Achieving your career goals with The NUS MBA

The MBA job search is no longer as simple as just attending career fairs. Graduates now have to do more and your MBA journey is the best time for you to explore your options and pursue your ambitions.

From career coaching, alumni mentoring to networking, Enna Tan, Head of BIZCareers and Nicole Tee, Director of MBA Programmes, share the various career development tools and activities, as well as the unique NUS MBA ecosystem, that one can make full use of to fulfil their career aspirations.

NUS MBA students get access to a unique ecosystem

Although an MBA can help in achieving career goals, it doesn’t come with any guarantees. The route from graduation to securing a job is constantly evolving. Now more than ever, it’s not solely about what students know, and increasingly about who they know.

“The MBA job search is no longer as simple as attending career fairs, attending on-campus recruitment events, and then just getting a CV ready and applying for those jobs,” says Nicole Tee, who is the Director of MBA Programmes at NUS Business School in Singapore.

According to Nicole, your best route to a successful post-MBA career comes through your network. “I think these days most of the best job opportunities are going to come through referrals, they’re going to come through people you know. This is where the NUS MBA ecosystem comes in.”

But what exactly is the NUS MBA ecosystem? In essence, it’s the extended network NUS provides. Part of the ecosystem is the people. That can be fellow students you meet in class or the NUS clubs, faculty, or company mentors. Additionally, alumni from the business school return to offer guidance to current students.

The NUS MBA ecosystem extends beyond the business school as well. For example, NUS students have the chance to join a business incubator during their MBA. The incubator allows them to pitch startup ideas, find co-founders, and even access funding opportunities for their startup.

Meaning, MBA connections can provide participants with new job opportunities that they wouldn’t have access to otherwise.

Career coaching that focuses on life goals, not career goals

You might think career coaching only focuses on finding a job, but that’s not the case at NUS.

The school’s MBA students are assigned a dedicated coach from the school’s career center, BIZCareers. Over the course of the programme, they’re encouraged to form a close relationship with their advisor. According to the Head of the career center, Enna Tan, the personal relationship between career advisor and student is what sets the NUS MBA apart from other schools.

“In NUS Business School, all the career coaches are in-house, full-time, [and] dedicated to our MBA students,” she says. “Immediately we will tell them who is their dedicated, assigned coach, and we expect them to engage the coach from day one. This is important because it’s a relationship that we want each student to build.”

This is a perfect example of how an MBA can help accelerate a career. Many business schools and business programmes offer career guidance, but few offer a dedicated advisor. Assigned advisors understand their MBA students’ current state and what it takes to reach their post-MBA career ambitions.

But the support doesn’t end there. Enna says that NUS career advisors don’t just help MBA students get a job after graduation. It is a long-term relationship that stretches beyond the workplace.

“As career coaches, we help them think post-MBA,” she tells us. “We help them think about a longer-term goal, life goals, not just career goals.”

Learn to feel comfortable being uncomfortable

Those who’ve read other articles about how an MBA can boost a career, probably encountered the importance of networking. However, the fact that not everyone has the skills or the confidence to network is rarely acknowledged. It’s a skill, and like any skill, networking needs practice in order to improve. NUS Business School recognises the importance of this.

That’s why NUS also runs a series of workshops that prepare participants to network with ease.

“[In] semester one, it is important that students be given skills [and] training on networking skills, elevator pitches, because they will need this when the events and networking sessions are coming on board. They have to be ready and savvy when they engage corporate partners,” Enna explains.

These workshops help individuals to deal with new faces and unfamiliar situations. They equip attendees with the tools needed to approach corporate mentors and network with business leaders.

But more than anything, the workshops boost confidence. The confidence to network, and the confidence to leave one’s comfort zone. Enna says this idea lies at the heart of the NUS MBA experience.

“You need to stretch yourself [during your MBA]. And in order to stretch yourself, you have to feel comfortable about feeling uncomfortable.”

This article is an adapted version of the original article, “3 ways the NUS MBA helps in achieving career goals” by MBAGRADSCHOOLS.