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Case Study 05 - Helping Hand
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About Manchester Gold: Mentoring Program for MBA Students

Management consulting in context: Helping hand of experience By Kathy Harvey
MBA students do not need any reminding that times are tough. Most accept that their dream job may not materialise in the current economic gloom, and business schools are responding by expanding their career services to include everything from mock interviews to seminars on
how to write good curriculum vitae. Now Manchester Business School, which runs an 18-month MBA programme, is going a step further by offering a selected handful of students the chance to compete for a corporate `mentor' to guide them from the first term to the final job search. Alison Edmonds, director of career services at MBA, says the scheme, called `Manchester Gold', is an extension of an idea first tried at undergraduate level.As far as I know, no other business school in the UK is running anything quite like this. Among all the different messages about career choices, it is invaluable to have an independent, external view which is anchored in the marketplace.'


The selection process for the scheme starts a few weeks into the first term of the MBA, when students are invited to apply online, arguing
their case to be included in the scheme. A shortlist for potential mentors to choose from is then drawn up. This year, about half the
150-strong cohort applied, for only 20 places. Although the small number of mentors makes an element of competition inevitable, Ms
Edmonds believes it is a useful way to assess motivation and need. Some people are disappointed when they aren't chosen but not everyone would benefit from this process. It's important that a suitable match is found for both parties.' The mentors are all MBA alumni — offering experience of post-MBA life and an understanding of the difficulties students face in combining a job search with study. Rob Elliot, a business improvement consultant with BT Group, hadbeen looking for ways to maintain his links with the school when he was asked to act as a mentor.


looked at the shortlist and tried to choose someone I felt I could help someone who had a clear focus about his or her own intentions.'
He was paired with Peris Roberts, a former software consultant who ishoping to change direction, looking possibly at jobs in finance.
As someone who had used his own MBA as a way of moving from commercial management in the pharmaceuticals sector to consultancy,
Elliot could identify with his 'mentee'. `I suppose I could see myself in him. I hope I can be of help — and of course this keeps me plugged
into the business school world.' As well as acting as a sounding board, the corporate mentors can nudge students into thinking ahead — even when the workload of the MBA is uppermost in their mind. Roberts believes the process has also made him more realistic about his options once he graduates. Roberts is researching several career options discussed during the last mentoring meeting. `It's a motivating process. I sense that Rob is giving me a lot of his time and the benefit of his experience a few years down the line,' he says. While pleased that students seem to be benefiting so much from the scheme, MBA careers staff say mentors are not expected to act as unpaid head-hunters. Before the mentoring begins, both parties are issued with guidelines on how to manage expectations, how often to meet during the MBA course and what to do if the student and mentor find they are unsuited. Nevertheless, many of the alumni appear to be happy to go the extra mile, passing on names of business contacts who could form a useful network in the final hunt for jobs.


Andy Katz, now working for Corven, the consultancy firm, is mentoring an MBA student who has worked as an engineer in the oil industry and
as an English teacher in Japan. `I do feel as though I can be something of a ‘fix it’ when it comes to extending his network,' says Katz. `I've also introduced him to an MBA alumnus working at Shell and suggested ways he could extend his own contacts.'

Q1. The skills of the consultant cannot be taught in the classroom.' Comment on this statement.


Q2. What value might the process of mentoring offer in the development of consulting skills?


Q3. What skills do you think are important for an effectiveconsulting mentor?

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