by Guest Author Caroline Parry
Content provided by TopMBA.com

The old saying “it’s not what you know but who you know” has perhaps never had more resonance than it does in today’s MBA graduate recruitment market. As the global employment market has contracted in the past three years in line with the global economic turmoil; having access to a wide and diverse range of contacts has never been more important.

According to research into corporate recruitment released by the Graduate Management Admissions Council (GMAC) in June, 76% of employers are now using staff referrals for recruitment; while just 29% are using traditional print advertising to announce vacancies.

Networking has always been considered key to career development and access to the alumni network is frequently cited by MBA graduates as one of the major benefits of attending business school. Vanessa Gough, recruitment manager at IBM, says developing a network of contacts is “vital” to a successful career.

“Building your networking skills will help you create business relationships, which can help to open doors and give you access to career opportunities,” she adds, although she is keen to point out that networking is also about gaining access to skills and expertise that you do not possess. “So if you need help, or an answer to a question, there’s always someone in your network who will be able to provide it - or find someone who can.”

While few would argue with the importance of building and developing a bulging contacts book, the idea of networking fills a majority of people with dread and even fear. Heather White, chief executive and founder of Smarter Networking, a company that coaches people in networking skills, says it is important to remember that natural networkers are in the minority. “Maybe five or ten percent of people are naturals; for the rest of us, it’s a task or discipline that is self-motivated.”

Rachael Barker, alumni relations manager at Cambridge Judge Business School, says few MBAs candidates truly have the skills to network when they first arrive. “It is a skill that has to be nurtured. A relationship-building tool as it isn’t just about getting a job. Students need to stick at it and not expect a quick return.”

What is networking?

In its most basic form, networking is meeting new people at some kind of work event, a party, a conference or, perhaps, a formal dinner. While building and maintaining a network goes far beyond this, coping with face-to-face contact with strangers is the first fear that many have to conquer.

Give yourself a mission for the evening, advises Trixie Rawlinson, a senior partner at Impact Factory, a training company that specializes in personal and professional development. “Give yourself a hit list of about five people you want to meet and be clear what you what to achieve. Do you want to get their card or just make contact?”

“If you have a realistic task and you decide in your mind that it is fine to just do that; it will take the embarrassment out of asking for something.”

Dee Clarke, director of MBA career services at ESADE Business School in Barcelona, says MBAs often fall into a student mindset in these situations. “They tend to forget that they used to work and have overseen budgets or managed teams so they think they have nothing to offer the person they are talking to,” adds Clarke, a former campus recruiter at Goldman Sachs.

Similarly, says White, new students often forget to stay in contact with former employers and colleagues when leave to start their MBA. “They must keep their contacts from their former employer and those outside of the MBA sphere. In this day and age, it would be a massive mistake to lose them.”

Karen Siegfried, MBA executive director at Cambridge Judge, says that maintain and cultivating contacts is critical. “If you neglect it, it is more time consuming to reignite it than it is to build a new one. People are increasingly realizing the importance of being called up for a drink or lunch.”

Even as students, White believes MBAs should be aware of their personal brand, while Siegfried advises that planning and practicing an “elevator pitch” is essential preparation for networking. “You need to be clear about what you are looking for, your competencies, the value you would bring and you need to communicate that succinctly. It is your verbal business card.”

However, this does not mean that every encounter is all about the MBA pitching to potential employers. Rawlinson says it helps to act as a host and see the other person as a guest. “At that moment when your mind goes blank and your mouth is dry, think about what they might want. Do they need a drink? Is there someone that you could introduce them to? If you are just thinking me, me, me then you will panic. Remember, everyone feels difficult in these scenarios but people will always like you if you are nice.”

She says it is also important to leave a conversation properly as people “tend to slope off” or make excuses. “Own up when you want the conversation to end and thank the person for their time. It is much worse when people can’t finish a conversation but, on the other hand, don’t leave them standing alone. You can buddy-up with someone else so if you get really stuck, you can always hang them over to your partner.”

Networking online

The rise of online social networking is also having impact on how students can make and maintain contacts. IBM’s Gough says the company has used both Twitter and Facebook for both its student and graduate recruitment. She says: “For example, we have used Facebook to connect with our new starters before their commencement date to answer any questions they may have or to help facilitate their finding appropriate accommodation for their placement.”

Meanwhile, Barker says that these platforms such as Linked-In are useful for people keeping in touch despite being in different time zones and they can also, thanks to public profiles, help people to find common ground more easily.

It is best to pick one or two sites and make sure you maintain your profile properly, says Siegfried. “Because of the prevalence of social networking sites, it is important to have a presence on key sites. If you don’t, people might go looking for you and you might miss opportunities or be perceived as not being savvy.

“But choose your platforms carefully, check your Facebook page and make sure you are happy with what is there as potential employers will check.”

Rebecca Joffrey, co-director of career development office at Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth, says she online networking is changing the formality of the first encounter that you have with people. “It helps you jump levels of formality very quickly. On the one hand, that’s very helpful but I don’t know how it affects the networking transaction and if it is the right way to go.”

The growth on social networking makes it very tempting for people to eschew the face-to-face events in favor of hiding behind their keyboard; for Siegfried it has elevated the importance of face to face meetings and phone calls. “People what to see who you are when it comes to recruiting,” she explains.

Developing networking skills — both on and offline — will be critical both during the MBA itself and for the next step afterwards. As Gough says: “I once heard a very successful executive say: “It’s not who you know, it’s who knows you. Your network is where your next role will come from, where you get support and information, and where you develop the relationships with your colleagues that will be valuable as you progress through the company.”

Caroline Parry is a freelance journalist and expert on the education industry, based in London. She is a regular contributor to TopMBA.com, the TopMBA Career Guide and the TopMBA newsletter.

By Guest Author, Richard Burns; provided by TopMBA.com

Recently there has been an influx of institutions and business schools offering online MBA programs. Depending on the institution, these online MBA programs are called anything from ‘blended learning MBAs’, to ‘e-learning MBAs’, and from ‘fast track MBAs’, to the more traditionally branded ‘distance learning MBAs’.

Online MBA courses are designed for convenient access from anywhere in the world with an internet connection. If they choose, students can embark on the tough challenge of studying part time while working to pay the bills, looking after a family, or even studying full time on the opposite side of the world from where the actual business school is based.

For clarification, TopMBA.com defines online MBA programs as courses that are taught solely online, without visiting the school. Distance learning MBA programs are hybrid courses, where the predominant mode of study is online, but the student will be expected to attend some campus based lectures, such as a residential course during over a long weekend.

Choosing courses

But with so many different studying formats, and with few previous students as a result of the online MBA’s relative infancy, how does a potential MBA student decide which online MBA course is the right choice?

One option is to look at business schools that have already been accredited after operating regular MBA courses on campuses for many years. Many of these schools argue that MBA students are taught very similar if not the same curricula, and therefore graduate with the same skills.

“No matter which MBA platform a student chooses, everyone earns the same [qualification]” explains Jason Simmons, manager of admissions and recruitment, W P Carey School of Business at Arizona State University in the US. While he points out that options for elective courses may differ depending on which medium the MBA program is taught in, “all involve the same core curriculum, which includes a strong foundation in accounting, management, finance, marketing and supply chain.”

Drawbacks

While one obvious drawback to any MBA program taught exclusively online is the lack of face to face with fellow students, many argue that learning deep online skills is essential for the technologically evolved world.

“Teamwork is still a key component so students learn how to work in geographically dispersed teams, which is becoming commonplace in the corporate world,” says Eric Richards, chair of the Kelley Direct Public Programs at Indiana University’s Kelley Business School, USA. “Our online courses are very interactive, just as our face to face classes are. The only difference is the way in which the interaction occurs.”

A crucial aspect of online MBAs when compared to traditional campus based MBA programs is the availability of the online lectures, usually 24 hours a day, seven days a week. As Richard Wheatcroft, masters program director and senior lecturer in management at Open University in the UK tells TopMBA.com, “sometimes it matters more what the individual is doing, than the institution they are studying at.

“From a recruiter’s point of view, at a top business school with both full time and online MBA programs, graduates come out having studied a very similar syllabus. However, a graduate who has studied full time can only claim they can work hard. An online MBA graduate has already been working hard [while studying part time] for the last two years,” Wheatcroft notes, drawing attention to the benefits of gaining work experience while studying.

However, Wheatcroft, whose distance learning MBA at Open University is predominantly taught online did concede that there are drawbacks to an online MBA. “Networking is a problem, as online meetings simply can’t replace face to face interaction with fellow students,” he explains. “Also, there clearly isn’t the same [on campus] recruitment going on, as it’s a disconnected network, so it’s impossible.”

Eric Richards at Kelley Business School points out that the need for an online MBA student to have a great deal of self-discipline to graduate. “Since you are not required to be in a certain location at a certain time you must be disciplined enough to join in discussion forums, chat sessions, team meetings, and do your class assignments on a regular basis throughout the week,” he explains. “If you need to be at a class at a certain time to motivate yourself to keep up with your studies, an online program like Kelley Direct is not for you.”

Value to recruiters

Finally, probably the most important consideration for any online course, MBA or otherwise is how much it is valued after graduation. “Accreditation is very important here,” points out Wheatcroft, whose MBA course is accredited by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB). The other international accrediting body that accredits schools overall is EQUIS, based in Brussels. AMBA (the association of MBAs) is based in London and accredits individual programs rather than schools. There are a number of schools that have one, two or even all three of these heavyweight accreditations.

“There are also national accrediting bodies in separate countries,” says Ross Geraghty, managing editor of the TopMBA Career Guide. “As there is little to stop almost anyone starting a business school or online MBA, it’s very important that online MBA candidates seek out and research a school’s accreditation before handing their fees over.”

In fact, many experts are becoming concerned over some online business schools that seem to operate purely for profit, rather than to educate their students. “Sometimes you want to ask, are you running a business or a business school?” Andy Policano, chairman of the board of AACSB International and dean of the University of California at Irvine’s Paul Merage School of Business enthuses, before giving his advice to prospective students.

“Some schools really do appear to be more concerned with making money than educating their students,” Policano worryingly points out, reiterating the importance that prospective students check that a business school is properly accredited before handing over their tuition fees.

Accreditation really is that important. Just because an organisation calls itself a business school, it does not necessarily mean they are genuinely interested in educating their students. It appears that, unfortunately something that many would assume to be an essential part of selecting, and paying thousands of dollars in tuition fees is all too often overlooked by eager students.