Doing an MBA in Switzerland
Over the past decade, Switzerland has attracted an impressive roll
call of European corporate headquarters: Yahoo, Procter & Gamble,
McDonald’s, Nissan and Starbucks, to name but a few. In 2010,
Switzerland also benefited from the UK’s decision to impose a bonus tax
on finance professionals, with hedge funds such as Brevan Howard Asset
Management and BlueCrest Capital Management responding by opening large
offices in Geneva. So, what does this influx of international
headquarters mean for someone contemplating an MBA course in
Switzerland? David Williams of QS TopMBA.com investigates.
By David Williams
“Any professional who is good and who has very good
experience or skills, has great opportunities in Switzerland at the
moment,” says Alessandro Fonzi, an MBA graduate of the IMD in Lausanne.
Originally from Italy, Fonzi is now a senior vice-president with private
bank Lombard Odier Darier Hentsch in Zurich.
Call of the Alps
But what is the attraction of the small mountainous country to companies from all over the world?
It comes down to a confluence of positive factors,
but fundamentally, it is Switzerland’s liberal taxation policies, which –
despite the country’s location at the heart of Europe – are not
constrained by EU membership. The transport infrastructure is superb and
the quality of life extremely high, with Geneva and Zurich consistently
ranking as some of the best cities in the world in which to live. Its
education system is very well regarded, plus a long tradition of
language learning means any company wishing to set up its headquarters
in the country can expect to find a skilled, multilingual workforce.
What’s more, the economy and the banking sector in
particular, have weathered the downturn very well. A conservative,
save-before-you-spend culture means Switzerland is less indebted than
other nations, while the country’s banking sector was less exposed to
toxic assets than many elsewhere.
“Switzerland has traditionally had a very resilient
labour market and economy,” says Dr. Rob Straw, MBA director at the
University of St. Gallen. “It is smaller, so there is more stability,
and the economy has not been hit as hard here as it has been in other
countries.”
The MBA jobs market
Not all the companies who have relocated to
Switzerland are necessarily MBA recruiters, of course; and it seems that
international MBA candidates are still more interested in the quality
of the business schools in the country than in working in the country
itself. “We ask our students why they choose IMD,” says Katty Ooms
Suter, director of MBA Admissions and Career Services at IMD.
“Switzerland as a factor doesn’t even make it in to the top 10.”
Nevertheless, the influx of multinationals is having
an effect on the opportunities available to Swiss MBA-holders, if
simply in terms of the quality of the networking available. Having so
many corporate headquarters on your doorstep creates opportunities –
whether in Switzerland or elsewhere in Europe – and facilitates both
formal and informal interviewing.
“When I started my MBA at the International
University in Geneva, my only goal was to re-orientate myself away from
my philosophy degree,” says Dekin O’Sullivan, a French national who now
works for the credit department of HSBC Private Bank Switzerland. “But
once I went into the MBA, I discovered that finance was my favourite
subject. And as it was senior local bankers giving us courses in
finance, I was able to approach them and ask what the opportunities
were. [Then] it was really very easy for me to get into banking here in
Geneva.”
O’Sullivan attributes another factor to his success.
He argues that the country’s American-style, easy-hire-easy-fire
culture means that Swiss-based employers are more prepared to take risks
on someone without a banking background, like him, than they would be
under the less flexible regime of an EU country, where employers use
experience to avoid the costs of making expensive hiring mistakes.
“There is certainly more employee turnover here,”
confirms Oliver Ernst, a Swiss national who did his MBA at the Business
School Lausanne, and who now works at Lloyds TSB International Private
Banking. “This helps us stay competitive. At 4.5 per cent, the
unemployment rate is much lower than everywhere else I know. Employment
opportunities are plentiful in the
dynamic Swiss economy.” Since Ernst took part in
this interview, unemployment has dropped yet further, to around 3.7 per
cent (as of June 2010).
Other factors affecting the ability to get a job in
Switzerland include a visa programme, which has recently become more
flexible. Katty Ooms-Suter of the IMD reports that since January 2010, a
new law has been in place, granting graduates of Swiss institutions a
six-month visa extension in order to seek employment. This, she says,
puts Switzerland above the UK as the easiest place for non-Europeans to
find a job.
“Of course every country tends to become more
nationalistic during times of economic crisis,” argues Dr. Straw, MBA
director of University of St. Gallen, “yet Switzerland realises that
without its dependency on highly trained expats, it is too small to be
able to grow its economy. We do have a prioritisation issue with EU
citizens, but we are not having any difficulty with placing non-EU
candidates.”
One significant characteristic of the Swiss
job-market worth noting is that multilingualism is the norm. It is taken
for granted that candidates will be proficient in a number of European
languages: so much so, there are anecdotal reports that the quality of
an applicant’s accent can become a relevant factor.
The MBA experience
The opportunity to network doesn’t only affect job
seekers. It is also changing the student experience – both educationally
and socially.
“The quality of the guest speakers we can attract is
amazing, simply because of all the multinational headquarters in the
area,” says Dr. Katrin Muff, dean of the Business School Lausanne.
“Students love this, of course, and appreciate both the networking
opportunities and the practical knowledge and experience the guest
speakers are able to bring in with them.”
“There is a strong international community here,”
adds O’Sullivan, “and this is making it very easy to network because it
is a small place. Bonds are created much more easily [in Geneva] than
they would be in a big city with millions of people.
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Accredited MBA programs in Switzerland
