Forum: School selection (3 Comments)

UCD Smurfit Business School | MS in Management

  • Posted by - eclathunk - on 8 December 2012 - 3:47am

    Hi,

    I have 4 yrs of IT Exp and got an acceptance letter from UCD Smurfit business school to join their MS in Management Programme. But I need your help to figure it out on college profile and future prospect.

    I wanted to pursue a phd in Management from a top US B school later in my life(maybe after 5 yrs of graduation)

    Can you please highlight on how smurfit's MS in management is going to help me on that and also where I can apply for job with MS in Management degree?

    I'm from India and wanted to work in Europe. I heard that it's very tough to get a job in ireland as non EU.So in that case where the chances(in which part of europe) of getting a job is fair.

    Please help.

    • Posted by - eclathunk - on 9 December 2012 - 6:54pm

      Thanks a Lot Thomas.
      Your message is to the point and pretty descriptive and most importantly touches all my questions.

      Thank you again for your response.

    • Posted by - Thomas Graf - on 8 December 2012 - 10:03pm

      Hi there,

      while reading your message I realize that you actually ask several questions. Let's try to separate them and tackle them individually.

      One question is about your plans to do (1) a PhD, (2) in the US, (3) five years after graduation of your masters. I struggle a bit with that idea to be honest.

      First of all, I am no sure if US schools or which US schools accept PhD students with five years of work experience. I am sure you will find them but you may consider doing a PhD directly after your master as well - particularly if you are interested in an academic career. Doing a PhD directly after your masters allows you to come earlier on the academic job market and publish some articles early. Alternatively, if you want to stay in business and do a doctoral degree a PhD may not be the right program for you. Instead, you may want to consider a Doctor of Business Administration. Check our website DBA Compass for the difference between PhD and DBA.

      Second, usually a Masters degree is a necessary condition for a PhD. So with a Master at UCD you should be fine formally. I am not sure however to what degree US schools accept PhD applicants with a European degree. Of course they do so but you may need to have excellent grades in your master to convince them. Also, a Master of Science should be the right choice (not a Master of Arts).

      Bottom line: Think about (1) whether a Master in the US would make sense for you - just to be closer to your future education and (2) if you do it in Europe try to achieve excellent results. (3) Consider a PhD directly after your studies.

      Where can you apply for a job after the master?
      90 percent of Master in Management students start their career after the master in the country of where the campus is located (Source: Global MIM Study 2012)). A very important factor is the network of the university. So have a look at the firms that come to the UCD campus and ask the admissions and career office people about where the graduates start to work: geographically, in which industries, and in which positions.

      About the chances or work opportunities
      Here I would do two things: (1) Talk to the career service of UCD. Which experiences do they have with placing graduates from India? If they have no experience at all... well.... (2) Talk to the Embassy of India in the countries you would like to work. They should be able to tell you about working visa etc.

      Best wishes
      Thomas