MBA career prospects   If merely having an MBA or Masters degree title is reason for a promotion it becomes questionable how replaceable one actually is. The best career perspectives emerge when knowledge can be applied profitably. A title alone is certainly not enough. The subjects taught during a Masters or MBA are vital for career advancement. Key words like intercultural competencies, language skills, analytic abilities or globally networked thinking are crucial for future managers. This is both required by and promoted by a good MBA or Masters programme.

Career Prospects with a Masters or MBA Degree

Most MBA students decide to do an MBA for one of a number of reasons: to improve their career prospects, to learn new skills, to build a professional network or simply to earn a higher salary after graduation.  For many, an MBA is the ideal way to enhance their careers, but whichever the reasons, recent trends indicate that the prime reason for selecting a specific employer upon graduation is job satisfaction. Individual development, personal fulfilment and lifelong learning are of higher value to many than the employer’s image or other environmental factors.  And while the majority of MBA graduates seek to enter traditionally high paying industries such as consulting, the financial sector, banking, IT and marketing, more and more graduates express interest in utilizing their skills in the environmental industries or the non-profit sector.

In contrast to other Masters courses, which endow the graduate with a more theoretical and specialized skill set in often very specific fields like psychology, history or politics, the MBA provides its graduates with a broad and a more easily transferable skill set.  It is the breadth of these skill sets that make an MBA graduate so attractive to employers.  Reports suggest that MBA hiring will remain strong in the years to come and MBA recruiters are battling it out to hire the best and the brightest amongst MBA graduates.  Increasingly, non-traditional MBA sectors aim to benefit from the skills an MBA curriculum can convey.  Intercultural competences, language skills, a global outlook, paired with specific and general management skills make for a strong applicant in all sectors the world over.

The opportunities are copious. It is therefore recommended that the graduating MBA consider all possible options carefully.  Ask yourself in which sector you might best be able to build on your strengths, where you might be able to further develop your skills, which field might best be suited to allow you to grow in the long run.  If you have little work experience pre-MBA, a graduate training programme in the industry or sector of your choice might be an ideal way of building a career in your chosen field.  International employers in particular are always looking for globally oriented and internationally savvy employees with a high level of skills and a pro-active attitude.  Graduate training programmes offer on-the-job experience and development with the goal of developing the recent graduate into being able to take on a key role in the organization.

The choice of MBA programme can also make an impact on your career prospects after graduation. If your previous employment has provided you with a specific skills set in a specialized area, you might benefit more from an MBA programme that conveys general management skills and a broad knowledge of leadership skills and social competencies. For instance, if you are a lawyer seeking to enter the management consultancy arena, you might benefit from the general management modules offered on the curriculum. If your previous experience is general and broad and you are seeking to enter a specific sector in a high-level management position, a specialized MBA track might be of greater advantage to your career development. Knowing your mid and long-term goals can help you plan your MBA education and career track more effectively.

Before you embark on your MBA career path, ask yourself some basic but very important questions:

• What are my long-term career goals?
• What matters most: advancement, money, development or job-satisfaction?
• Where do I want to work, locally or internationally?
• What sectors or industry do I want to work in?

This is, of course, just a short list of questions and many other considerations may factor into your future career planning but it does provide you with a good start for your research and should support more informed choices, which, in turn, will allow you to realize your goals.

You can find current job offers specifically for Masters and MBA graduates here.

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