The FINANCIAL — Georgian employers have become smart thinkers and more and more have become interested in establishing professional relationships with business schools functioning in Georgia. They are actively arranging presentations at schools for the purpose of attracting students’ interests. The schools themselves are not satisfied with any success achieved and are following after the international market’s demands, eager to produce worldwide competitive youth graduates.
Financial crisis’ impact on MBA programs
“ESM composes its studying program according to frequent consultations and enquiries with the business sector. After the Russo-Georgian war the business sector faced a huge shortcut of professionals in the direction of risk management,” claimed Marina Kacharava, Tuning Project (3), Vice Rector of the Free University of Tbilisi (European School of Management Tbilisi – ESM Tbilisi).
As Kacharava defined, for ruling and estimating risks ESM Tbilisi was not ready for the whole country’s economy. Their studying program did not foresee detailed studying of this programme.
“Before this recent period we never heard about initiations from businessmen to study their future cadres risk management. In the subject of investment, there is a special part of ruling risks, but it was never separated as a private subject. The luckiest were students who chose elective subject insurance, as it’s directly connected with the estimation of risks and insuring from them,” said Kacharava.
In her words, ESM saw a big demand for highly educated persons in this direction. For example, in the department of risk management in Georgia’s main banks their graduates are finding work. Risk management is the main ring in the global economic crisis’s chain.
Tuning Project – business administration skills
ESM Tbilisi is waiting for the results of researches which they started on the basis of the Bologna process and which has committed a so called Tuning project.
“This means the assimilation of Georgian studying programs with European ones. In the frame of the Tuning project we compared searches of what kind of competence a student of business administration must have,” said Kacharava.
As she stated, ESM Tbilisi inquired after about 90 employers in only the business administration sector and sent the answers to Holland where they will summarise the results. The conclusion will be compared and added to by western experience and inference.
“Following these results we’ll prepare a profile for the basic skills of business administration and then we’ll see what kind of priorities the business sector awards to competence, among which risk management is included. The searches will be accessible for every university.”
Western Education Standards Integrated into Georgian Business Schools – the Bologna Process
Kacharava claimed that from the very beginning ESM was oriented at teaching things which are ruled by market demands.
“The whole tendency and inheritance at universities was teaching what we know and not what was demanded. Studying programs were not oriented at competence. The Georgian educational system started thinking this way only now, when concrete steps were put in collaboration with the Bologna system,” noted Kacharava.
As she defined ESM might not be facing such problems, but alone ESM is not enough to satisfy the whole Georgian market. The educational programme which has started to be installed is the least that a University can give to its students. And their additional offers will be their specific competitive asset. “We have the ambition to see our graduates competitive and in demand on the international market. ESM has this potential. It’s others’ turn to join.”
The number of ESM Tbilisi students continuing studies abroad: priority universities- AIESEC students exchange program.
AIESEC is the world’s largest student organization is the international platform for young people to discover and develop their potential so as to have a positive impact on society. AIESEC gives students an opportunity to develop their managerial skills and get huge experience with AIESEC exchange programmes and working in AIESEC as well.
AIESEC considers having practice in Germany’s banking and other sectors.
Graduates Employed at…
As Kate Betlemidze, Manager of the Careers Development Department, ESM, noted, 4-5% of ESM graduates are working abroad. These foreign companies include: Companie Espanol de Lamination, Caspian bank in Kazakhstan, Procter and Gamble, Hungary, Ukrainian Bank, a real estate company in Dublin, USAID, First British Bank, Heidelberg cement, Kraft food, Wissol, Caparol, Wizard group, Maersk.
“We had a proposal from Audit Company House Cooper, to make a special elective subject of an audition and from that they would view the best students as their potential partners,” said Betlemidze.
Betlemidze stated that while entering ESM the school doesn’t give employment guarantees. Everything depends on the particular student’s abilities. ESM graduates find jobs for themselves.
“The career centre is a mediator between students and companies. We collect exhaustive information on their preferences and abilities and also have constant contact with the students. We know their abilities, their sphere of interest and foreseeing both sides’ interests we start acting.”
ESM Tbilisi students are employed at different positions from the second semester to the 3rd course of their studying.
“We help them ourselves and the career centre usually receives information about current vacancies. At the beginning they work on probation part time, not to drop the speed of studying,” declared Betlemidze.
By the fourth course, 60% of students are already working, including part time. Most often students start working at places on probation. The main number of our students start working at banks, auditor companies, also in state sectors. The whole number of our graduates of BBA programmes consists of 519. 96% of this amount have a job and the remaining 4% are looking for a new one, or are on maternity leave.
ESM graduates’ average salary and positions at companies
Betlemidze defined that the average salary of ESM’s BBA graduates range from USD 300 to USD 5,000 and MBA graduates – from USD 500 to USD 5,000.
The graduation rate, which regards to the fact that not everyone who enters the university graduates, is 67%. And the number of those graduating to high positions (managers and directors) is 37%.
15% of BBA graduates have their own businesses.
“A large number (19%) of our graduates started working in the banking system. An interruption of gathering new cadres has not yet influenced us, but if this tendency continues in the future we will focus on short organizations and industries. At present, the graduates of 2008 are all fully employed,” said Betlemidze.
Written By Madona Gasanova
