MBA in Switzerland

Recommendations
#1

Hello, what do you think about having a MBA in Switzerland?
Is it helpful in Switzerland in the job market or negligible like it may be for the Italian market that I know a bit more?

Any suggestion of a good one here? How much should I account for?

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#2

What could make sense is to calculate the salary inrease you benefit in the long term.
Do you know which position such MBA could help you to reach ?

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#3

I don’t have much experience but whenever I see an executive in Switzerland, they could almost always speak all three languages; German, French, English and they mostly had an MBA. So my impression is that it may not guarantee you an upper position but it definitely help to outrace.

There are bunch of different programs out there. Your interest and the industry you are in plays of course a big role. I am personally interested (only by information on their website) in BFH’s Master in Digital Business Administration program. It is in English and looks very flexible. Take a look at it here. A colleague did EMBA at EPFL and he was quite happy.
There are not much universities in Switzerland. I guess you can go site by site and check all the programs in couple of hours.

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#4

@Bili , did the MBA help your colleague being promoted in your company or another company at the end of his MBA ?

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#5

Yes, right after he finished he got a promotion and changed his position to a more decision-maker one.

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#6

I know that for some positions, especially in government, an MBA is required or highly valued in any case.

What is the objective of your approach? Is it primarily to increase your salary? In that case I can only recommend the best schools (but also the most expensive ones). The calling card of an MBA is above all in which institution you did it. If your goal is above all to deepen your knowledge, I can only recommend you to attend the information sessions and to choose the school that suits you.

#7

Here some thoughts (having an MBA myself):

  • Don’t do an MBA if you want to enter a new sector. An MBA “boosts” an existing career.
  • If you do an MBA, do it right → Choose a good school (check the Financial Times ranking).
  • Good schools cost a lot of money → Calculate if it is really worse it (one can also just do specific courses = cheaper).
  • Do it in Europe → In Europe people tend to do an MBA when around 30 years old (in US the average age is much younger). Remember that you learn a lot from the experiences from the other school mates → The younger (in US) the less knowledge (i.e. geopolitics for instance). I remember that I was shocked to see the ignorance of some of the US exchange students in my class.
  • Remember that the top ranked schools chooses the best candidates having an international mix (meaning that, unless you are a genius, you have low chances to enter schools like IMD, INSEAD, etc…).
  • The preparation/application process is not easy and takes time (the GMAT test is not that easy for non-natives).
    Cheers,
    P.
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