Advantage Amsterdam: A Full-Time MBA on the Move

This article is sponsored by Nyenrode Business University

Amsterdam is the capital of the Netherlands and is world-renowned for being one of Europe’s leading cultural destinations. However, what might be less known is that while the Dutch government is based at The Hague (Den Haag), Amsterdam is also the Netherlands’ financial capital and a hub for international business.

Home to the Amsterdam Stock Exchange, the city’s mayoral office has already been in touch with UK-based finance firms that are considering their post-Brexit options. Amsterdam also plans to bid to become the new home of the EU’s stress-testing regulatory body currently based in London, the European Banking Authority (EBA).

Part of Amsterdam’s attraction lies in its location, which is within easy reach of Europe’s key cities, and the excellent standards of English found among its inhabitants, particularly in the spheres of business.

The city’s not just about finance, however – it was also awarded the title of European Capital of Innovation 2016 by the European Commission for its, “holistic vision of innovation related to four areas of urban life: Governance, economics, social inclusion, and quality of life.”

It’s for reasons of greater immersion in all that Amsterdam’s business landscape has to offer that Nyenrode Business University has taken the decision to shift the location of its full-time MBA program from the university’s castle estate in Breukelen. Starting this September, students will now study in Amsterdam’s city center.

As picturesque as the grounds at Breukelen (a town located between Amsterdam and Utrecht to the capital’s southeast) are, Dennis Vink, director of the Full-Time MBA program at Nyenrode, is suitably pleased by the decision: “Our strong connection with the business world plays a big role in providing employment possibilities to our students. Living and studying in Amsterdam will bring our students even closer to such opportunities.” Some of those opportunities might include positions at the financial/professional services firms, ING and TMF and the tech company, Philips, all of which are headquartered in Amsterdam and listed among Nyenrode’s top employers of MBA graduates.

If you’re from outside the European Union (EU) and looking to study in Amsterdam, you might find that the Netherlands’ visa situation is also to your advantage: For students keen to stay on and work in the Netherlands after completing the program, post-study visas give a year in which to find a suitable position, post-graduation. Most, however, will not need the full year. Vink says that 82% of the Full-Time MBA program’s recent graduates secure positions within the first three months of the program's conclusion – the MBA’s move to the heart of Amsterdam seems unlikely to cause that statistic to drop.

There are 16 nationalities represented in the current class of just 38 students, of which only 3% are citizens of the Netherlands. Indeed, figures taken from the school’s last five intakes highlight the scale of diversity at Nyenrode. Around three-quarters of its students come from outside Europe altogether, yet around 40% will work in the Netherlands post-graduation and a further 10% tend to take jobs elsewhere within Europe.