Enderun Colleges: Managing a career-driven education

MANILA, Philippines - It has been argued that a college diploma is not enough to give college graduates a clear picture of what lies in store for them in the future. This is why management institution Enderun Colleges ensures that its students receive career-driven education that starts from academics, to practical global experiences.

Dr. Edgardo Rodriguez, dean of the College of Business at Enderun, underscores the institution’s distinction for focusing on its students’ career opportunities.

While the school has invested heavily in creating world-class curricula driven by a diverse group of prominent faculty members, Rodriguez says that identifying niche careers and including principles from these professions in the institution’s set of courses can help draw a career roadmap for its students.

“I talked to various graduates from different business schools about five years back and was surprised that about 80 percent of them didn’t know what to do after college,” says Rodriguez.

“A college degree is not the end, but a beginning for these students. We as educators must see to it that they are well equipped to embark on their respective careers after graduation,” he adds.

Enderun has identified big career makers dominating the business world today. Students will find that the institution’s four-year undergraduate bachelor’s degrees are useful once they graduate. These courses include international hospitality management, business administration, and entrepreneurship.

Some of the niche careers identified by Enderun for its graduates are wealth management, consultancy, customer relationship management, and entrepreneurship.

Rodriguez notes that there has been a steady growth of enrolment for its entrepreneurship program over the years. He attributes this to the fact that more Filipinos are going into family business ventures, with the new generation being groomed to eventually take over their family businesses as future managers.

Most of Enderun’s entrepreneurship students belong to families who are into property development, import and export, and leisure and entertainment.

Since Enderun’s curricula are driven according to international demand, the institution has established partnerships with prominent industry players both here and abroad. Some of the leaders of these industries sit in the board of advisors, playing major roles in identifying what and where the demands are for Enderun graduates.

To help prepare its students for the global business setting, Enderun exposes them to actual work environments both here and abroad.

“Our industry partners have also made it possible for us to give our students real world experiences through internship programs,” says Rodriguez. “We want our graduates to be able to do critical thinking, know how to solve problems, and stand on their own. By giving them practical exposure today, we believe they can become the best managers they can be anywhere in the world.”

Enderun’s partners include the Alain Ducasse Formation and Les Roches International School of Hotel Management for academics; and Sykes, ECC International, DB Schenker, ECCP, Isla Lipana & Co., Fleishman Hillard, Johnson & Johnson, Philips, Lufthansa, and KLM for business.

There are currently 830 students enrolled in Enderun, a huge growth from the 80 pioneering five years ago. So far, the management institution has graduated 70 students in the Bachelor of Science in International Hospitality Management with specialization in Hotel Administration or Culinary Arts since 2010.