by: Karen Dowd
Co-Chair, MBA CSC Asian Expansion Initiative
Recently, MBA CSC was represented in Hong Kong at the 2nd Annual NAAMBA Global Career Forum. Karen Dowd (Daniels/Denver), Ann Nowak (Liberty Mutual), Mark Peterson (Iowa State) and Vinika Rao (INSEAD Singapore) co-led our Asian Expansion Initiative meeting the second day of the conference. Megan Hendricks, Executive Director of the MBA CSC was a huge help in making this second annual event happen.
One of our colleagues commented that in China it “takes many pots of tea” – 12-15 individual meetings with companies — before a foundation of trust is in place resulting in meaningful business leads or relationships. As anyone who has traveled or lived in this region knows, this is probably true in any endeavor we undertake as a College/University, whether it is school partnerships, company and executive contacts, agency meetings, alumni/Friend relationship building, student recruitment, and certainly finding job opportunities for our students.
All business is global. Graduate business school enrollments are projected to continue to skew heavily toward an international (non-U.S.) student population, and undergraduate programs will continue to see increased interest by international students and their parents. Fewer U.S. companies are capable of hiring non-sponsored students. More alumni will be based outside of the U.S. Advancement will be relying more on international contributions in the coming years. More recruiting companies will be seeking Western-trained talent with strong language skills to return to home countries in Asia to pursue their careers. Because of these and other trends, we are continuing our focus on better understanding the business landscape in Asia for the MBAC CSC, and on how this can inform our success as an association in providing assistance to all of our members globally.
Overview
- 90+ graduate business students from 30+ schools in the U.S., Canada, Europe, Australia and Asia were in attendance. Administrators from 20+graduatebusiness schools in these same regions attended.
- Recruiters from over a dozen companies and hiring agencies attended.
- The Career Expo occurred on Monday Jan. 7, followed by a networking reception – keynote was the CEO of Kimberly-Clark Asia. Interviews and other activities occurred on Tues. Jan. 8.
- MBA Focus and Evisors were MBA CSC Sponsors. We are grateful for their support.
- The Expo opened with a session facilitated by Mark Peterson (Iowa State), MBA CSC President; Jamie Belinne (Bauer/Houston),former MBA CSC Board Member; Vinika Rao (INSEAD Singapore), Co-Chair, MBA CSC 2013 Asian Conference; Ann Nowak (Liberty Mutual), Employer Lead, MBA CSC 2013 Asian Conference, and Karen Dowd (Daniels/Denver), Chair, MBA CSC Asian Expansion Initiative and Co-Chair, MBA CSC Asian Conference
- MBA CSC content was presented on Tuesday afternoon. Topics included:
- An overview of the MBA CSC by Mark Peterson
- A presentation on the MBA CSC Standards, by Mark Peterson with assistance from other board members and members present
- An employer roundtable led by Ann Nowak
- An alumni panel led by Vinika Rao
- An open conversation re: the future of the MBA CSC Asian Initaitve, facilitated by Mark Peterson and Karen Dowd
We look forward to a continued presence in the Asian Region and appreciate any thoughts or feedback you have about the initiative. Please contact Karen Dowd with your feedback.
Global Career Forum/MBA CSC Meeting Participants
Companies/Organizations Attending (not a complete list)
- Abbott
- Assoc. of MBAs
- Dun & Bradstreet
- Deloitte
- E&Y
- Evisors
- GMAC
- HCCR Ltd.
- Lilly
- GE
- IBM
- Kimberly Clark
- Liberty Mutual
- MBA Focus
- McKinsey
- Pacific Coffee
- South China Morning Press
- NOTE: other companies such as Microsoft, Gallup and HSBC have openings but were unable to attend the conference and postings will be shared with the schools attending
Schools Attending [students and/or administrators] (not a complete list)
- AIM
- Bocconi
- Brandeis
- Case Western
- Chicago Booth Singapore
- City University of Hong Kong City
- Clark
- Daniels/Denver
- Fuqua/Duke
- George Washington
- HEC Paris
- Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
- Houston
- IE
- Iowa State
- Illinois
- INSEAD Singapore
- Johns Hopkins
- Johnson/Cornell
- Kelley/Indiana
- Krannert/Purdue
- Macquarie Univ. Australia
- Manchester
- Notre Dame
- NUS
- Ohio State
- Olin/Washington Univ.
- Oregon
- Pepperdine
- Ross/Michigan
- Rotman/Toronto
- Simon/Rochester
- Smith/Maryland
- Univ. of California/San Diego
- Univ. of Glasgow
- Univ. of Queensland
MBA Career Services & Employer Alliance's Blog 
Myself and my colleage Tucker Ophof attended this event for the first time. Thank you CSC for all of your great work. We represented the University of Maryland Robert H. Smith School of Business. We both learned a great deal. We’d like to keep in touch with other career center professionals who work closely with international students. Please drop me a line so we can share best practices, etc, going forward. My email is mbarros@rhsmith.umd.edu. Thank you.
I have to second Marcelo’s comments. We look forward to staying in touch and to becoming more engaged in the future.
Tucker
tophof@rhsmith.umd.edu
Great effort by MBA CSC to grow awareness and collaboration among business schools operating in Asia. As Asia is increasing in significance as a career destination for MBAs for more schools across the globe, conferences such as this go a long way to provide information and support.