Romanian students use MBA to go international

According to a recent survey of global hiring and firing trends, conducted by recruitment specialist, Antal International, current hiring levels in Romania are strong, with 57% of businesses currently hiring at managerial and professional level.

However, this hasn’t stopped some of the most ambitious Romanian professionals from looking to take their career to an international level by undertaking an MBA programme abroad.

And it is Germany, for many the gateway to Western Europe, that is proving a popular destination. With good reason too – Antal’s survey also shows that 73% of firms in Germany’s financial sector are currently hiring.

Angelina Cepareanu worked at top strategy consultancy, A.T. Kearney, in Bucharest before deciding to undertake an MBA. In a move she hoped would take her career to the international stage, Angelina enrolled in an MBA course at the ESMT European School of Management and Technology in Berlin.

„I chose ESMT because I wanted to do a one year MBA programme and it had to be in English,” says Angelina. „There were good options at home in Romania but I didn’t consider them as I really wanted to develop an international career and I knew that it would be very difficult to do this without the right sort of MBA.”

Despite being a relatively young school, founded in 2002, ESMT is developing a growing reputation for offering a direct route into leading global businesses. Throughout their programme, students are mentored by one of ESMT’s 25 founding companies, which include some of the biggest names in German business such as Siemens and Deutsche Bank

„We were thoroughly prepared for the realities of the working world throughout,” says Angelina. „We were exposed to networking opportunities and each student had a mentor from one of the founding companies as well as visiting them to use classroom theory in practical situations.”

However, Angelina found that an MBA is not all networking events and opportunities.

„It’s not for everyone,” she explains, „I’m the kind of person who enjoys a challenge, so the hard work and long hours were fine by me, but we did work late into the night and because it was a one year MBA, it was very condensed. If I had less experience, I might have taken more time and gone on a two year course, but I was really keen to get back into the jobs market as quickly as possible – something I saw as very important given the wider economic situation.”

Upon completion of her MBA, Angelina went on to work for Allianz, one of Germany’s leading financial services companies and a founder member of ESMT itself.

„Because Allianz supports the school, I already knew the company and how it operated,” says Angelina. „I spent time at their Munich office at the end of the year as part of the business practice project. It gave me a real chance to get to know people and to understand the culture, which really helped my decision to work there afterwards. Munich is a very international city and Allianz has a real cultural mix too, with a genuine international feel as the working language is English.”

Although there are many great career opportunities within Romania, with or without a formal business education, taking an MBA abroad could be a smart option for professionals looking to fast track into the international market.