Career Services
UCLA Anderson provides a dedicated career and leadership development team to Executive MBA students to help them manage their careers
Executive MBA Career Services, as detailed below, provide one-on-one career coaching, various career workshops, programs, and resources, and a career management website tailored to meet the needs of the UCLA Anderson Executive MBA. All Executive MBA students have immediate access to career services as soon as they complete the Foundations of Leadership Opening Residential.
Individual Executive Career and Leadership Coaching
- Self-assessment
- Strategy (e.g., targeting jobs, creating a career management plan)
- Skill development (e.g., resumes, cover letters, networking)
- Mock interviews
- Job offer evaluation and negotiation
- Career advancement strategies for leveraging the MBA and advancing within an organization
- Leadership challenges faced in current roles
The coaches will be available for confidential, one-on-one career counseling appointments during each class weekend, or in-between class weekends by phone, Zoom or in-person, to assist students in managing their careers, determining their next steps and helping them to develop a strategy to reach their goals.
Executive MBA Career Workshops and Activities
Career Workshops
Career management workshops for Executive MBAs are held regularly each quarter on Fridays from 2:00 pm to 4:00 pm on a variety of career topics such as preparing for the next career move, executive presence, networking, interviewing, negotiating, researching and targeting companies, strategies for career advancement and how to work with executive recruiters.
First-year Executive MBA students are offered a year-long series of career management workshops that focus on the key principles of marketing as applied to the career management and job search process. Whether students seek to move within their current organizations or do an external job search, the same strategies covered in this series apply to both!
Second-year Executive MBA students take a more in-depth look at the career and leadership management topics covered in the first year, including career-shifting, personal branding, use of social media for career management, and advancing within your organization.
Job Search Teams
The Job Search Team is a practical resource for EMBA students who are: 1) unemployed due to layoff or job loss and/or 2) who are actively searching, and it is offered every other quarter, including over the summer. Job Search Teams provide a workgroup structure that enables students to manage their job search process by identifying tasks, setting specific work objectives, and measuring weekly progress in meeting job search and career transition goals. The group format allows for positive, synergistic strategizing, networking, information-sharing, and mutual support. It is facilitated by a professional career coach (often one of our coaches) with in-depth experience running job search teams.
Student Networking Events
Regular opportunities occur doing the year for Executive MBA students to network with students from the other two MBA programs. Twice a year, an All Anderson Networking Event is held on campus during class weekends. In addition, there are opportunities each year for first and second-year Executive MBAs to meet and network with EMBA Alums and periodic events between the class years.
UCLA Anderson Student Clubs
There are close to 40 student organizations on campus, and they are very professional, extremely well organized, and all very active and connected in networking with industry professionals. The clubs, typically run by Full-Time students, sponsor various career activities, including speaker events, panels, roundtables, workshops, and career nights. Student clubs love having EMBA students as members, and this resource is helpful for any career shifter in the EMBA Program!
Web-based Career Management Resources
Career Tools Website for Executive MBAs
This site has extensive content explicitly tailored to UCLA Anderson's executive career management needs- i.e., its current Executive MBA students. Here is a wealth of information and resources to enable EMBAs to manage their careers. The site includes excellent how-to practical information, worksheets, articles, and links to the best websites for everything from self-assessment, career management, job search strategy, researching and targeting the job market, resume writing, interviewing, networking, and negotiating the job offer. The website also includes career resources for transitioning military EMBA students.
Employer Relations
Anderson Job Posting Site
These job postings are intended for UCLA Anderson MBAs of all experience levels, including entry-level, middle and upper management, and executive-level positions. They typically have a few upper and executive positions posted. All postings are screened by the Parker CMC and come from companies specifically interested in hiring UCLA Anderson MBA students and alums. Candidates review the listings and contact the firms directly.
Executive MBA One-on-one Career Coaching Consultations
EMBA students are not eligible for on-campus recruiting. Instead, working professionals have access to unlimited one-on-one career coaching consultations.
The Full-Time MBA and Fully Employed MBA programs do offer on-campus recruiting. Keep in mind that on-campus recruiters are often looking for entry-level MBA jobs. The internships will be reserved for FTMBAs and FEMBAs. Most EMBAs are in senior roles in terms of responsibility and compensation. On-campus recruitment is also designed for the full-time student's schedule and needs. As a result, many information and networking sessions occur during the week and the day.
Career Assessments
CareerLeader was developed by two psychologists from the Harvard Business School and is used by over 250 business schools worldwide. It provides a comprehensive online assessment tool that profiles students' career and business interests, work values, strengths, weaknesses, organizational fit, and entrepreneurial attributes. The assessment is available to Executive MBA students free of charge.
All Anderson MBA students are given the WorkPlace Big 5 Profile leadership personality assessment. The WorkPlace Big 5 Profile reveals an individual’s five personality supertraits and 23 subtraits that simply and clearly explain work-related behaviors found in day-to-day encounters with coworkers, employees, managers and colleagues.
Alumni Career Resources
UCLA Anderson Alumni Directory
All UCLA Anderson students and alums have access to the online UCLA Anderson Alumni Directory. The UCLA Anderson alumni network is a powerful resource for career development and connecting with alums worldwide. The database can be searched by region, industry, job function, company name, or UCLA Anderson student club membership. Anderson alumni are characteristically very responsive and helpful to other Anderson community members, so this is one of our students’ most important networking resources!
Alumni E-Mail Listservs
Subscribing to alumni e-mail lists is a great way to get gather information and network with Anderson alumni. The Alumni Office maintains over 50 listservs that are based on geographic location, industry and function specialty, and special interest. Regional alumni e-mail lists can also provide two-way communication vehicle to connect with alums and tap into job leads through the alumni network. In addition, subscribers to the Alumni Jobs E-Mail List receive real-time job listings via e-mail from the Parker CMC and UCLA Anderson Alumni. Jobs come from listings in the Parker CMC Classifieds and from direct postings by alumni.
UCLA Anderson LinkedIn Group
Through an agreement with LinkedIn, the popular online business networking community, an exclusive group for UCLA Anderson has been established. Any Anderson student or alum can join the group and can choose to do so by accessing the LinkedIn site.