desertopsguy
First of all my post is intended for Indian students and is from an Indian experience with particular relevance to finding work in India post Cranfield. This was already I think clear enough in my earlier post but still not clear enough apparently . For a person from say EU who pay subsidized rates the course is a steal what with students from outside EU paying 4-5 times the tution and propping up the course , and the EU students to a large extent.
If you look at Embrey Riddel course content you will find it is very USA-centric, and that is fine if you intend to work in the US.
Cranfield was truly wonderful in that regard.Our first lecture itself was from the head of marketing at Ryan Air and the course was peppered with LCC wonder strategies. The only issue was that the first Indian LCC got off the ground only around the time our course ended and the next one took another two years in coming. But then the Brits are always ahead of their time - right
Another point worth considering is that a lot of the people on the Cranfield MSc are already employed or have positions waiting for them
Very true. We graduated when SAARs had just followed 9/11 and even the locals were struggling. I luckily had a position waiting - my old employer was luckily willing yo take me back - but then I thought I left them to get a better deal and a career shift
It took another three years of my own effort to finally get in where I wanted .
If you look at Embrey Riddel course content you will find it is very USA-centric, and that is fine if you intend to work in the US.
Unfortunately a lot of Indian top airline managers are either graduates of the IATA MBA programme at Concordia in Canada or from Embry. Cranfield is an unknown to them. A few do the part time MSc from CiIty, so even that is better known than Cranfield.
People who go from undergrad direct to MSc/MBa will not always walk into a job as they lack that vital industry experience required to transition from MSc to employment quickly. The expectation of a high entry level salary just because you have an MSc is also another expectation that is often not met.
Totally agree and my point I wish to make is that the faculty advisors at Cranfield should make this clear to prospective graduates. Instead they come out with delightfully vague answers in many cases.
If the nationality of the person is a barrier to the them taking up employment in a reputable company in the US/UK/EU or elsewhere, then that is nothing to do with the school. Any prospective student should consider this before taking out expensive loans to attend foreign schools
Very true - but unfortunately again the faculty advisers keep quiet about this at the time of admission inquiries especially when 80% of the students who seek admission from India are freshers from India. Once people get out and start struggling then the Hmmmms and Haaaas start ..... Many Indian students including myself when we first applied thought that it will be a struggle to get in, what with the reputation of the course and the 1946 Vintage etc etc. But as my Dad (who financed my course said) "Never mind Son... don't worry ... u will get in because most UK univs needs your money....). True enough I got in without even an interview and finally I ended up where I wanted 3 years after graduation and due to my own efforts- after 3 rejections - all of them who had never heard of Cranfield -, only because I had enough experience (in a related field). But for freshers it may not always be that easy although admission is never that difficult!.
And finally, Cranfield has been in aerospace and aviation education since 1946...if anyone in a decision making position has 'not even heard of it' then that is certainly not the school's fault, there are more than enough switched on people out there who have.
Unfortunately not in India as I found out to my cost! Situation has not changed much in recent times. Mailing a brochure of the student CVs to be "HR Manager" and then saying end of the story does not help in India. Most faculty hardly keep in touch with any senior aviation managers in India as evidenced from the fact that students doing India centric thesis find it hard to establish contacts with the right people to get information.
There is also an alumni page on Linked-In and the course directors regularly post leads and useful information that would help any would-be jobseeker.
It may be of interest to know that the current course director of the full time programme hardly posts anything on this page. Most of the faculty postings are almost exclusively from one of the faculty who is a FORMER course director and who while not among the shining stars in terms of qualifications/publications/consultancies etc compared to many others in the faculty is one of the few who genuinely is interested in helping out the students (and whose idea was the linked in group). It is people like him who are the saving grace of the department .
Also let me make it known that what ever is posted here by me is well known and conveyed in writing much earlier to some of the faculty and the current head of the ATM department.
And finally let me also make it clear that a higher educational qualification will always be an asset but then for many Indians as mentioned in my earlier post there may be more cost effective alternates to achieve the same end result as a Cranfield ATM Course.