Executive MBA | Career Impact
The Executive MBA program at the UCI Paul Merage School of Business is a participant-centric multi-disciplinary high-level management training program. Tomorrow’s leaders are expected to anticipate, respond and lead through diverse technological, societal and behavioral disruptions. The Executive MBA provides leaders with a robust ecosystem to develop strategic goals and identifying where digitization is best leveraged.
We offer a wide range of services from individual career coaching sessions, to on-campus workshops, online webinars and networking events. Throughout the program, you will have several opportunities to develop your skills on career planning, CV and LinkedIn writing, interviewing techniques, networking and negotiation skills as well as receive targeted job-search support.
Career Mastery
Exclusive to the Executive MBA, you will benefit from access to an executive coach throughout the program. During the program, your coach will support you on creating a comprehensive leadership development plan, career vision and path, and assess your strategies and approaches for advancing your career to the next level.
360 Degree Road Map
Today’s leaders must strike a balance between self-reflection and action to help their organizations adapt to the unknown. Transformational leaders are asked to embrace divergent thinking and implement innovative practices that respect the aspirations of numerous stakeholders: customers, employees, business partners and society at large. According to Deloitte’s 2020 research on leadership personas; organizations with leaders who embody data-driven decision-making; have a bold long-term vision of technology; and who are aggressive about workforce development—are poised to survive and thrive in the 21st century and beyond.
The Merage School's Executives MBA plays a critical role in expanding the leadership capacity of seasoned professionals as they develop a global and strategic vision for executive leadership in a digital age faced with new societal issues and global entrepreneurship.
Psychological Safety and Digital Transformation: Trust and the Process
All businesses rely on business model evolution through identifying and using new digital tools. The most difficult aspect of digital transformation is garnering trust from stakeholders. “There’s no team without trust,” says Paul Santagata, Head of Industry at Google. Google’s two-year study revealed that the highest-performing teams have one thing in common: psychological safety, the belief that you won’t be punished when you make a mistake. Studies show that psychological safety allows for moderate risk-taking, speaking your mind, creativity and sticking your neck out without fear of having it cut off—the types of behavior that lead to disruptive innovation.
The Executive MBA exposes leaders to diverse digital transformation strategies that help engage the collective genius of teams and build trust. The skills learned in the program helps leaders choose the best ideas for digital transformation for their organization or entrepreneurial venture.
Executive Coaching
Career goals change. Markets fluctuate. Your Executive Career Coach is prepared to guide you at every stage. Whether you want to advance in your current position or make a change, as an EMBA student you will have access to resources that include: creating a professional development plan, career vision and path, personal growth strategies and a comprehensive toolkit for advancing your career to the next level. In partnership with the executive career coach you will:
- Develop cutting-edge skills to become a forward-thinking leader: learn to optimize personal growth opportunities and use strategic frameworks to articulate and formulate business ideas for implementation.
- Learn a systematic approach to continuously develop as a leader in an adaptive way to match the requirements of an ever-changing global digital workplace.
- Develop and implement a Leadership Development Plan (LDP) based on your unique goals to set up or take over a business, carry out strategic developments within your current company or transition to a new role or industry.
- Get personalized support and guidance throughout the program. You will be able to go deeper into some of the disciplines covered in the core courses and explore new areas depending on your interests.
- Foster authentic relationships with cohort members during the program that translate to lifetime friendships and business opportunities.
Online Resources
The Merage School Career Center maintains an online research library that contains corporate contacts databases, career research sites, job boards, on-demand videos which cover industry-specific topics, career coaching, management tips, tutorials and more. A variety of self-assessment tools are offered at no cost to all EMBA students, and career coaches are available to discuss and interpret the results.
Employer Relationships
UCI maintains an active network of employers who routinely post jobs to our career services website. The Merage School Career Center receives job postings at all experience levels including upper management and executive-level positions that are available to you while in the program and throughout your career. EMBA students have free, immediate access to these postings. We also encourage you, as a potential employer, to post open positions on the Merage School Job Board.
If you are planning to make a job change, we provide resources to help and advise you as you develop your job search plan. Though we do not “place” our students in positions, the Executive Coach will coach and assist you with acquiring resources.
When you become a part of the Executive MBA program at the Merage School, you have access to our global alumni network of business leaders, entrepreneurs, and experts across all industries. The Alumni Experience Center at the School is your resource to help explore all opportunities to expand your network, engage with the alumni community and maximize your connection to this invaluable resource.
To learn more, visit the Alumni Experience Center for more information. Please reach out to Meragealumni@uci.edu for all questions.
Where Merage School EMBAs Work
