Manchester's Mojo Rising

Last year, MBA grads from the University of Manchester Business School saw a 93% placement rate. About 85% of Manchester students are international, and finding a job is now easier because of the Highly Skilled Migrant Program, a 2005 legislative measure that allows any graduate of a top MBA program to stay and work in Britain.

Clare Hudson has been director of Career Management Services for the University of Manchester's Business School for just six months, after spending the past three years in the career-services office. Hudson earned a degree in politics and modern history from the University of Manchester and worked for five years as a headhunter for British Nuclear Fuels. She's an avid golfer and is sure to promote her MBA students on the links and elsewhere. With lots of international recruiting experience, Hudson returned to Manchester and will be using the summer break to build up more services for international students, focusing on work in North America and Asia.

Hudson recently spoke with BusinessWeek intern Kristin Dew. Here are edited excerpts from their conversation:

How do you assist all of your international students?
We make sure they understand the Highly Skilled Migrant Program and help students with contract negotiation because the contracts here are quite detailed, and many students haven't experienced that before.

Do you offer any international networking opportunities?
Our students have an opportunity to go on exchange, and we get exchange students from other business schools. Our networking for international students is predominantly done through our alumni because we have about 20,000 alums all over the world. We also take students to international career fairs, but most students want to stay and work in the country.

What companies recruit most frequently at Manchester?
We have companies from all over the world, including Johnson & Johnson (JNJ ), A.T. Kearney, KPMG, Deloitte, Morgan Stanley (MS ), Citigroup (C ), AstraZeneca (AZN ), and Procter & Gamble (PG ). Exxon Mobil (XOM ) has hired from MBS this year, and we have people going to BP (BP ), American Express (AXP ), Nestlé, Credit Suisse (CSR ), and Accenture (ACN ).

Are there any industries you're trying to attract?
We're always building our reputation within the investment banking arena, specifically in London. We're getting favorable feedback and raising our profile. We've seen more interest in the oil industry, too. Exxon Mobil was here recently and was popular with students.

Is the job market still looking strong for next year?
Yes, we're pretty confident in the market at the moment. Consultancies are getting more involved in public-sector work, oil and gas is growing, retail is holding steady, and investment banking is still hiring aggressively (see BW Online, 12/30/05, "A Heady Job Market for MBAs").

Emerging markets are strong, too. We have students who come to us from Eastern Europe, India, and China who are attractive because they have the language skills and knowledge of the regions (see BW Online, 05/08/06, "No Passport to Success").

How do you ensure a good match between students and employers?
We know our students well because we spend so much time with them. We also spend time with [recruiters], so we're aware of what they're looking for. We're better able to advise the students on tailoring their applications, technical skills, and especially the soft skills they need to highlight to be attractive to a given client.

What kinds of internships are popular with your students?
The majority of our MBAs go for a structured internship with a blue chip, but we have some who go to work for a small firm here in Manchester. In the careers office, we try to make sure that we can attract a mixture of opportunities to satisfy different students.

Does career services have a say in the admissions process?
Yes, we work with admissions to look for people who have leadership and management experience. We need a minimum of three years work experience because the final three months of the MBA is the International Business Project. Companies come to us with real projects for students. Students have to bid for these projects and form themselves into teams of consultants to finish and deliver it to the client.

Are services for part-time students different?
Self-funded students have access to all our services. Students who are sponsored by their employers get a part of our services. So if they are going for an internal promotion and want some interview tips, we can help with that. But we won't advise an executive student who's sponsored by their company without the company's written approval.

Do you work with student clubs?
Clubs bring in guest speakers, and we hold a couple of networking events with them. We have offices in London that we can use for that. And, for example, if you are an active member of the investment banking club and you put that on your CV, it demonstrates a genuine interest when applying to an employer like Morgan Stanley.

What are some of the common mistakes students make when they're looking for a job?
The most common mistake is not being prepared -- not sending tailored CVs and cover letters or doing enough research into the role and the organization. Or some students will go into student mode and forget that they were managing multibillion pound businesses when they came here. During interviewing, many MBA students miss that it's not just about technical abilities, it's about personality.

Which students are the most successful when entering the job market?
The MBA job market is a highly competitive market, and graduates have to be able to differentiate themselves. Graduating students have to really know themselves before they can sell themselves. They have to be resilient because they will get knocked back, and they have to keep their expectations realistic.