Hello, everybody,
I am a civil engineer and live in the UK. At the moment here are too many civil engineers out of work, including me. So, I decided to change a career using MBA. Perhaps, I am a bit naive, I don't know, but I am considering switching career after the MBA course. I am 35 years old and I did civil engineering for quite a while, but I feel there is little chance for me to grow. I am also considering to emigrate to Latin America after MBA.
Ideally I would like to go to business consulting after MBA, though I will look at any post-MBA career during the course, but definitely not finance. Moreover, I was told that it is very difficult to get into finance if you did not work in the industry before.
I was lucky with my applications and was accepted to Warwick, Ashridge, Henley, Lancaster and Cranfield. I already decided to keep Ashridge as the last resort. I also asked a London based recruitment company which recruits MBA graduates to business consulting firms what was their opinion about these schools, and they thought Warwick and Cranfield were probably the best options among these schools if someone wanted to go to business consulting.
I would like to hear your opinion what are the advantages of these schools. So far I am inclined towards Cranfield - like Warwick and Lancaster, it has excellent facilities, large choice of electives and strong general MBA programme. Percentage of students changing function or industry is quite similar to Warwick in general. Advantages of Cranfield is larger number of students, older average age (i.e. higher experience), high GMAT score (similar to Lancaster's, but higher than in Warwick). Cranfield University has a lot of facilities near to where I live, and these facilities are of a great quality, plus Cranfield lecturers often feature on TV, therefore most people I talk with always highly regard the University. Cranfield MBA's Career Service is one of the largest and the best among UK business schools - 95-97% of graduates find job within 3 months, it is impressive. As I understood from conversation with current Lancaster MBA students, Cranfield Career Service does some Career Coaching at Lancaster. The only thing where they are not strong is diversity, but I think that's why they want me so much.
However, I was suggested by one MBA course recruiter to pay attention to many details because some stats are understood differently by different schools. For example, usual figure for the percentage of students employed is 3 months after graduation, but what is considered to be the graduation - is it after you submit your project, after the course finishes officially or after you get your certificate? Also, older people usually get higher wages. So, as you can see, data can be skewed, therefore I would like to hear your opinion.

Hi Omega A,

It sounds like you've got a tough choice ahead of you as Warwick and Cranfield are both really great institutions - well done on your offers! I agree that they're streaks ahead when it comes to placements in consulting, Warwick is well known for that.

I agree with the advice you've received from the MBA course recruiter, stats are very difficult to use at this stage in your decision - they work well as a general guide when choosing who to apply to but when it comes to choosing which school to accept it's all in the detail.

Thank you.
I feel I am getting biased to Cranfield - FT survey shows Cranfield graduates have 3rd best salary growth in Europe, it is often ranked ahead of Cambridge (for, example, in "The Economist" and TopMBA) and ahead of all schools in my list, high GMat score and good experience among students, slightly older students compared to many other MBA courses in the UK, large number of students, i.e. school should have enough funds to organise good quality elective courses. I did not find a single complaint about Cranfield's MBA quality on internet though I read about weaknesses of other schools in my list.
I often felt LBS and Cambridge are supermarkets of MBA degree because they are strong in almost every MBA specialisation. Would you think Cranfield, similar to LBS and Cambridge, is strong in every MBA subject area because it has large number of students? Or you would think Warwick, Lancaster, Henley and Ashridge are much stronger in some subjects vital for business consultants?
Thank you again.

Hi omega,
Well done on your admits!

Regarding your question, I met with couple of Cranfield alumnis during MBA tour in Asia.
They suggested that consulting and marketing are the strengths of cranfield SOM.
With finance as their weakest link, but they're working on it.
If you choose cranfield, you'll meet recruiters from Johnson&Johnson, Rolls Royce, TATA consulting groups, Mittal steel, etc.
If you want to pursue consulting/marketing field, Cranfield SOM is better than warwick.

However, Warwick curriculum is more inclined towards consulting for tech companies ie. IBM, Accenture.
That's why lots of engineers comes to warwick.

To me, cranfield and warwick is in the same class.
They're both equally good in terms of faculties, facilities and curriculums.
But the career path coming out from each respective schools are a bit different.

Which one you like better? Solving Retail business problems or being technology consultant ?

If I were you, I'll choose cranfield SOM, due to nearer location to london.
and I heard that the school provide a small office in london, so the recruiter can conduct interview with the students.

I often felt LBS and Cambridge are supermarkets of MBA degree because they are strong in almost every MBA specialisation. Would you think Cranfield, similar to LBS and Cambridge, is strong in every MBA subject area because it has large number of students? Or you would think Warwick, Lancaster, Henley and Ashridge are much stronger in some subjects vital for business consultants?
Thank you again.

Thanks for the replies.
By "supermarket" I meant that, like in a supermarket where you have a great variety of products to choose from, you similarly have a wide choice of high-quality electives for almost any specialisation you like in large MBA schools, while other schools usually have only a few areas of the main strength.
About career - I would love to go to consulting, however, I am not sure if I can get there. Last 7 years I was a civil engineer working on drainage networks projects, it is difficult to change direction even within civil engineering after such a long experience in one field only, therefore I really wonder if I can make a career switch. At the same time I am not that bad - all MBA programmes, except Warwick, accepted me with a scholarship, so I am competitive.

Well, where you go really depends on what you want to do after your MBA.

Unless you're THAT sure that you're going to study a specific specialization, maybe it might be better to go to schools that are good in all specializations. And that requires a 101% commitment to your specialization - it doesn't leave you room to explore other opportunities.

I'm also a bit wary about specialization rankings. I would rather go to a school with better overall rankings than a specific school that's ranked well in one or two specializations. The main reason being that the overall ranked school would most likely carry a better name across the board than the specialized school. However, having said that, it also does depend on other factors - geography, age, etc.

So, what do you want to do after the MBA?

Ideally, I would like to work for a consulting company, but I do not know which company I should apply to during/after graduation and how to persuade the potential employer that I am the right candidate. I do not want to work for a bank, and I do not think my professional background will allow me to get a job in a banking sector. Are there many opportunities in consulting, and if yes, then in which areas, i.e. restructuring, financial, change management etc?
Other options I will consider is to work for companies in construction industry, oil business or large manufacturers, but again I am not sure if my background will fit the last two business sectors.
I am sure I can put all the necessary effort as long as I know direction and see opportunities. The main issue is which direction to choose...

Maybe you should consider IMD?

www.imd.ch/mba

It's a good option given your goals. However, it's not in the UK - but it's goot for management positions etc, and even consulting.

Unfortunately my friend, only you know which direction you are suitable to go in. Online forums can't help you there, because I will never have a chance to know you well enough... nor will anybody else online. So you will have to make that decision yourself. Have you considered talking to a to a few HR people in the various industries and get their feedback on your profile and where you might fit in.

All the best...