Is an MBA from HEC,Montreal worth doing ?

[vishalfrompunjab]

My question is - Is an MBA from HEC,Montreal worth doing ? I am from India and I do not mind settling in Canada after my MBA & that too in Montreal because whole of Canada is new for me. I am 40. Is Placement for a 40 years old man possible in Canada & at what salary. Should I go for an MBA at this age or just a waste of time, money & energy. Please help & guide ! Thanx in Anticipation that someone would guide me .

[Jon@Admissionado]

You ask a very good and tough question. And given your age, and the fact that as a foreigner you will have to get a job, your hirability is a great question.
I would do two things here
1. Look into the visa/hiring laws of Canada for students (Unfortunately I myself don;t know too much about this)
2. Try and find alumni who graduated with a similar situation and see what they did. If you can't find someone contact the AdCom office. They should be able to put you in touch with people.

And revert here, and let us know what you find out.

[DetectiveC514]

hi there,

HEC Montreal is a very good school in Canada and is particularly known in the Quebec region, as well as Toronto market. It is also a 1-year programme, which has it's pros and cons (pro: you get out sooner and into the job market faster, con: you wont be exposed to an internship). I can't comment on whether it's worth it to get a MBA at 40, but here are employment statistics as shown on the school's website.

https://www.hec.ca/en/career_management_ ... t_mba.html

I personally am 35 and will be matriculating this fall in one of the Montreal schools (got into all 3!), HEC Montreal included. I know a few people in their 30s in the same situation and although we will be at the older end of the spectrum, it is not that rare. From this standpoint, the average age of HEC is older than schools like McGill and U of T, so that can work out for you (avg age is 31 compared to 28).

From a value perspective, you can't beat it as it is extremely cost-effective compared to privatized programmes (especially for Quebec residents and secondly to Canadian citizens). However from your perspective as an international student, you should evaluate based on your overall school pool and go from there, taking into consideration your concentration, cost/value, and employment aspirations post-mba.

If you don't have residency though, you should talk to the mba programme to get stats on visas and employment stats particular to your situation.

Hope that helps.

[vishalfrompunjab]

Thanks ! buddies I really appreciate your responses. However , I am still confused . I am focusing at HEC,Montreal as it is cost effective and reputed in Quebec. Million dollar question- What after MBA ? Job prospects and at what package ? Future in Quebec - Do foreign nationals graduating from HEC get placement in montreal and do they get p.r and later citizenship. Warm regards !

[Jon@Admissionado]

Well, you can correlate these stats:
Job Offers for 2011 graduates

Received first job offer by graduation: 55 %
Received first job offer in three months following graduation: 19 %
Received first job offer more than 3 months after graduation: 26 %
Accepted first job offer by graduation: 50 %
Accepted first job offer in three months following graduation: 20 %
Accepted first job offer more than 3 months after graduation: 30 %

With these:
Graduates who accepted full-time jobs in the following regions:

Asia: 3 %
Europe: 6 %
North America: 90 %
Latin America and the Caribbean: 1 %

To come up with the fact that at about 75% got jobs within three months and most in N America (I would guess Canada for lots of those)
With an average base salary of $74,000.00

That's for starters. Do the math and see what works out for you.
but still if you CAN speak to people it always gives you a good idea of what really happens on the ground.

[DetectiveC514]

Actually, if you go back to my reply above, follow the link, and you will see compensation stats across 3 years from 2008 to 2010 (in addition to 2011 data our expert kindly posted above!) If you scroll down the page you will see the job titles, etc of graduates post-mba. You will see that avg salary is around $75k plus $10-$15k or so of sign on bonuses or other compensation for a total compensation of $85-90k. The table will also show you other breakdowns by specialization (ie consulting, marketing, etc.)

As for the visa issue you will have to call HEC or send them an email to find out, I think the email is [email protected] but you should confirm online.

Cheers,

[vishalfrompunjab]

Thanx! once again buddies for your valuable guidance. I appreciate your prompt replies. But the key question still remains - Employment prospects of an over 40 guy from India ? This is where I become jittery. I go to a far off land and spend one full year of my life ( money involved at HEC is not very high ) and then ? I do not want to come back . I saw salary stats at the website of HEC and was surprised to see that min. pay - 40,000 $ and Max.- 2,10,000 why so ? If somebody could get this handsome starting salary , why can't I get ? I am not interested in a salary of 40000$ as 30% would vanish in taxes and 28000 $ pay is not attractive to me. over to you .

[DetectiveC514]

For that, it's a function of different things. What is your profile and why do you want to get a mba is probably a more relevant question to answer? In recent years there's been discussion that after a certain age a mba becomes less valuable. There are indications that for investment banking this may be true. Although i don't have concrete information on this, my feeling is that for other fields the demand for younger talent (who can devote 24/7 of their lives into their careers) is less acute than that of IB. Of course, this is really a question that goes beyond whether HEC Montreal is right for you. It would be somewhat similar across the board with all of the schools as this is a reflection on the market place.

[Steven Smith]

My question is - Is an MBA from HEC,Montreal worth doing ? I am from India and I do not mind settling in Canada after my MBA & that too in Montreal because whole of Canada is new for me. I am 40. Is Placement for a 40 years old man possible in Canada & at what salary. Should I go for an MBA at this age or just a waste of time, money & energy. Please help & guide ! Thanx in Anticipation that someone would guide me .

Hi Vishal,
I feel that for students from india its not worth..its hard to find a job in quebec unless u r good in french. secondly its only one year MBA, you get one year work permit, so it would be difficult for you to get PR in that time period. In previous years most of the indian students had to move back to india. So its better to go for York or U of Alberta...you will get good job as well as PR.

[MTL_Guy]

I do not recommend HEC Montreal unless you are not going to work @ Quebec (with one of the lowest salary and productivity levels in Canada). HEC is a "3rd world country" in the world of MBA programs. I am from one of the previous cohorts.

30-40% of the students should not be in the program. If you are placed in the team with such students - you are ****ed.

40% of the courses have horrible profs. Folks are hanging @FB.

If you talk business apply to any school in Toronto (Ivey). You will have MUCH better signal and knowledge

[mukul911]

I do not recommend HEC Montreal unless you are not going to work @ Quebec (with one of the lowest salary and productivity levels in Canada). HEC is a "3rd world country" in the world of MBA programs. I am from one of the previous cohorts.

30-40% of the students should not be in the program. If you are placed in the team with such students - you are ****ed.

40% of the courses have horrible profs. Folks are hanging @FB.

If you talk business apply to any school in Toronto (Ivey). You will have MUCH better signal and knowledge

Hello MTL_Guy,
Can you please disclose your identity; i.e. when did you do your mba from HEC and what are doing currently i.e. working or still jobless?

Thanks,
Mukul

[mukul911]

My question is - Is an MBA from HEC,Montreal worth doing ? I am from India and I do not mind settling in Canada after my MBA & that too in Montreal because whole of Canada is new for me. I am 40. Is Placement for a 40 years old man possible in Canada & at what salary. Should I go for an MBA at this age or just a waste of time, money & energy. Please help & guide ! Thanx in Anticipation that someone would guide me .

Hi Vishal,
I feel that for students from india its not worth..its hard to find a job in quebec unless u r good in french. secondly its only one year MBA, you get one year work permit, so it would be difficult for you to get PR in that time period. In previous years most of the indian students had to move back to india. So its better to go for York or U of Alberta...you will get good job as well as PR.

Hello Vishal,
Talk to someone from current/past cohort, he/she would be the best person to give you an honest opinion.

Thanks,
Mukul

Hello Steven Smith,
Please refrain from giving advice which may have serious impact on someone's career.
I know you are a perspective candidate and not a HEC graduate.

Quoting wrong stats i.e. "In previous years most of ......job as well as PR" without credible information may land other people in trouble.

Please refrain from making such comments, someone may take your 'incorrect' advice seriously and take some decision and then repent later. Trust me you do not want to do that !

Cheers,
Mukul

[MTL_Guy]

Mukul:

No, I found a job several months after graduation. I am not saying HEC is good or bad I am providing my feedback. Obviously I am not disclosing my identity.
What I am saying is that the signal sent by HEC MBA graduate is weak outside of Quebec.
I know a lot of my peers thought the same, most of them ended up in Montreal. Top guys went to Deloitte IT advisory, but the compensation there is not that good, whereas Ivey graduates end up in strategy, management consulting, PE. Sorry if I am hurting your feelings but it is true. Ivey is very expensive though.

[mukul911]

Mukul:

No, I found a job several months after graduation. I am not saying HEC is good or bad I am providing my feedback. Obviously I am not disclosing my identity.
What I am saying is that the signal sent by HEC MBA graduate is weak outside of Quebec.
I know a lot of my peers thought the same, most of them ended up in Montreal. Top guys went to Deloitte IT advisory, but the compensation there is not that good, whereas Ivey graduates end up in strategy, management consulting, PE. Sorry if I am hurting your feelings but it is true. Ivey is very expensive though.

It wasn't about hurting the feelings...you mentioned "30-40% of the students should not be in the program. If you are placed in the team with such students - you are ****ed. 40% of the courses have horrible profs. Folks are hanging @FB."

This is where I completely disagree; I am willing to disclose my identity (in fact i am from present cohort, still 3 months to go before I finish my MBA and everyone knows my first name now..so it is very easy to find me on linkedin or fb).

The batch is absolutely amazing and I am stunned with the quality of students (obviously ~5% should not be in the program but ~5% is still ok).

And honestly who is comparing ivey with HEC. I just tell students one thing: if you have money + admit from ivey go for it ! We should not even discuss.

But if either of 1 is missing i.e. money or admit then why are we wasting our time discussing which is better ivey or HEC....

I pity students who just want to compare school-1 with school-2 with school-3 etc etc....it is waste of time !
you have money and admit...go to most expensive ones..who is stopping you?

You didn't go to ivey yourself coz either you didn't wanted to spend so much or didn't have the admit. So whats the point in cribbing about not getting into management consulting after mba from hec?

(btw McKinsey has shortlisted 16 students out of batch of 76 for first round of interviews)

I rest my case!
o/o

[debapriyo]

Hi Mukul,

I was going through your reply and must say thank you for the valuable information.Though would like to have your expert comments on my below profile and what do you think about my chances of doing an MBA from HEC Montreal as you are also a current student of the same.

I have secured 610 (Q 44, V 30) and AWA 5.5 in GMAT. 10th is 75% ,12th 71% and graduation 84.4% in ECE.
Have work exp of around 5 yr now (would be 6+ by next admission cycle) in Financial domain as IT Consultent with HSBC and IBM .So what do you think of my chances ?

Also I am from India and would like to come back to Asia or India after MBA , so what are my chances of getting a Job after my MBA with HEC ? I mean I know HEC is one of only three schools in North America which has got all three stars (AACSB, EQUIS and AMBA) but does it really given value when outside Quebec region ?

Will be waiting for your valuable inputs.

Regards,
Deb