MBA Choices Special Report

MBA Choices Special Report, The Australian9 August 2006, pg. 30

BIG accounting firms hit by the skills shortage are looking more closely than before at recruiting MBAs. But a leading recruiter of executives cautions that an MBA graduate who can talk the talk must be able to back it up with action. Headhunter Andrew Horsley, who earned his MBA from the Australian Graduate School of Management in 1979, says graduates naturally promote themselves but the reality is not all are as good as they claim. "They believe that they're pretty good, but can they deliver on what they say they can do?" "Not always, because "it is hard to be good ... consistently good in your areas and at the level at which you're operating". But Horsley, an executive recruiter for 20 years with his own company and president of the NSW branch of the Graduate Management Association of Australia, says any MBA who can demonstrate superior analytical and management skills will be highly sought after and valued. If there are shortcomings in MBA graduates, it is because business "can often be distracted at board and. mid-management level" and business schools "can be patchy ... you get what you pay for", says Horsley, not naming names." Horsley advises young MBA students and graduates that the degree is not the end of education. "Do a good MBA, do it well and then you've got to keep on learning - keep refreshing and upgrading your skills," he says. A good, critical understanding of the business building blocks – a working knowledge of operations, finance, strategy and marketing- is essential. Beyond that, graduates might have the aptitude to dig deeper into areas such as corporate finance or structuring.