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Focus on Latin America:
International Students Bring the World to Texas
by J.B. Bird
Historic enemies, Texas and Mexico today are unshakable economic partners, united by NAFTA, cultural ties, and the world's most heavily trafficked border. The Texas Business School maintains strong ties to Mexico and Latin America, including double-degree programs with the region's three leading business schools, an Executive MBA program in Mexico City, and TILAR, the Texas Institute for Latin American Research.
But the school's greatest Latin American resources are its students.
Each year, scores of Latin American business students enroll in the undergraduate and graduate programs at UT. Corporate recruiters take notice. "UT probably offers the country's largest steady group of highly qualified Latin American students from year to year," says Terry Hicks, an international recruiting specialist at Procter & Gamble. Like other recruiters, Hicks places UT at the top of her list when looking for new Latin American and Hispanic hires.
Almost 25% of all UT MBAs are international students, creating one of the largest international recruiting pools in the U.S. "And the people who come here tend to be the top of the crop, the best students in their home countries," adds Hicks.
Nearly half of UT's internationals are from South and Central America, where Texas is known as an academic leader. "From my experience, UT is the Harvard Business School of Latin America," notes Miguel Angel Lopez, P&G's recruiting and training manager for Latin America.
Angel Lopez appreciates the Business School's special focus on international business, with courses like Dr. Leigh McAlister's "Building Systemic Business Relationships," which P&G helped design along with Motorola, 3M, and Imation. "We get graduates with an excellent exposure to the very topics we seek to cover in our entry-level training. It's a real boost, and the courses are specifically tailored to the Latin market."
Mexican Marketer
Texas' ties to Latin America were a strong selling point for Hector Meza, an MBA 98 concentrating in marketing and management. Meza can drive to Austin from his home in Mexico City in 14 hours. He enjoys the community of Latin Americans at the University, but also the cultural sensibilities of his North American counterparts.
"I didn't expect so many to speak Spanish," Meza notes, "not just native speakers, but Americans who are fluent. The people I've met here are very down-to-earth. They want to succeed in life and in business, and being around them pushes you further."
The receptivity of the teachers was also a surprise. "I don't think they necessarily give special consideration to foreign students, but they will put in extra hours to help you understand a concept."
In part, Meza selected UT because of the school's status in Mexico, where it has even higher rankings than in the U.S. It didn't hurt that a number of prominent Mexican businessmen are Texas Exes. "They serve as CEOs of major companies, bank presidents -- the number of successful UT grads in Mexico is great," says Meza.
The school's price-performance ratio was another strong consideration for Meza, who felt that the value of the UT degree was unmatched among leading schools. "You get a top education and you can graduate with no debt. For Latin American students, that is very important."
With an offer from Kraft already on the table, Meza feels that UT has given him a definite advantage in his job hunt. Still, he recognizes the challenges that face international MBAs, who often have to make extra efforts to secure job interviews. The safest route is not to look for a job in the U.S., but to hook up with a multi-national that wants to send new hires from abroad back to their home countries.
Recruiting the Global Hire
International students generally find the best prospects with companies expanding into their home countries. Finding a position based in the U.S. can be tough, since the number of corporations willing to sponsor a foreign national is limited.
U.S. students who want to work overseas face the same problem. "Expatriate personnel can be extremely expensive," notes John D'Orazio, Director of Financial Planning and Analysis at Nortel. After covering travel, education, and other expenses, he says, expatriates can cost a company up to $250,000 a year, a major investment for a single employee.
"Besides the fact that local hires are cheaper, they are also more effective," says D'Orazio, "since they inherently understand the market and the culture. "Cultural fluency is so important that many companies only hire U.S. recruits in the U.S. and internationals abroad, at least for entry-level positions."
Among international recruits, however, graduates of UT and other top 20 business schools are the elite of the elite. "Only 10% of our international hiring is done through the U.S.," notes Glenna Anderson, a recruiting manager for P&G, "but those are the most crucial hires."
U.S.-educated internationals are valued for the diversity that they bring back to their home countries. "Studying in the U.S., they gain a deeper appreciation for other cultures," notes Anderson. "Because schools like UT are so diverse, it's like working for a big company -- you're surrounded by people from different countries and cultures, constantly exposed to different work styles and thought processes."
Exposure to the U.S. educational style is seen as a further benefit. "When students come here and are taught to question what goes on in the classroom, to challenge authority, this gives them the skills they need to work for a global company headquartered in the U.S.," says Anderson.
Traditionally, many students from developing countries have sought to remain in the U.S. after completing their business education. Recruiters are now seeing that trend reverse in Latin America, as regional economies become more stable. But recruiters still have to work hard to get their best international hires. "They are harder to find, harder to recruit, and more expensive," says Anderson, "but they're worth it."
Hector Meza and UT's other international business students could not have said it any better.
For information on specific programs at the McCombs School, consult our contacts page. For media information, contact the Communications Director by phone at 512-471-3314 or by email at CommunicationsDirector@mccombs.utexas.edu.
