Career Philosophy and Program

Welcome from the McDonough Career Center

On behalf of the McDonough Career Center team, welcome to Georgetown’s McDonough School of Business. With a personalized approach to career development for students and alumni, we seek to empower individuals to build successful and meaningful careers. AACSB International honored Georgetown University’s McDonough School of Business among 26 schools in its Innovations That Inspire member spotlight program for the MBA Executive Challenge – an immersive, day-long role-play case competition that serves as the final exam for the required Leadership Communications course. This is just one of the ways that you will learn from our experts and then apply knowledge through real-world consulting, internship, and leadership experiences. We look forward to working with you to advance your career. 

Our Philosophy

Through our 7-Phase Career Development Strategy, we take a careful and comprehensive approach to your career path. Whether you are pivoting to a new industry or function or seeking advancement in your current field, we will guide you through the steps needed to take you from the early assessment of your career options through the negotiation of final offers.

Our Program Progression

Your coursework and the associated deliverable schedules complement each other so you can produce a reliable, career-marketing portfolio in time for important, career-advancing conversations with coaches and recruiters. Our Full-time MBA, Flex MBA, and Flex MBA Online students have similar job-search needs, on different timelines:

Full-time MBA

Full-time MBA students typically will execute an internship search and a full-time job search, both within an aggressive two-year time frame. Employer presentations begin in early September and MBA Career Fairs in mid-September for the summer internship. In order to be employer-ready, Full-time students go through an accelerated Job Search Course in the summer before their first year that includes the following:

• • The Summer Webinar Series consists of modules 1-3 of the Job Search Course. Each webinar will guide you in completing a deliverable. All three deliverables are required to be completed in order to schedule a first coaching conversation. You’ll be invited to join our Job Search Course Canvas site, which houses all of our summer career content.

  • Upon the completion of the initial three deliverables, incoming Full-time students can schedule their first coaching conversation to begin to design their personalized job search plan. Most of these coaching conversations will be held virtually.

  • The remainder of the Job Search Course will be executed during the summer prior to fall classes. These modules will focus on the communication and networking aspects of the job search and help you put a game plan in place to take full advantage of all the opportunities available.

  • After Opening Term, September will be filled with coaching appointments, employer events, student club, and organization meetings, the Career Fair Boot Camp, networking events, career days, etc. The McDonough Career Center will help you prioritize these opportunities to meet your career goals as laid out in your personalized job search plan. 

Flex MBA and Flex MBA Online

Flex MBA and Flex MBA Online students may pursue a full-time job search in the fall of their final year of the program. MBA recruiters only engage students for post-MBA jobs in their final year because they want students to begin their job with the full MBA credential post-graduation in the May-August time frame. Since there’s no rush in the first two years of the program to recruit, the McDonough Career Center breaks up the Job Search Course for Flex students as follows:

• The Summer Webinar Series consists of modules 1-3 of the Job Search Course. Each webinar will guide you in completing a deliverable. Similar to the Full-time students, Flex students are expected to complete the deliverables in the summer prior to the program starting to lay the foundation for future career activities. You’ll be invited to join our Job Search Course Canvas site that houses all of our summer career content

• With Flex students working full-time, we encourage you to take the first semester off from career search activities to acclimate to your new work, life, and school balance.

• In January, following the first semester, the McDonough Career Center will re-engage Flex students with the next installment of the Job Search Course (JS1). Coaching appointments for Flex students are generally made available starting after the completion of JS1.

• JS2 will take place in Summer at the end of year one and JS3 will take place in January of the second year. For the majority of Flex students finishing the program in three years, this allows you to complete the Job Search Course six months prior to the start of fall recruitment beginning at the start of year three. Students who are on faster or slower timelines can work with the Career Center to develop a customized plan for career support.

Our program supports you along the way:

• Summer Webinar Series (May-June) – The required Summer Webinar Series is the foundation of all MBA career development at Georgetown McDonough. The webinars provide guidance and tools that help you define your career strengths and goals. 

• Job Search Course –  Additional career course modules build upon the Summer Webinar Series foundation and are organized into practical segments to address Full-time, Flex, and Flex Online program timelines. The Job Search Course continues in June for Full-time MBA students preparing for internship recruiting and in January for Flex MBA and Flex MBA Online students preparing for full-time job search.

• Deliverables – The McDonough Career Center has designed a set of deliverables that will prepare you for all the important stages of the job search: coach readiness, network readiness, and interview readiness. The deliverables provide the fundamental components of your portfolio and ensure that you are well-positioned for early career conversations with coaches, second-year students, alumni, and employers. The Summer Webinar Series and Job Search Course guide you in creating your deliverables and have opportunities for you to obtain feedback.

• Career Coaching – We have a team of dedicated, certified career coaches as well as trained second-year peer advisors to help you realize your individual career strategy. The McDonough Career Center coaches, peer advisors, and student organizations work in alignment to cultivate career opportunities that are industry- and function-specific.

• Hoya Gateway – Hoya Gateway is a customized career network for current students and alumni of Georgetown University. You can connect with Georgetown MBA alumni for an information session or networking chat to gain company insights or advice that will advance your candidacy for the career opportunities that interest you most. You also have access to the entire Georgetown University alumni community as well as your classmates in the Full-time, Flex, and Flex Online programs. New students gain access during orientation.

• Career Events and Recruiting – Student organization events, career days, treks, and national career conferences help you to clarify your MBA career options and cultivate recruiting relationships. Associations with peers, alumni, and recruiters can connect you with top employers participating in on-campus and off-campus hiring.

• Career Advancement – For students seeking to stay with their current employer, but leverage their MBA for advancement or promotion, the McDonough Career Center offers annual career advancement workshops to help students form a strategy for furthering their careers.

• Career Clarification - For students who are unsure about future directions, the McDonough Career Center's career clarification curriculum provides a structured framework for reflection, assessment, and action.