9 Benefits of an MBA for your career growth

Regardless of individual goals, an MBA program offers the opportunity to cultivate essential management and leadership skills that will benefit graduates throughout their careers. While the commitment of time and financial resources is significant, the personal and professional rewards are immeasurable.

#1 Employability Enhancement: A Pathway to Professional Opportunities

While various institutions offer an array of graduate-level business programs, the MBA remains a highly coveted credential among prospective students.

In fact, according to the 2022 corporate survey conducted by the Graduate Management Admission Council (GMAC) “Looking to the near future, most corporate recruiters agree that demand for new business school talent will increase in the next five years (63%), while 35 percent expect it will remain stable.”

The same survey found that “Overall, 92 percent of corporate recruiters say they expect to hire newly minted MBAs this year, as do 95 percent of staffing firms. Relative to past years’ survey results, this represents very strong hiring intentions, and looking to the near future, most corporate recruiters agree that demand for new business school talent will increase in the next five years.”

Given the ongoing value placed on MBAs by employers, attaining this degree can significantly enhance employability and job security.

 

#2 Developing Analytical Skills for Problem solving.

Acquiring the ability to assess problems and devise viable solutions lies at the core of an MBA education. In addition to all the theories you will learn, the case study is probably the most powerful tool to present complex situations and how to solve them.

Whether it is a group case study or an individual one, your MBA programme will require you to assess real world business situations and problems and will introduce you to the tools and frameworks you need to solve them.

 

#3 Leadership Growth: Nurturing Effective Managers

As soon as you start to explore different leadership styles, you start drawing parallels to present and past positions and you may have handled certain situations differently. Learning different leadership styles will immediately allow you to begin practicing them in your work environment enabling you to begin your own personal growth journey.

In your class, being a part of a group of professionals with similar aims presents you an opportunity to discuss certain leadership situations and debate the different opinions from colleagues in different professions and environments.

 

#4 Self-Investment: A Voyage of Personal Growth

The journey toward an MBA takes divergent paths for each individual. Undeniably, it is not an obligatory qualification for career progression and does not directly lead to a predefined occupational status.

The decision to enrol on an MBA programme is an intimate choice rooted in the aspiration for self-improvement and the desire to improve professionally.

Most descent MBA’s will take between 18 and 24 months to complete and regardless of choosing a full time or a part time programme, this period serves as a foundation for contemplation and self-discovery enabling one to clearly see where they wish to be in the future.

Embarking on an MBA journey presents the opportunity to delve deep within oneself, to refine skills and aptitudes in order to reach personal and professional goals.

 

#5 Monetary Advancement: Unlocking Salary Potential

Another pivotal factor compelling numerous professionals to pursue an MBA is simply a better salary.

Many statistics from around the world show that MBA holders earn more than non-MBA holders.

But staying away from statistics, we all know that top jobs pay top salaries and if two people reach the final stage of interviews for a top job and only one has an MBA, it is most likely that the MBA holder is chosen for the job.

 

#6 Cultivating a Holistic and Global View of Business

An MBA program is designed to prepare students to lead in any function, industry, or location worldwide.

It does not teach you accounting to turn you into an accountant nor marketing to turn you into a marketeer. The aim is for you to understand the general functions of any business to be able to manage these departments.

More importantly, current MBA programmes concentrate on honing your abilities to manage globally by learning to manage culturally diverse groups of people who are spread out across the world.

 

#7 Entrepreneurship Empowerment: Launching Your Own Venture

While some individuals pursue an MBA to enhance their job performance, many embark on this journey with the intent to establish their own enterprises.

Investing time in self-development enables aspiring entrepreneurs to reflect on their goals and the unique positioning of their businesses. Acquisition of new problem-solving methodologies equips them to overcome the inevitable challenges of entrepreneurship.

Leadership skills provide an advantage when scaling operations. A global perspective allows for novel opportunities. Additionally, an extensive network of classmates, professors, and alumni serves as an invaluable resource for guidance in navigating business obstacles.

 

#8 Exposure to Diverse Perspectives: Broadening your Horizons

Improving your academic knowledge is an integral part of an MBA.

However, one of the biggest benefits of joining an MBA is listening to others’ experiences.

Be it starting one’s own business, leading a chemical company, or running a family business, how these people from completely different professional backgrounds and experiences deal with their personal and professional struggles will contribute to broadening your horizons and the ability to see things from completely different perspectives.

 

#9 Making lifelong friends

Some of your classmates will become friends and most will become professional colleagues.

This resource of highly educated people from different backgrounds in different professions will prove invaluable sooner than later.

This is why, it is extremely important for MBA students to make an effort to stay in touch with their fellow graduates and other MBA alumni.

 

 

Interested in studying an MBA? View the University of Hull Global Online MBA, University of Northampton Executive MBA or the Edinburgh Napier University Online MBA

Sources: https://www.gmac.com/market-intelligence-and-research/research-library/employment-outlook/2022-corporate-recruiters-survey-summary-report