'Both a short-term and long-term makeover'

In a tough economic climate, an MBA is an investment as well as an immediate solution, says Roger Trapp

As with most other people in business, today's MBA graduates are having to adjust their expectations in the light of tough economic conditions. Julia Tyler, director of the MBA programme at the London Business School (LBS), says: "It's cold out there. There's no question."

As Tyler acknowledges, the prestigious establishment in the heart of London has particularly felt the pain because the two sectors that it has focused on – large consulting firms and financial services – are themselves finding the going difficult.

But though some schools may claim to be finding jobs comparatively easy for their graduates, London is certainly not alone in having to come to terms with a new situation. At Lancaster University Management School, director of external relations Rick Crawley says that demand for places on the course is still strong – in line with past trends indicating that many experienced employees see a downturn as a good time to take time out improving their CVs in the hope of getting a better or different type of job when things improve. The other side of this is that for those graduating now, it is quite tough.

Stressing that he and his colleagues are not kidding students, Crawley nonetheless says: "The key thing is that smart people will see this as a long-term investment in their future." As a result, even if they do not get the job they want as fast as they want, they must realise that this does not devalue the qualification they have gained. "It's just a delay in starting to get a payback," adds Crawley.

At Lancaster, three-quarters of the 76-strong class that graduated last year changed at least their job function, their industry or the country they worked in before attending the year-long course. And while Crawley sees a higher proportion going back to their previous companies simply as a way of getting back into the labour market, he still expects a significant proportion of students to change at least one of these aspects when they return to work.

One reason for this is that Lancaster has traditionally attracted many students who are "geographically mobile" and end up working in a different country to the one they were in before attending the course.

However, mindful that many students are from Asia and looking to obtain work in the UK or other parts of the West, he cautions them that visa constraints and other regulations can make it hard for them to succeed in this aim.

In common with their counterparts at other schools, Crawley and his colleagues are "trying new things to help students get back into the labour market". Among these are investments in trips to different parts of the world extolling the virtues of their students and the courses they have attended.

There is also an attempt to broaden the appeal of the MBA to different sorts and sizes of companies. At LBS, for example, Julia Tyler is looking at what she calls the "hidden or secret market" for jobs. Noting that the traditional big employers of London MBAs, such as investment banks, are perhaps each recruiting only 10 per cent of the 20 to 30 people they would normally take on, she is urging students to be more proactive. Her message is that there are still jobs out there, but recruiters have to be sought out because they are not going to come marching up to them as they have in the past.

This, in turn, puts an onus on the schools to help students develop their skills in job searching, assess what they really want to do after graduating and build networks from which job offers may flow.

To help the school deliver this, it is enhancing the career management area. It is also refocusing its business development in an effort to make the proposition that companies or other organisations that had previously not thought they were appropriate recruiters of MBAs can find such people valuable. "This market is much more scattered. Therefore, we need to recognise that and structure ourselves to reach that market," says Tyler, who points out that LBS's strength as a two-year programme in devoting time to real projects in businesses can create job openings.

Another trend receiving more attention is graduates setting up their own businesses. The dot.com bubble may have burst – and with it the hopes of many MBAs of making quick fortunes – but there is a rising interest in self-employment among MBAs.

None of this comes as much of a surprise to David Norburn, director of the Management School at Imperial College, London. As a comparatively recent entrant to the MBA arena, it has not traditionally focused on placing students in financial services or large management consultancies. Instead, it has put special emphasis on entrepreneurship as well as drawing on Imperial College's strengths in the sciences and engineering.

The notion of the MBA as only being a part of what makes an individual suitable for a job is supported by Lancaster's Rick Crawley. There is "a bit of a myth" about the MBA, he says. "It isn't that straightforward. It's not a passport." But it will change the person and make them more suitable to do certain types of work. "It's both a short-term and a long-term makeover," he adds, stressing that employers increasingly look for a combination of an MBA and past experience.