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5 Ways Your Early Career MBA Boosts Your Professional Development

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Many experienced professionals have an MBA to accelerate their careers. But what if you’re an early career expert with little work experience and want to move your career forward?

Some MBA programs like City University of Hong Kong (CityU)Take a holistic approach when reviewing an applicant’s background, academic performance, and personal achievements, accepting candidates with little work experience and helping them realize their career dreams.

So is the early career MBA the answer? Here are five things you can do in your early career MBA to develop your professional skills.


1. An early career MBA will help you build a business experience

Jos Kiekens (PhotoAfter earning a bachelor’s degree in economics and business from the University of Amsterdam, he earned a full-time MBA from City U. Prior to my MBA, I worked for a small Dutch real estate company.

Hong Kong is ranked 5th in the world in the 2021 Global Innovation Index (GII), and business schools in the region, such as City U, provide a gateway to this environment. Hong Kong offers networking opportunities with over 1,500 international companies that operate regional headquarters.

CityU MBA students can meet industry leaders inside and outside Hong Kong through experiential learning courses. Career advisors can use these experiences to help advance their careers.

“Some of my friends studied at City U before, and it has a really good international reputation here in Amsterdam,” Jos explains.

“The City UMBASHARP Forum, a career-led course, was especially helpful. You can connect to it through the MBA channel whatever you want to do.”

The SHARP Forum connects business executives, government officials, scholars, entrepreneurs, celebrities and industry experts to try to solve some of the world’s most pressing challenges.

MBA students are responsible for all aspects of the forum, including organizing industry-focused discussion panels, contacting speakers, and promoting and hosting forum events.


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Jos was the marketing coordinator of the Organizing Committee of the SHARP Forum for the supply chain industry in the Greater Bay area of ​​China. This role allowed him to interact deeply with industry speakers, including the Chairman of the Hong Kong Logistics Association and the co-founder of Easyship, a leading global brand transportation software.

Such a platform provides students with an unparalleled opportunity for career networking and development, he says. “I loved that everyone was business-oriented and it attracted the smartest people from all over the world.”


2. You can change jobs with an early career MBA

During the MBA, Joss had the opportunity to work on the LinkedIn and Facebook business cases and traveled to Singapore, the United Kingdom and the United States for a CityU MBA experiential learning course.


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“We did a branding project for the supermarket chain Tesco at a global brand management workshop in partnership with the Imperial College Business School in London,” recalls Joss. “We did an overall business analysis on one of their brands, which was very beneficial to me as I am currently working in the same environment.”

Jos works in the retail business of Dutch supermarket brands. This is the switch I made after I got my MBA. His role involves making high-level decisions about the company’s domestic business.


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“The UK Global Brand Management Workshop has helped boost my career in that regard,” he says. “It was really helpful to stand at the table with all of Tesco’s management and test our ideas.”


3. MBA level knowledge can complement past experience

8c393a09b3b4186a2c7fc77c625cbb33ccbc2efd.png Glen Van Ake (Photo), A fellow MBA graduate from City U says he was drawn from Spain to Hong Kong by his promise to supplement his existing business knowledge with his experience in a fast-paced international environment.

Glenn has opted for a dual concentration of information management and marketing MBAs. It focuses on technology, big data, and marketing and business analysis. This is a decision that complements my pre-MBA experience working for a technology company as a solution engineer.

“In my work, I realized that I had to talk to my sales customers, CMOs, CEOs, people from different industries.

“I wanted to be more empathetic to those customers and understand what made them work. Practical communication skills acquired at City U, especially in collaboration with UC Berkeley Haas School in an entrepreneurship workshop. And experience is a very valuable asset to me, “Glen continues.


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“My City U professor shared how to solve business problems with human influence and trained us to balance warmth and ability when building a team. They also. We encouraged us not only to be competent professionals, but also to be competent and ethical professionals. “


4. Early Career MBA will teach you how to market to your employer

Early in your career, it can be difficult to create or know a purposeful story about your career ambitions. How to create an award-winning resume.. At CityU, MBA students receive career advice, coaching, and early career-related training and workshops.

Glenn, along with a team of City U graduates, organized a SHARP forum on new trends in the future workplace, and along with career coaching, said this experience embarked on an internship as a marketing technology transformation consultant at Rent Kill Initial Hong Kong.


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That was the kickstarter needed for his career in Hong Kong. After graduating, he joined one of Hong Kong’s largest financial consulting firms as a consultant. An MBA graduated from an educational institution in Hong Kong can obtain an IANG visa. This allows you to stay and work in Hong Kong for up to 12 months after graduation.

“The advice I got from the career team helped me get a good pitch about myself,” says Glenn. “By getting an MBA, I can express my value more clearly.”


5. Early Career MBA Can Build Your Professional Network

Jos and Glenn agree that the City U MBA is preparing to advance its career at the world’s largest innovation center. The experienced networks they built spanned several industries and sectors.

The average CityUMBA student has 7 years of work experience and is 31 years old. The class consists of 51% of female students, and the cohort has specialists in sales and marketing, legal and R & D, business analysis, consulting and more.

Over 80% of CityU part-time MBA students are local experts in Hong Kong, and about 70% of full-time students come from different states in China.

“The wide variety of people we meet and the entire network that CityU can help build in Hong Kong will be very helpful whether you want to start your career in Hong Kong or get a broader business network,” Jos said. Mr. says.


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“If you want to start your career in Hong Kong, it’s very accessible through the IANG visa scheme,” Glenn adds.

“CityUMBA has given me the opportunity to look back on what I really want in my career.”

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