Value of Professional Networking Emphasized in New Ranking: MBA News

By Tim Dhoul Updated Sep 17, 2014

Save

Introduction
Alumni network is strong selling point
Student satisfaction with US schools shown in business school ranking

Professional networking takes center-stage in a new ranking

Download a report examining the importance of networking in business education

Today’s competitive, and often saturated, MBA job markets have caused more attention to be paid to the value of a business school’s alumni network when selecting a suitable program of study.

This consideration is now reflected in a business school ranking that puts the professional networking opportunities at students’ disposal center-stage.

“Networking is important because the peer, faculty, and alumni support and influence is a major asset while in school and for the rest of a graduate's life in the job market,” Harvey Berkey told Business Insider. Berkey is chief operating officer at Graduateprogams.com, producers of the business school ranking, which singles out ratings given for a school’s alumni network from a wider survey released earlier this year.

Alumni network is strong selling point

In truth, the depth and breadth of a business school’s alumni network has always been one of its strongest assets, and indeed selling points. MBA alumni will often remain committed to their alma mater decades after graduation – assisting younger cohorts with introductions, mentorships and recommendations.

For this reason, half of respondents to QS’s annual surveys of business school applicants have cited professional networking as a reason for wanting to pursue an MBA in each of the past three years, and more than a third in this same timeframe have said that creating a network was a factor influencing their choice of study destination.

You can read more about the MBA alumni network and the value of professional networking at business school in a free e-paper.

Student satisfaction with US schools shown in business school ranking

The business school ranking in professional networking from Graduateprograms.com contains just one institution outside of the US – the UK’s London Business School. Perhaps this is because they are purely the product of online reviews filled out by students, both past and present, and could theoretically not be attracting sufficient reviews from a worldwide pool of schools to give a more global perspective.

As such, this is a business school ranking (the top 10 of which is shown below) that should be seen more as an affirmation of student satisfaction with particular alma maters than a definitive list.

Even so, the message is clear – a business school’s capacity for professional networking during an MBA program and that all-important alumni network post-graduation is an important consideration for prospective MBA students thinking about which school is best-placed to meet their career aspirations – perhaps more than ever.

Written by

Tim Dhoul

Tim is a writer with a background in consumer journalism and charity communications. He trained as a journalist in the UK and holds degrees in history (BA) and Latin American studies (MA).