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A lot of people tend to play down the importance of an MBA in an increasingly high-tech world or because of the sheer number of people who hold them. Others are told you cannot advance in your career without earning an advanced degree like an MBA. The truth is somewhere in the middle. Let’s look at five reasons why the MBA is still relevant.
You Truly Learn Management Skills
An MBA is one way to learn management skills. Better yet, an MBA teaches you how to make rational, data-driven business decisions, how to mitigate risk and assess all of your options. This helps you avoid drifting along a comfortable path until you’re shocked by the change. Depending on the MBA program and coursework you take, you could learn about hiring and motivating employees or general financial management.
You’ll also learn how to become a better leader and get the best out of your employees. Leadership is not something that all of us were born with and isn’t something that can be easily picked up. But most MBA programs will have modules dedicated specifically to leadership and how to develop it.
An MBA is one way to learn management skills. Better yet, an MBA teaches you how to make rational, data-driven business decisions, how to mitigate risk and assess all of your options.
Tweet ThisA good MBA program will emphasize leadership by taking you through a variety of practical and theoretical modules designed to give you a genuine C-suite experience. Young professionals don’t often have the chance to make important executive decisions or implement strategies. With an MBA program, you’ll get to see exactly how it feels to be part of senior management and will be exposed to some of the problems that are relevant to different industries. You’ll then have to work on how to address these problems and solve them.
You’ll also be able to see first-hand what the consequences of your decisions are and how one simple decision could affect the whole future of a company. You’ll get to experience the kind of pressure and responsibilities administrators have to deal with on a regular basis.
Being a leader is not just about you, but the team surrounding you as well. You’ll be able to learn how to gauge the strengths and weaknesses of your team members and how to work and navigate through different personality types as well. You’ll also learn how to defuse and prevent conflict and how to boost employee engagement and morale.
You Enhance Your Soft Skills
In an increasingly high-tech world, employers are desperately seeking those with strong “soft” skills. In addition to leadership, some of the most in-demand soft skills include things like collaboration and communication for instance. You’ll develop these competencies in any MBA program. Listing an MBA on your resume demonstrates that you have these desirable skills. The MBA is a widely recognized credential in any case.
These skills can help you when you Start your own business, as well. Furthermore, when you approach potential partners and investors, an MBA shows that you are a more serious candidate than someone with an abstract idea and a vague business plan.
The networking Benefits Are Immeasurable
As an MBA student, you’ll see incredible networking opportunities. Your fellow students may become your future employees or employers. Your professors and the other teaching staff are excellent resources while you’re in school and can provide professional references later on. Alumni are another source of connections. Depending on the MBA program, you may be able to land a good internship through the school that leads to the job you’ve always wanted.
Depending on the program you attend, you may be able to leverage the MBA into an international job or use it to prove you’re qualified to work in international business. Or you’ll simply benefit from the broad, multidisciplinary connections you’ve made.
It Has a Good Average Return on the Investment
According to this article by Jack Welch MBA, roughly 40% of people who decided not to enroll in an MBA program stated cost as the main reason they didn’t enroll, while another fifth declined because of the time commitment. One of the online MBA benefits is the ability to take classes from home or wherever else you can connect to the digital classroom; it may save you time, too, since you don’t have to drive to campus to attend class. The same survey found that there is a decent return on investment for the time and effort. Of those who enrolled in a top-ranked online MBA program, two-fifths said they’d do it again because their increased earnings made the cost of the program worth it.
“There’s no doubt that earning an MBA can give your career a boost. Research shows that a graduate degree in business can increase your earnings potential by 50 percent or more, and many employers will only consider candidates with an MBA or similar degree.” – How to Add Value to Your Resume With Your MBA
Over three-quarters of MBA graduates said they earned more pay or received a promotion almost certain to lead to higher pay. For those who earned an online MBA, more than four-fifths received a raise or promotion, or both. This isn’t surprising since more than half of MBA grads are managers or board directors.
Other sources have found that the average salary for an MBA grad is much higher than those who hold any other master’s degree – twice as much as they’d earn with the average bachelor’s degree.
You’ll Learn Cross-Disciplinary Skills
You can say you’re a proven problem-solver, but an MBA proves that you’ve learned how to analyze a variety of problems, think critically, and find solutions. You’ll have been trained using a variety of case studies and real-world scenarios. You’ll be able to move into any management position, study and solve problems, cultivate human resources and identify opportunities. An MBA may prepare you to move into management at your current company, or it can open the door to moving into management almost anywhere else. It certainly prepares you to move into any high-level position, insulating you against business cycle shocks. You’ll be ready to Start your own business, take on any role at another firm or move into another department at your current employer because your leadership and soft skills are transferable.
A good MBA program teaches you the skills that the workplace still requires at all levels, but these skills remain essential at the upper echelons. An MBA proves that you hold these skills and are capable of filling almost any position.
