Sitting just across the street from today’s financial experts in the World Trade Organization, lies the Geneva Business School, training the financial experts of tomorrow. Geneva Business School, or ‘GBS’ as everyone around campus calls it, is a private university with a focus on Business Administration and Finance.
A glance through the programs at GBS might lead one to think that it is just another institution offering the standard MBA, but a look under the hood at what is happening in the halls and staff rooms at the school soon reveals what really separates GBS from the pack.
The first thing to catch our eye as we enter is a bulletin board full of job ads. The board is a major hub of student activity in their relationship with the GBS Career Support Center. Launched in 2010, the Career Support Center aims at helping students prepare for internships every step of the way from writing cover letters and making solid CVs to giving stellar interviews, which the school hopes will propel them into the limelight of major corporations. The United Nations has obviously taken notice, hiring 7 students in both full time and intern positions.
Not all students choose to stay in Switzerland however. Many, like Flavia Popa, return to their homelands to seek out careers there. Now a financial consultant for Price Waterhouse Coopers, she writes from her home in Romania, ‘The school really helped me in my new career.’ Flavia’s story is only one of many, with other students having gone on to work for HSBC, Caterpillar and Ferrari in their own countries.
The university has also been a favorite with the diplomatic corps over the years. Dannzanarov Oldbaata, the Ambassador of Mongolia, explained to us his experience at GBS: ‘The Mongolian Government adopted in June 2010 a new State Policy on Rail transportation. I was engaged in the development of the financing structure and project approach for this huge project… GBS was extremely helpful and I had a good opportunity to put my theoretical knowledge into practice.’
‘Obviously with students of this caliber, we are really pushed to maintain an above average education,’ explains Mark Hatton, the Schools Registrar, ‘which is why we set such strict standards for becoming a member of our faculty.’ Indeed, the GBS faculty is impressive, with Doctorates from Havard, London School of Economics and Columbia leading the pack. It is standards like these that have earned accreditation from organizations like the IACBE, which itself has just recently been CHEA accredited.
GBS has also been investing in students' social lives. A new Activities Department was recently launched, offering students everything from Laser Tag competitions to visiting Geneva’s famous sites such as the Red Cross. ‘The real goal is to create community’, explains Student Affairs Manager, Donald Armbrecht. ‘A lot of people want to go out on Friday, but when you’re new to somewhere, you don’t really know where to go or who to go with. It’s important to us to help our students with that.’
Geneva Business School
Av. Blanc 53 - 1202
Geneva, Switzerland
Web: http://gbs-ge.ch
Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Tel: +41 22 906 94 94
Fax: +41 22 906 94 90
