How does the MBA programme at SDA Bocconi produce a high ROI for its graduates?

The number one business school in Italy, SDA Bocconi, has ranked 22nd in the QS Global MBA Rankings 2023, solidifying its status as one of the best schools for an MBA education. 

One of the areas in the ranking that SDA Bocconi particularly excels in is the return on investment indicator, having ranked joint first with four other business schools.  

TopMBA.com spoke to Stefano Pogutz, the MBA Director at SDA Bocconi, to learn more about how they’re ensuring a high return on investment for their graduates.  

How does SDA Bocconi’s MBA programme and careers service help students find strong graduate outcomes? 

Our MBA is a transformational experience during which professional goals, even personal ones, will no longer be the same.  

To deliver this promise, the career development centre has designed a unique and intense training and development programme, customising it to each one of our students. The training plan to enhance development of soft skills and managerial competences is tailor-made: every student works on his/her situation with a forward-looking eye so that the career development strategy can take into consideration various stages of the students’ lives. 

From a corporate development perspective, our major market for the offering of job opportunities in the range of middle management roles is focused predominantly on Europe, where Germany, the Netherlands, France and UK play an important role. Italy remains still the most sought-after country when students decide which location will be the start of their post MBA career journey.  

Throughout the years we have grown a solid network of corporate relations with firms that select from our student pool and on a yearly basis engage in multi-master campus activities to further strengthen their brand at SDA Bocconi as top employers.  

What are the most popular industries/job roles your students work in post-graduation?  

Consulting and strategy are popular industries when developing a post-MBA career plan. Of course, the business side of technology is just as popular as consulting, offering optimal work-life balance company cultures in which remote working allows more flexible working patterns.  

Trends show a large interest from firms to look for candidates who are knowledgeable about sustainability, ESGs and D&I, so a small, but growing percentage of students are targeting roles in which they can deliver impact.  

What makes your programme different from other school offering MBAs in terms of targeted career development?  

Our students receive targeted soft skills development with a three month pre-arrival engagement toolkit, through the implementation of a psychometric test that gives a clear understanding of soft skills and preferred managerial behaviours.  

This is also the basis for matching each MBA student, through artificial intelligence, to an international experienced coach to discuss their identity model composed by the inner and outer self.  

These two elements are very distinctive and help offer a completely tailored personal and professional development model, which can be replicated post-MBA when students become alumni and is offered at any stage of their career.  

A further investment has therefore been made in order to offer continuous support both on the self-development aspects as well as career progress. 

How do you enable your students to take on the workplace with confidence and feel empowered about their career progression?  

We invest a considerable amount of time in underlying the importance of company cultural fit, through dedicated seminars but also through sessions with alumni who visit us and meet current students, explaining their career journey post-graduation (do’s and don’ts when landing a job in a specific firm, country and new role).  

We foster a paying it forward culture so that current students can benefit from past cohorts, by implementing the Reciprocity Ring.