The business world is evolving faster than ever, creating opportunities and challenges in equal measure. But how can you decide which moves are right for your career? Which skills you’ll need for your next role? With so much advice out there, how can you know which applies to you?
The answer is to work with experts in the world of business who will get to know you from the ground up. At IE Business School, we have the connections and expertise to be your trusted guide.
The International MBA is a degree curated for you and your career. That starts with helping you discover who you are and where your aspirations lie, giving us the insight to create an academic experience tailored to your needs. We maintain an ongoing and far-reaching dialogue with the business community and continuously analyze job data, giving us the expertise to organize the business world into carefully defined Career Pathways for you to explore.
We’ll help you choose a unique path that aligns with your goals, strengths and experience – and then we’ll curate your academic journey to equip you with the exact skills and knowledge you’ll need to succeed in the next stage of your career. We’ll keep working with you as you progress on your journey to ensure your program evolves alongside your needs and ambitions. Our mission is to help you find the best path for you – and deliver the MBA to take you there.
Imagine a world where you have a trusted guide to help you navigate the complex landscape of career choices, identify your true passions, and empower you to pursue the right pathway. The Career Discovery Accelerator is precisely that guide—a catalyst for your personal and professional growth. It is a unique program within your International MBA for discovering your options and planning for what’s next. It will help you make a well-informed decision about what pathway to pursue by choosing your degree Concentration, and/or identifying the types of jobs you want to target.
It is divided into three transformative phases, each designed to empower you with invaluable insights and actionable strategies:
The high-energy world of commerce at the front office of business.
Do you have an eye for narratives and want to deepen your expertise in business-centered communications? Whether you are creative, analytical, a big-picture strategist or a master of the sale, this pathway will sharpen your skills, thinking and behavior to make your storytelling even more convincing. While this pathway gets you ready for a number of promising career trajectories, they tend to focus on business growth and the power of branding.
You can pursue this pathway in the International MBA by choosing the concentration in Branding, Marketing & Sales or by pursuing a Dual Degree in any of the following combinations:
Roles in this area are about brand strategy and brand building, go-to-market strategy and execution, omnichannel marketing, marketing communication and 360º marketing management.
This area is about using qualitative and quantitative methods to find insights about customer attitudes, preferences, purchasing behavior, satisfaction and market trends.
This rapidly growing career area focuses on everything digital: from marketing performance analytics and online optimization, to sales-tech and sales analytics, commercial workflow automation, and customer analytics.
The new world of sales is big and exciting. Careers in this area focus on sales strategy, sales force management, sales ops, digital nurturing, sales analytics, sales tech and B2B development.
Roles in this area focus on the strategy, management and production of content, media and creativity to drive the branding, marketing and sales activities of a business.
With sustainability never having been more important, organizations are realizing that environmental, social and governance (ESG) concerns are everyone’s responsibility. And they are placing sustainability at the heart of their business, requiring all their employees to play their part. With this Certificate, you’ll learn how to incorporate a sustainability point of view across all business activities and functions, and be prepared to tackle the social, economic and environmental challenges of today’s world in any organization.
We've partnered up with AWS Academy to provide our students with access to enroll in Amazon Web Services Academy courses, such as Cloud Foundations and Data Analytics. These courses open the door to AWS Certifications, giving you yet another opportunity to ensure you stay ahead of the curve and unlock your potential.
Sales and Business Development are becoming one of the fastest growing fields and sales skills are needed to make businesses grow, to pitch and win new clients, to better engage with internal and external stakeholders, to sell ideas internally, to develop new markets and to stay one step ahead of competitors. This certificate will give you SalesForce fundamentals to succeed in any commercial role.
Become a leader of change to drive value and competitiveness.
In today’s rapidly changing business landscape, companies must continuously transform to stay relevant, efficient and competitive. If you’re a leader passionate about designing and implementing change, this pathway puts you on track to choose from a vast range of career opportunities. Its aim? To teach you the mindset and skills needed to formulate, plan and execute major organizational transformations that will unlock company value; to prepare you with the analytic, visionary and management capacity to deliver useful and lasting change.
You can pursue this pathway in the International MBA by choosing either the concentration in Strategy, Organization & Transformation or Healthcare Management or by pursuing the International MBA + Master in Talent Development & Human Resources Dual Degree.
Roles in this career area involve formulating, planning and implementing business strategy via transformation and integration projects. This could apply to any function or area of a company’s value chain from market entry and exit decisions, to product and service portfolio strategy, to operations strategy and optimization. Professionals in this area work in corporate strategy departments, corporate innovation units, venture-building units and as consultants in management consulting firms and firms specialized in strategy consulting and industry analysis.
Professionals in this area focus on every company’s most strategic asset—people. It’s about developing and managing the implementation of strategies for hiring, engaging, training and developing talent. It’s also about designing organizational structures, building an organizational culture, and implementing employee-centric systems and initiatives that drive well-being, engagement and performance. Roles in this area are in talent departments, HR departments, learning & development units and corporate universities. Professionals in this area also work in the talent and organization groups within management consulting firms and firms specialized in talent and organizational consulting and training.
(This concentration has two mandatory electives plus one from the Strategy, Organization & Transformation or Digital Business & Analytics concentration areas)
With sustainability never having been more important, organizations are realizing that environmental, social and governance (ESG) concerns are everyone’s responsibility. And they are placing sustainability at the heart of their business, requiring all their employees to play their part. With this Certificate, you’ll learn how to incorporate a sustainability point of view across all business activities and functions, and be prepared to tackle the social, economic and environmental challenges of today’s world in any organization.
We've partnered up with AWS Academy to provide our students with access to enroll in Amazon Web Services Academy courses, such as Cloud Foundations and Data Analytics. These courses open the door to AWS Certifications, giving you yet another opportunity to ensure you stay ahead of the curve and unlock your potential.
Money funds growth, fuels development and powers the world. Learn how to make it work in your favor.
Finance is at the heart of business, economic development and everyday life, but it takes a true specialist to understand how it works and how to best leverage it. If you’re interested in an intellectually challenging and fast-paced career with vast potential for rewards, this pathway will give you the analytical and interpersonal skills that it takes to accelerate your journey to success. It centers around understanding the ins and outs of money, investments and financial systems and applying that knowledge in the real world.
You can pursue this pathway in the International MBA by choosing either the concentration in Finance & Investments or Accounting, Forensics & Audit or by pursuing the International MBA + Master in Finance Dual Degree.
Roles in this area focus on identifying and securing privatization, merger and acquisition deals, managing and investing monetary funds, and buying and selling financial products for clients. Professionals working in this field drive corporate restructurings, carry out private placement of capital, provide debt and equity advisory services, and manage funds such as mutual, pension or hedge funds.
Roles in this area about managing portfolios of assets that are not publicly traded, such as startups that show potential for long-term growth, small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), real estate and other alternative classes of assets.
Professionals in this area manage portfolios of assets to increase wealth over time by acquiring, maintaining and trading investments that have the potential to grow in value. Global Markets, Sales & Trading refers to the division for making markets in stocks, bonds and derivatives, also referred to as the Markets or Securities Division, depending on the bank. This career area also involves professionals who do the research that informs investment and portfolio management decisions.
Roles in this area are about the integration of new technologies into the services offered by financial companies in order to improve experience delivery to consumers of financial services. FinTech is deeply reshaping the financial services industry, with technologies in transaction processing, wealth management, cryptocurrencies, and the use of blockchain and related technologies that are enabling the decentralization of aspects of the financial system (DeFi).
Professionals working in this area focus on the collection, analysis and use of corporate financial data to understand business performance and drive decision-making. Roles in this area involve developing policies and processes for managing financial resources and operating efficiently within an organization, mitigating financial risks, and complying with fiduciary duties, corporate governance, and due diligence requirements.
Financial planning and control is a combination of strategies which supports the entire financial management process for an organization. The process begins at financial planning, many times in the form of cash flow and forecasting balance sheet, and continues with compliance analysis or even with forensic analysis that combines criminal investigation skills with financial auditing skills to identify criminal financial activity coming from within or outside an organization.
Roles in this area focus on investment with the intention of generating positive environmental, social and governance impacts alongside financial returns.
Sustainable finance is defined as investment decisions that take into account the environmental, social, and governance (ESG) factors of an economic activity or project that targets companies or industries that produce social or environmental benefits. Roles in this area include impact investing and philanthropic investing.
With sustainability never having been more important, organizations are realizing that environmental, social and governance (ESG) concerns are everyone’s responsibility. And they are placing sustainability at the heart of their business, requiring all their employees to play their part. With this Certificate, you’ll learn how to incorporate a sustainability point of view across all business activities and functions, and be prepared to tackle the social, economic and environmental challenges of today’s world in any organization.
Unleash the potential of technology to improve business performance.
Want to understand how to turn massive amounts of data into insights? How to leverage technology to boost efficiency? Get ahead of the most powerful technological trends? This pathway deepens your expertise in the technology that can improve performance across any area of a company’s business and operations. It teaches how to lead digital strategies, transformations and make data-driven decisions. As technology becomes more and more impactful, so do professionals who know how to use it.
You can pursue this pathway in the International MBA by choosing either the concentration in Digital Business & Analytics or Business Automation & Operations or by pursuing a Dual Degree in any of the following combinations:
Modern business is built on a foundation of digital technologies and data—and innovations that these enable. Roles in this area focus on formulating enterprise-, business-, and product-level tech strategies that drive innovation and improved performance. It’s also about leading the successful implementation of these strategies via digital transformation projects. Digital strategists and transformers work both inside of companies in technology and innovation units, as well as in general and specialized consulting firms.
This career area involves roles focused on the use of data as a strategic asset to drive business decision-making, value creation and competitive advantage. It’s about formulating data strategy as well as leading projects to implement data tools and produce data-driven business insights. Professionals in this area work across the value chain of a company, from its supply chain through to its digital sales and marketing operations.
Operations are critical processes that underlie every aspect of a business, including supply chain, manufacturing, HR and talent, finance and accounting, procurement, marketing, sales, and distribution. Roles in this area focus on driving innovation and efficiency via process automation, robotization, optimization and process (re)design. Professionals in this area work in innovation and operations departments inside companies, as well as in general and specialized consulting firms.
With sustainability never having been more important, organizations are realizing that environmental, social and governance (ESG) concerns are everyone’s responsibility. And they are placing sustainability at the heart of their business, requiring all their employees to play their part. With this Certificate, you’ll learn how to incorporate a sustainability point of view across all business activities and functions, and be prepared to tackle the social, economic and environmental challenges of today’s world in any organization.
We've partnered up with AWS Academy to provide our students with access to enroll in Amazon Web Services Academy courses, such as Cloud Foundations and Data Analytics. These courses open the door to AWS Certifications, giving you yet another opportunity to ensure you stay ahead of the curve and unlock your potential.
Challenge the status quo and build something new.
For the bold, the risk-takers and those who thrive on disruption. This pathway arms you with what it takes to be a successful entrepreneur, whether launching your own company, turbo-charging the growth of a scale-up or joining a corporate unit focused on innovation or venture building. It instills a ‘can do’ mindset and the practical skills to help you achieve your specific goals and purpose. Discover why the Financial Times ranks IE Business School as Europe’s top program for entrepreneurship teaching (2022). You can pursue this pathway in the International MBA by choosing the concentration in Entrepreneurship & Corporate Innovation.
Do you have an idea, a team (or both) and are thinking about launching a company? This is a tough, high-risk career pursuit and not for the faint of heart. It’s about studying your potential market and customers, refining your idea, forging plans that will inevitably need to change, building a team that can survive, raising funds, and getting it off the ground. You’ll most likely have to self-finance for some time, or try to make this happen in parallel with a full- or part-time job.
Being an entrepreneur via a startup isn’t the only way to get into the game. If you're interested in the electricity of being involved in something young, vibrant and even wild—but you also like the idea of stability and a consistent paycheck—then you might consider the world of scale-ups. These are early-stage companies that have traction, have secured funding, and are starting to ramp up their growth. The founders and funders are looking for talent who can make big contributions to helping them scale. If you have a lot of grit and an entrepreneurial spirit—but don’t want to start a company yourself—then targeting a scale-up might be a good option for you in the next steps of your career.
Individual entrepreneurs aren’t the only people who generate innovative ideas and build businesses. Increasingly, big companies do it too. Leveraging their assets, know-how and talent, corporations are starting to become adept at sensing opportunities and capturing them. This happens in two primary ways: innovation units within companies identify opportunities to drive new products, services and business models, or make changes to existing ones, and work within the existing corporate structure to turn these ideas into reality: “venture building” units within companies are spinning out startups to bring innovations to reality outside the company as new ventures.
With sustainability never having been more important, organizations are realizing that environmental, social and governance (ESG) concerns are everyone’s responsibility. And they are placing sustainability at the heart of their business, requiring all their employees to play their part. With this Certificate, you’ll learn how to incorporate a sustainability point of view across all business activities and functions, and be prepared to tackle the social, economic and environmental challenges of today’s world in any organization.
Spearhead the design, development and management of a company’s products and services.
Products and services are the lifeblood of businesses, and this pathway prepares you to drive real value inside a company. It centers on honing a broad set of practical skills like the analytical and empathetic capacity to understand markets and customer needs, creative thinking to design new products and services, and the management know-how to lead complex company-wide projects. If boosting your versatility is a priority, this might be the pathway for you.
You can pursue this pathway in the International MBA by choosing the concentration in Product Management & Service Design or by pursuing a Dual Degree in any of the following combinations:
Product management is a large and growing area of business. These are multifaceted roles that involve conceiving, planning, developing and launching new products that address unmet needs of a company’s customers. It also involves managing existing products across their lifecycle, including ongoing strategy, marketing and communication, and incremental improvement. Product management can have important interfaces with manufacturing and supply chain operations, as well as corporate strategy departments.
Roles in service design focus on the experience of customers (CX), users (UX), employees (EX) or any other stakeholder of a company whose experience matters to the bottom line or the fulfillment of its purpose. People working in this area are typically members of diverse teams that bring together designers, engineers and techies, insights analysts, marketers and communication specialists, and project managers. Service design involves not only the initial design of new service experiences, but also the ongoing management and innovation of existing services.
With sustainability never having been more important, organizations are realizing that environmental, social and governance (ESG) concerns are everyone’s responsibility. And they are placing sustainability at the heart of their business, requiring all their employees to play their part. With this Certificate, you’ll learn how to incorporate a sustainability point of view across all business activities and functions, and be prepared to tackle the social, economic and environmental challenges of today’s world in any organization.
Lead the transition toward a greener, fairer and more sustainable world
Businesses are under immense pressure to shift to more sustainable practices. It may be an unprecedented challenge, but it’s also a striking opportunity for people who want to dedicate their careers to creating a better world. If you want to lead this wave of change, re-think businesses to maximize their positive impact and help achieve a sustainable future, this pathway will prepare you for that journey. Professionals with this expertise are in scarce supply but high demand.
You can pursue this pathway in the International MBA by choosing the concentration in Sustainable Business or by pursuing the International MBA + Master in International Development Dual Degree.
Roles focused on the formulation and implementation of ESG strategies and the management of ESG projects across the value-chain of a company. Professionals in this area work both in ESG units within companies as well as in both general and specialized consulting firms.
This career area focuses on the design and ongoing management of sustainability reporting frameworks and KPIs and their communication of the company’s ESG vision and performance to internal and external stakeholders and agencies. It’s about developing measurement strategies, implementing measurement processes and working with internal business partners or clients to drive success in meeting ESG objectives.
Roles focused on design of products, services and systems that consider critical ESG concerns such as sustainable materials, environmentally responsible production, inclusive usability, re-use and circularity and energy efficiency.
Sustainable operations and supply chain is about innovation in the design and management of business processes to meet sustainability objectives for net positive impact. Roles in this area focus on circularity, sustainable sourcing of materials, reduced carbon logistics and distribution, employee well-being and sustainable waste management.
Roles in this area involve business activities that have social impact as their primary objective. This can be about developing and implementing solutions to social problems via for-profit or non-profit companies, NGOs, or governmental or multilateral organizations. It’s also about driving positive change by launching startups—or joining scale-ups—whose products or services focus on addressing social issues.
With sustainability never having been more important, organizations are realizing that environmental, social and governance (ESG) concerns are everyone’s responsibility. And they are placing sustainability at the heart of their business, requiring all their employees to play their part. With this Certificate, you’ll learn how to incorporate a sustainability point of view across all business activities and functions, and be prepared to tackle the social, economic and environmental challenges of today’s world in any organization.
In a world marked by growing uncertainty, professionals who understand the forces driving the global economy are indispensable.
Are you a globally minded leader with a drive to understand what’s shaping economic trends? This pathway focuses on the interplay between market forces — from the political to the social, the environmental to the financial. Gaining this big-picture knowledge can give you a significant edge in today’s interconnected and dynamic business landscape. Careers in this pathway are diverse but share a common focus on the macro aspects of business management, strategy and decision-making.
You can pursue this pathway in the International MBA by choosing the concentration in International Business & Economics or by pursuing a Dual Degree in any of the following combinations:
These are roles that involve business, economic and non-economic analysis oriented towards trend-tracking and foresight, strategy (formulation, planning and development), financial forecasting and planning, and global business research.
Roles involving the management of projects and operations for NGOs, multilaterals and other organizations that develop, launch and deliver developmental programs and services to key stakeholders.
These are business roles that involve forging and managing international alliances (corporate, NGO, governmental), trade agreements, and other activities that promote a company’s business or an organization’s operations on a global stage.
With sustainability never having been more important, organizations are realizing that environmental, social and governance (ESG) concerns are everyone’s responsibility. And they are placing sustainability at the heart of their business, requiring all their employees to play their part. With this Certificate, you’ll learn how to incorporate a sustainability point of view across all business activities and functions, and be prepared to tackle the social, economic and environmental challenges of today’s world in any organization.
These are some of the top recruiters hiring International MBA Alumni:
Where will our International MBA take you? Gain exclusive, up-to-date insights and explore the career paths our alumni are taking after graduation to help you plan your next career move.
We want to see you achieve all of your career goals. That’s why the services offered are available from the moment you enroll, throughout the program and even after graduation. Our Pre-Programs aim to support you from the very first moment of your self-discovery process, expedite your labor-market readiness and help you take full advantage of your professional potential. Throughout the program, we offer you impactful advising, learning resources and development tools that will help you manage and reach your professional goals. Our employer relations team works tirelessly to generate recruitment opportunities for our community. So, along with your commitment and hard work, we will support every step of your journey towards the next best you.
Here’s how it works:
Because career planning is a process of discovery, exploration, commitment and action, our Career Success program equips MBA students with the necessary toolkit and strategies to succeed in an increasingly complex and competitive job market. This curriculum is centered on helping you define and refine your career goals. It will motivate you to get to know yourself better, plan for an effective post-master career and job search, help you develop a strategy to achieve your career goals and prepare you to tackle future challenges.
During the Core Period, Career Success sessions will include a variety of workshops, including Career Track and information sessions led by both the Talent & Careers staff and external experts from a variety of sectors. From here, we will offer a variety of industry and function specific career training courses, as well as specific resources such as mock interviews and job search teams to maximize the effectiveness of your career strategy.
With so many choices and so much information, choosing a career path can be overwhelming. And it’s totally fine if you still don’t know what you want to do. If you are unsure of which career path is right for you, the International MBA is designed to help you explore your options and make smart decisions. The program includes a Career Discovery Program, which offers a range of workshops, group advising sessions, and other resources to help you learn about the different career pathways and how they align with your goals and skills. Our team will work with you to help you choose a career pathway that is well-matched to your ambitions, strengths, and experience, and will provide you with the tools and support you need to pursue your career goals. Throughout the program, we will help you adjust your plans as your needs and interests evolve.
The Career Discovery Program is a fundamental component of the International MBA program. It is designed to help you explore the different career pathways and find the one that's right for you. You'll attend workshops that introduce you to different careers and jobs within each pathway, and we'll help you understand how these jobs match your ambitions, strengths, and experience. Even if you’re still confused about what to do next, the program contains self-exploration workshops to help you crystalize your career goals and aspirations.
As you continue on your career discovery journey, you'll have access to group advising sessions and a wealth of tools and resources to help you explore different career pathways. You'll also hear from industry leaders and alumni who can provide valuable insights and advice on the careers that interest you. If you want to find meaning and purpose in your professional life, we offer expertly designed workshops to help you define, refine, and align your purpose with your career goals. Our aim? To help you determine where you're going in your career and make the best choices about your pathway, electives, employability booster modules, and other program options.
Yes, during the Lab period you can choose to do an internship, which will count as credit toward your International MBA. It must last between 7 and 11 weeks and can be anywhere in the world. You will need to seek out this opportunity yourself; however, our IE Talent & Careers team can help you find leads and available positions.
The International MBA will help you develop the skills and knowledge to be successful in multiple industries and professional areas. Also, since you can customize half of your program through concentration areas and electives, you can hone exactly the skills needed for your sector of interest.
The IE Talent & Careers department will help you construct different pillars of your profile, such as your professional strategy, general career education, sector-specific advising, recruiter relations, company visits and job platforms, to develop your career success journey.
During your program, there will be different company presentations and visits to and from campus, talent fairs (both virtual and on-site), direct recommendations with industry recruiters, master classes, workshops, mock (and real) interviews and more.