MBA Internships in Corporate Social Responsibility

MBA internships in CSR, often completed during a US-style two-year MBA course, are extremely influential when securing that first post-business school job.

Couple this with the growing demands from recruiters that MBA alumni have knowledge of corporate social responsibility (CSR), and it’s clear that MBA internships involving CSR can be extremely attractive on a résumé.

These internships, which are either available as summer placements, or as post-MBA assignments give alumni the vital experience needed to show their worth in a sector with ever increasing significance in the business world.

CSR focussed MBA internships

One CSR-focussed internship scheme is the EDF Climate Corps, run by the non-profit environmental advocacy group Environmental Defense Fund (EDF), based in New York.

This year the summer placement program found paid internships for 51 MBA students in 47 of the Fortune 1000 companies in the US. The MBA interns uncovered a total of US$350 million in potential savings by finding environmentally sustainable, cost-saving methods of carrying out their existing business.

In fact, in total the CSR-friendly Climate Corps program, which is now in its third year, has uncovered enough energy savings to power 85,000 US homes for a year. As a result of their individual successes, participants on the program have enjoyed greater interest from recruiters.

MBA employability

“There’s no question that EDF Climate Corps has been instrumental in helping MBA alumni find CSR jobs or jobs at the nexus of business and the environment,” says Victoria Mills, managing director of corporate partnerships at EDF. “Even in a tough economy, they are finding jobs where energy and the environment are the keys to creating business value.”

CDC Development Solutions (CDS) manage two MBA volunteer programs, the MBA Enterprise Corps and MBAs Without Borders. Amanda MacArthur, director of operations at CDS, says that she has also witnessed their volunteers experience an increase in employability after completing the post-MBA internship programs.

“A recent study of alumni volunteers revealed that 84% felt the volunteer experience had a somewhat positive (25%) or very positive (59%) impact on their careers,” she explains. “Importantly, 75% felt their assignment had either a high impact (25%) or a very high impact (50%) on their client.”

Both the MBA Enterprise Corps and MBAs Without Borders place volunteers in various countries around the world, such as Nigeria, Azerbaijan and Mexico. While the internships are unpaid, the organizations that the volunteers work for cover the costs of assigning them and supporting the intern while working for them.

Supporting economic development

The type of organization that MBAs are placed at can vary, with governments, NGOs, and microfinance institutions all requesting the help of the MBA interns. However, all share one common interest, to support economic development in emerging and frontier markets.

Lorenz Wild, who volunteered with the MBA Enterprise Corps in Kyrgyzstan, explains how he benefitted from the MBA volunteer program: “I had many expectations about how I would help improve the lives of people in Kyrgyzstan, but in the end the person who benefitted most was me.

"Since my assignment with the MBA Enterprise Corps I have worked in several countries and with numerous international organizations, each time building on the foundation of experience gained with the Enterprise Corps. What was once an adventure has now become a profession and what was once a learning experience has become the ability to contribute to sustainable global development.”

With heightening emphasis upon CSR elements within MBA programs, business schools are broadening their students’ horizons in a global economy where greater regulation, scarcer resources and higher ethical expectations are becoming more common.

However, MBA alumni also need the experience of putting what they have been taught into action, in order to net the higher paid jobs that many crave. Organizations such as CDS and EDF provide that opportunity, which not only advances personal MBA careers, but also allows MBAs to use their skills to help global society.