Why should I study for a Smurfit MBA?
Kathryne Del Sesto, program manager of the full-time MBA, kicked off the webinar by providing an overview of the MBA options available at UCD Smurfit.
University College Dublin (UCD) is Ireland’s global university with 30,000 students and still growing. Its business school, UCD Smurfit, is one of the longest established business schools in Europe which created one of the first European MBA programs when it welcomed the first Executive MBA class in 1964.
UCD Smurfit’s full-time MBA program is consistently ranked in the top 100 annually. One of the advantages of having a long history is that over the years the business school has built a considerable online community. “If you come to UCD Smurfit you are joining a network of 4,000 MBA alumni and more than 90,000 business alumni around the world,” Kathryne said.
The business school offers a total of three MBA programs – a full-time MBA, an Executive MBA and a Modular MBA. The full-time MBA lasts twelve months. The average age of the participants is 30, with an average work experience of eight years. For more details on the full range of formats, including modules, the international experience and the Leadership Development Program, please watch the video.
Intense career coaching
Kathryne then passed over to Michael McDonald, who outlined the support offered by the UCD careers network.
“We hit you heavy right from the get-go,” Michael said about full-time MBA participants. “We are very keen to work with you to get your post-MBA career up and running at the earliest opportunity,” he added. There are quite a lot of activities right at the start of the program. Participants focus on getting their story straight and what they have to offer and understand perhaps where they want to be post-program as well. For instance, MBA aspirants work on their CVs, which involves a lot of self-reflection and identifying their unique selling points. There are also regular workshops and activities. One of the highlights is the mentoring program, where current students are matched with a UCD Smurfit alumnae.
Michael also reviewed some employment data, highlighting the 132% salary increase achieved by the full-time MBA class of 2021.
Arriving in Dublin
Michael then passed over to Jola Meagher, International Students Liaison Officer at UCD Smurfit, to talk about how the school looks after international students. Jola and her team support incoming students with immigration advice, help them settle in Ireland and provide integration activities.
Jola referred to some resources with useful information such as how to search for off-campus accommodation.
If you want to learn more about the life of international students at UCD Smurfit, watch the video to hear the accounts of two alumni, one from the US and one from India. Of course, the Q/A session at the end is worth listening to as well.
