Serene Nah was GE Capital’s chief financial officer for greater China and had bright prospects in the group where she had worked for the past 10 years. However, Nah, who joined the company after an undergraduate degree in business management from Nanyang Business School in Singapore, wanted to accelerate her career and develop new skills beyond finance.
塞雷内•纳赫(Serene Nah)曾担任通用电气金融(GE Capital)大中华区首席财务官，在这家过去十年一直为之效力的集团里拥有光明的前景。当初，她在新加坡南洋商学院(Nanyang Business School)获得商业管理学士学位，随后进入通用电气金融工作。但如今，她希望加快自己的职业发展，学习金融以外的新技能。

“I was starting to get involved in mergers and acquisitions and big strategic projects. I was very keen to find an [executive MBA] programme that could expose me to more, such as the commercial side and legal side. Also, to meet people who could offer me real-life experiences and contacts in [China].”
“我开始参与并购业务和大型战略性项目。我渴望找一个EMBA项目，从而让我接触到商业和法律等方面的更多知识。此外，我还想借此认识一些人，向我提供（在中国的）现实经验和人脉。”
Six-figure tuition fees, travel costs and time off to attend classes make an executive MBA a substantial investment. Nah had full employer support for the programme.
攻读EMBA需要6位数的学费和旅行费用，还得在闲暇时间上课，这是一笔代价高昂的投资。纳赫攻读EMBA获得了雇主的完全支持。
She chose the Kellogg-HKUST programme – run jointly by Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University in Illinois and Hong Kong University of Science and Technology – because of its strong reputation, active alumni network and Chinese focus.
纳赫选择了凯洛格-香港科大(Kellogg-HKUST)的EMBA课程——这是由美国伊利诺伊州西北大学(Northwestern University)的凯洛格管理学院(Kellogg School of Management)与香港科技大学(HKUST)合办的项目——原因在于该项目的良好声誉以及活跃的校友人脉，并且主要面向中国市场。
During the programme, Nah’s role continued to expand and she anticipated staying with GE. However, she decided she wanted to work somewhere different and three months after her 2011 graduation she left to become a senior operating executive at Silver Lake, a private equity house. Today, based in Hong Kong, she considers her EMBA to be “one of the best investments” she has made.
在攻读EMBA期间，纳赫在通用电气金融的角色继续扩大，她本来预计会一直呆在公司，不过后来觉得还是换个地方工作，于是她在2011年毕业3个月之后离职，去私人股本公司银湖(Silver Lake)当了一名高级运营专员。如今，常驻香港的纳赫认为EMBA是自己所做出的“最好的投资之一”。
Both employers and employees have shifted their thinking about funding, says Peggy Bishop Lane, vice-dean of the EMBA at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. Companies fund fewer candidates because long-term employment is less common, she says, and conversely some students feel “they can dictate a little bit more what they can do once they graduate if they haven’t been financially sponsored”.
美国宾夕法尼亚大学沃顿商学院(Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania)负责EMBA项目的副院长佩吉•毕晓普•莱恩(Peggy Bishop Lane)说，雇主和雇员对补贴的看法全都发生了改变。公司资助攻读EMBA的人数少了，因为长期效力一家公司的现象没有以往普遍了，她说，相反，有些学员觉得，“如果他们没有得到财务资助的话，毕业后对公司的影响反而会更多一点儿。”
Scott Balloch, a client manager at BT, the UK telecoms group, was considering a full-time MBA in the US when his employer offered to fund an EMBA in the UK, so that he could study while working. He chose Warwick’s Business School’s EMBA but expected to move companies when he graduated in 2012 as he was under no legal obligation to stay at BT, nor to repay his fees. But, having been “impressed” by the opportunities at BT, Balloch remained at the company and is now head of energy and environment strategy.
斯科特•巴洛赫(Scott Balloch)是英国电信(BT)的一名客户经理。当巴洛赫考虑去美国攻读一个全日制MBA学位时，公司提出资助他在英国攻读一个EMBA项目，从而让他可以边工作边学习。巴洛赫选择了华威商学院(Warwick Business School)的EMBA项目，但他在2012年毕业时却想跳槽，因为他既没有必须留下来的法律义务，也没有返还学费的义务。但是，由于被英国电信提供的机遇“打动”，巴洛赫留了下来，他如今担任该公司的能源与环境策略主管。
Corporate funding for EMBAs has declined over the past 20 years, says Bishop Lane, and there was “a dramatic dive in employer sponsorship after 2008, as you would expect, but that trend has continued”. However, even employers that do not fund tuition still invest by allowing employees to work flexibly during part-time courses.
毕晓普•莱恩说，过去20年里，公司对雇员攻读EMBA的资助有所下降，“正如你预计的那样，雇主对员工的资助在2008之后大幅下降，但这个趋势延续了下来”。然而，即便不资助学费的雇主也会允许员工在攻读非全日制课程时灵活工作，这也是一种投资。
After two years as senior marketing director at a US healthcare company Eamon Bobowski decided to self-fund an EMBA. Five months into his programme at Georgetown University, Washington DC, and in the depths of the recession, he lost his job in a reorganisation. Interim project work to pay the bills has evolved into a rewarding career as an independent consultant. “The skills I am able to exercise in real-world monumental projects are going to position me very well,” he says.
在一家美国医疗保健公司担任高级营销总监两年之后，埃蒙•巴博斯基(Eamon Bobowski)决定自费攻读EMBA。他选择了位于华盛顿特区的乔治敦大学(Georgetown University)的EMBA项目。在入学第5个月时正赶上经济严重衰退，于是他在公司重组中丢掉了工作。为了支付学费，巴博斯基不得不从事临时项目工作，后来这让他得以担任一名独立顾问，成就了一份令人满意的职业。他说：“我在真实世界的重大项目中能够运用EMBA学到的技能，这将让我处于非常有利的地位。”
Niki DeVault-Smith’s plans were also shaken by the 2008 crisis when her employer entered Chapter 11 bankruptcy weeks before her EMBA was due to start. However, when the programme began in July 2009, DeVault-Smith had secured a place on engineering group Robert Bosch’s finance leadership development programme in the US. She supplemented her own money with contributions from her old and new employers and US government funding under the trade adjustment assistance programme.
妮基•德沃-史密斯(Niki DeVault-Smith)的计划也因2008年的危机而受挫。距她的EMBA项目开课还有几周时间的时候，她的雇主宣布按照美国破产法第11章的规定破产了。然而，当2009年7月EMBA开课时，德沃-史密斯在工程集团罗伯特•博世(Robert Bosch)旗下的美国金融领导力开发项目中获得了一个位置。她除了自己交一部分钱，还得到了新、老雇主的资助，以及美国政府通过贸易调整支持项目提供的资助。
DeVault-Smith has stayed with Bosch, which she says has given her the chance to learn and work at higher levels. “While I have had opportunities during the programme and after graduation, so far Bosch has been the right place for me,” she says.
德沃-史密斯留在了博世，她表示，博世给了她在更高层次学习和工作的机会。她说：“尽管在攻读EMBA期间和毕业之后，我都曾有过不少机会，但迄今为止，博世对我来说是最合适的地方。”
Get the most from your EMBA investment
充分利用EMBA投资
Check your figures
看看你赚了没有
Use a business case to determine whether your expected salary uplift will pay back the cost of an EMBA. Positive return on investment (ROI) is important, though not the only consideration. Chris Doran, academic director of Kellogg-HKUST’s EMBA, cautions that some things cannot be measured in ROI terms – like getting the confidence to start your own business or following your passion.
进行一次商业评估，评判一下你预期的薪水增幅能否抵过EMBA的成本。取得正的投资回报率(ROE)很重要，尽管这并非唯一考量。凯洛格-香港科大EMBA课程学术总监克里斯•多兰(Chris Doran)警告称，有些事情不能用投资回报率来衡量——比如获得创业或跟着激情走的信心。
Choose the right programme for you
选择适合你的项目
Identify your personal career goals. While rankings and reputation are important, they should not be slavishly followed. Course structure and class names may be similar, but programmes vary widely in what they offer. Attend the fairs and open days to identify the programmes that meet your objectives. Do you want to start your own business, for example? Do you want to work in China? Use rankings and logic to create a shortlist that meets your goals and then listen to your heart to make the final choice.
确定个人职业目标。尽管排名和声誉很重要，但也不应盲目地一味看这两点。各个项目的课程架构和名称或许会差不多，但具体内容会相差很多。参加招生展和开放日活动，找出符合自己目标的项目。比如说，你打算自己创业吗？你想到中国工作吗？查看排行榜，认真思考，选出初步符合目标的项目，然后倾听自己的内心来做出最终选择。
Choose a programme located in the market where you want to work
选择一个在工作预期地市场开办的项目
Location will influence the culture, laws, regulations and business practices taught. While there is general benefit to building cross-cultural knowledge, EMBA learning is practical, so studying in your target market will arm you with relevant knowledge. Alumni networks and work prospects also tend to concentrate in the market of the school. Finally, travel time is an important practical consideration when juggling the course, work and family obligations.
项目所在地将会影响课程讲授的文化、法律、监管和商业惯例。尽管掌握跨文化知识总体来说是有益的，但EMBA学习是务实的，所以在目标市场学习将有助于你掌握相关知识。校友人脉和工作前景也往往集中在项目学院所在的市场。最后，当你要兼顾学习、工作和家庭义务时，旅行时间也是现实中一项很重要的考量。
Once in the programme, participate as much as possible
一旦入学，尽可能地参与到项目当中
Interact and share with classmates – help and learn from them to build your knowledge and network. As well as being a sounding board and source of potential jobs in the future, they can become life-long friends.
与同学们互动和交流，帮助他们并向他们学习，以积攒知识和人脉。他们在未来可能为你提供咨询意见，可能帮你找工作，也可能成为你终生的朋友。
Put your new skills to work right away
立刻把学到的新技能用到工作上
A key advantage of an EMBA over a full-time MBA is the chance to use your new skills at work, which can cement new knowledge and impress your employer. Niki DeVault-Smith applied lessons learned in class to propose an unconventional solution to a problem, impressing her employer and providing a practical example of her new capabilities.
EMBA相对于全日制MBA的一个关键优势在于，你有机会学以致用，这会巩固新知识，并给雇主留下深刻印象。妮基•德沃-史密斯运用课堂所学，对某个问题提出了一个非同寻常的解决方案，给公司留下深刻印象，并为她的新能力提供了一个实例。
Explore the job market
探索就业市场
Even if you do not intend to change jobs, consider all your options, because plans can change. To accelerate your career with your current employer, Prof Doran recommends graduates use negotiation skills learned on the course “to create an attractive alternative offer to encourage their pre-degree employer to recognise their new skills”.
即便你不打算换工作，也要考虑所有选项，因为计划赶不上变化。为了加快在当前公司的职业发展，多兰教授建议毕业生使用在课程中学到的谈判技巧，“拿到另一份有吸引力的录用通知会让现雇主刮目相看，并认识到他们的新技能”。