How an MBA Can Help You Relocate to Your Dream Country

There are many perks associated with doing an MBA – advancing your career, starting your own business, having a salary increase and developing key business skills to name but a few.

But one underrated benefit of going to b-school is the opportunity to study somewhere completely new.

Studying abroad at any level can be beneficial to your career, but an MBA will certainly prepare you in a way that staying in one place can’t.

First, it can help you develop the confidence to do business with people who have different cultural values. You’ll struggle to find two countries that are identical, just like companies in the business world. Knowing how to navigate these obvious cultural and organizational differences is a skill that’ll make you highly valuable in the eyes of most companies.

Second, the experience of living in a different country will give you the chance to develop other desirable skills, such as independence, communication, adaptability and perhaps a new language. All of these will improve your business acumen, giving you a wider scope to be at the forefront of different business fields and markets.

While some b-school candidates might not be certain on where they’d like their education to take them, others are well aware that an MBA can help them relocate to their dream country.

We spoke to two aspiring MBA students at London’s QS MBA World Tour to find out why they want to study abroad and where.

Sarajhem

Sarajhem grew up in Spain and relocated to London 13 years ago to get his undergraduate degree from UCL.

Now, after a few years of experience in the workforce, he is thinking about his future career development, for which he thinks an MBA would be essential.

He said: “I came here [the event] to connect with universities and trying to understand their programs a bit more, especially if they would work for me.”

Sarajhem is considering different type of MBAs, from tech to executive, but he has one main goal in mind: going back to Spain to start his own business.

He said: “I’m trying to see whether a full-time course would sit right with me or whether I’d be more suited for a part-time program.

“I’ve had the opportunity to speak to representatives from Spanish schools, such as ESADE, IE and IESE. I could do an executive MBA and fly over to Spain monthly or biweekly, but they also suggested I could do an intensive short course. I’ll just have to wait and see, but so far today has been very useful.”

Sarajhem said he found the event “very insightful”, particularly because it gave him the opportunity to meet b-school candidates from different backgrounds to discuss his options with.

He said: “I came in with a bit of a pre-set mindset on the types of universities that I wanted to speak to, but what’s been really interesting is learning about some new programs. I’m sure I’ll figure out what it’s right for me.”

Garreth

Garreth is an accounting graduate from South Africa who decided to attend the event during his holiday in London to find out more about MBAs.

He said: “I’m looking for additional opportunities. South Africa is a great place to study, very social, but it’s also a very small economy.”

He added: “I want more growth in my own career so I’m looking to come over to bigger markets. I want to go somewhere where I have the opportunity to build a new network and get to know new people.”

While he is considering Europe as a whole, Garreth said he’s specifically looking at schools in his dream country, the UK, such as Imperial, LBS and Warwick.

He said: “For now, doing an MBA is about changing my career path and my place of work from South Africa to the UK. I love the way studying abroad opens up people’s minds to what else is out there.”

Garreth said the event was a good introduction into the world of business education.

However, since he’s not looking to start in the immediate future, he is keeping his options open.

He said: “I’m very open minded about the situation. I know people who have done an MBA for specific reasons, and these changed during the experience or after.

“Who knows, it might be the same for me.”

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