graduate Management Admission Council (GMAC), choosing the right internship can make all the difference to your future career."
Mike's view is backed up by figures from the Tuck School at Dartmouth, which reports that the number of students working in not-for-profits has nearly trebled over the past two years. Tuck students have worked as consultants to several US National Parks, such as Grand Teton, and Yosemite, while another helped the Children's Aid Society of Ottawa, Canada implement a venture philanthropy program that targets gifts of stock in support of abused and neglected children.
The dream internship
For some students, this broadening of opportunities can lead to the sort of internship that others can only dream of, particularly in this year of the FIFA World Cup. "I'd already lined up a couple of internship possibilities through Manchester Business School when I ran into someone, who knew people at Manchester United," says Bhavneet Singh. "I managed to talk myself into a project on the development of interactive video, which I then worked on for around three months. I ended up getting involved in a lot of other areas, got to meet some of the players, watched a few games and came away with a t-shirt signed by the whole team." So was this the perfect internship that every MBA student fantasises about? "Well yes and no," says Bhavneet. "You see, coming from India I'm much more of a cricket fan than a soccer one!"
Working interviews
While the lessons learned on an internship are often invaluable in themselves, it's important to remain focused on the real point of a summer project - the offer of a permanent job. "A lot of organisations use internships as what we term "working interviews," says Mike Holmes. "No standard interview or psychometric test can match up to the opportunity to see how a candidate performs in the front-line for two or three months." According to Mike Holmes, the most important factors are application, commitment and enthusiasm. "The interns that turn their projects into permanent jobs tend to be those who have already done their homework about the industry, the company and the type of work on offer. The fewer surprises you're faced with, the more likely it is you'll be able to perform at full capacity and make a real impression on the people around you."
The Advantages of the MBA Summer Internship
By QS Contributor
Updated March 12, 2021 Updated March 12, 2021A well-timed summer MBA internship may be your express ticket to the career of your dreams if you choose carefully.
According to a recent survey by the Graduate Management Admission Council (GMAC), choosing the right MBA internship can make all the difference to your future career. The MBA Career Guide looks at how to make the right move.GMAC's survey of nearly 700 companies around the world found that 62% of them took on MBA students as interns over the summer months. And of this group, almost three-quarters considered their interns, first before looking at external candidates for full-time roles. The typical company reported that half of its new MBA hires would come from the internship pool.
Consequently, it looks as if sacrificing the beach for the workplace over the summer is a useful investment for any ambitious MBA student. This year, with demand for MBAs reaching new heights, the choice of MBA internship is broader than at any time since the late 1990s. Major employers as diverse as Deutsche Bank, Gap, Mattel and Toyota are all competing for the best students and options are no longer limited to the very large organisations that provided opportunities in the past.
Whole new set of employers
According to Mike Holmes, from the online career development platform, TopMBA Careers, one of the positive results of the downturn in MBA recruitment, that lasted up until 2003, has been a whole new set of employers entering the field. "When major banks and consultancies either stopped or slimmed down their internship programmes it meant that both schools and students had to think more laterally to find relevant projects," he says. "That meant targeting less obvious organisations, such as NGOs, charities and the like. And once these employers have seen the value of getting a business school Gaining the advantage - the role of the summer internship According to a recent survey by the Graduate Management Admission Council (GMAC), choosing the right internship can make all the difference to your future career."
Mike's view is backed up by figures from the Tuck School at Dartmouth, which reports that the number of students working in not-for-profits has nearly trebled over the past two years. Tuck students have worked as consultants to several US National Parks, such as Grand Teton, and Yosemite, while another helped the Children's Aid Society of Ottawa, Canada implement a venture philanthropy program that targets gifts of stock in support of abused and neglected children.
The dream internship
For some students, this broadening of opportunities can lead to the sort of internship that others can only dream of, particularly in this year of the FIFA World Cup. "I'd already lined up a couple of internship possibilities through Manchester Business School when I ran into someone, who knew people at Manchester United," says Bhavneet Singh. "I managed to talk myself into a project on the development of interactive video, which I then worked on for around three months. I ended up getting involved in a lot of other areas, got to meet some of the players, watched a few games and came away with a t-shirt signed by the whole team." So was this the perfect internship that every MBA student fantasises about? "Well yes and no," says Bhavneet. "You see, coming from India I'm much more of a cricket fan than a soccer one!"
Working interviews
While the lessons learned on an internship are often invaluable in themselves, it's important to remain focused on the real point of a summer project - the offer of a permanent job. "A lot of organisations use internships as what we term "working interviews," says Mike Holmes. "No standard interview or psychometric test can match up to the opportunity to see how a candidate performs in the front-line for two or three months." According to Mike Holmes, the most important factors are application, commitment and enthusiasm. "The interns that turn their projects into permanent jobs tend to be those who have already done their homework about the industry, the company and the type of work on offer. The fewer surprises you're faced with, the more likely it is you'll be able to perform at full capacity and make a real impression on the people around you."
Source: QS TopMBA Career Guide
This article was originally published in November 2012 . It was last updated in March 2021
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