Students, employers, and working professionals regard an MBA as key to a successful business career. Regardless of age or experience level, MBA learners will access networking opportunities, improve their analytical and critical thinking skills, and gain advanced knowledge of finance, management, and marketing.
you can pursue MBA after completing a bachelor’s in any stream be it Arts, Commerce or Science. It is essential to get a certain minimum percentage in the graduate degree to apply for certain MBA entrance exams
Recent graduates may not want to return to school after earning an undergraduate degree, but there are perks to moving straight into a graduate program.
To help you work out if pursuing an MBA pre-experience is the right choice for you, it’s important to consider these five questions.
1. Do I mind postponing my full-time career?
Before you begin a pre-experience MBA, you’ll need to ask yourself whether you’re willing and able to delay finding a full-time job. Enrolling in an MBA after graduation pushes back your entry into the workforce—but it also means avoiding the potentially awkward transition from full-time work to full-time study.
2. Does my MBA offer hands-on learning?
Leaving business school with hands-on experience will help you land your first full-time job, by counteracting the fact that you won’t have much work experience when you graduate.
Most MBA after-graduation programs encourage students to complete an internship over the summer, so you can get a few months’ work under your belt straight away.
3. Do I have firm career plans?
Without a solid career plan in place, undertaking an MBA after graduation straight out of college might not be the best idea.
If you don’t know which industries and roles you want to target, it’s much harder to get the most out of an MBA, since you won’t know which skills and experiences to prioritize during your studies, or where to specialize. An MBA is going to be more beneficial if you know how you’re going to leverage it.
4. Will I get a good return on my investment?
It’s no secret that MBA after graduation can be pricey, but post-graduates do command much higher salaries than they would with an undergrad degree alone.
By accessing these high salaries right away, students who choose to study for an MBA straight out of college can potentially earn more in their lifetime than they would if they delayed the MBA.
5. Do I need to boost my network right now?
One universal benefit of studying for an MBA after graduation is the fact that you’ll meet a diverse group of people.
By completing an MBA straight out of college, you can use these connections to enter the workforce with a much stronger network than you would otherwise have.
This network can be a useful resource. One recent LinkedIn survey showed that 60% of professionals found their current job through networking.
Some reasons why you can pursue an MBA right after grad degree
1. Accelerated Career Opportunities
One of the main reasons people enroll in grad school is to advance their careers. For most, pursuing an MBA after graduation allows them to fast-track their career and enter into a more impactful first job. One of the most valuable opportunities is the access to exclusive career and networking events where companies brought customized opportunities for the full-time MBA students seeking employment. This is not unique to the program though, many programs have special connections with local offices that recruit MBAs out of their universities. This opportunity is a key for young professionals to add work experience to their resume while pursuing school. The MBA internship opportunities offer the ability to own the work and start making a real impact immediately. This level of ownership and trust is usually not offered through graduate positions. Through my internship, interns are put in an environment that both challenges and empowers them to explore strengths and allows them to make a real business impact from day one. Connection to this type of work allows the students to earn money, gain experience, and ultimately receive a competitive job offer at the end of the program.
2. Invaluable Lifelong Connections
Every graduate program splits their students up into groups that consist of all your peers in your graduating class. Likely, this group of people ends up being people you’ve never met before from a wide variety of backgrounds. Having this diverse set of peers allows students to learn from multiple different perspectives and create a wide-reaching network. As a younger student, the expansiveness of my group allows them to explore potential areas of career interest in a much more casual setting. Additionally, cross-functional tracks allow them to even further expand the network to postgraduate students in disciplines other than business. The collaborative environment the MBA after graduation program fosters most to build strong relationships that will easily continue post-graduation.
3. Increased Confidence
The MBA after graduation program builds upon the graduate knowledge base while taking a managerial approach to content. This type of approach to content allows students to build skills that are directly applicable to the workplace, but the learning doesn’t stop with content.
Most MBA programs have a specific emphasis on soft skills which are found to be particularly valuable.
For example, I took a strength finder among other personality assessments and completed a 360 review to help me understand myself better and how I might be perceived. This also helped me understand others better and identify potential challenges I might face due simply to my personality.
Additionally, MBA programs give opportunities to take on real business challenges through intensive competitions. Competing in case competitions, pitch competitions, and going through ample simulations students are forced to think and perform out of their comfort zone. Being put in positions like this with high-stress stakes ultimately led to a lot of learning that they can apply to their real job. The deeper knowledge, enhanced soft skills, and experience outside their comfort zone will equip them with the level of confidence needed to walk into any job knowing that they will be successful.
4. Start your own company from scratch
Many students choose an MBA because they want to become entrepreneurs and learn how to start and grow a business. They have a big dream and want to know how to turn it into reality. Here’s why an MBA after graduation can help you become a successful entrepreneur:
MBA professors with real-life experience in starting a business can tell you the major traps you need to avoid and what you should do to make sure your company grows and remains stable over time.
You can find MBA colleagues who have similar interests. Share your ideas with them and see if you can form a common vision. It’s easier to succeed with your start-up if you have a reliable partner who has your back and vice versa.
You’ll learn how to communicate effectively and why it is essential for the success of any organization. Whether you’re negotiating a contract with the suppliers or explaining your vision to prospective investors, knowing how to express your ideas clearly can make the difference between winning or losing the support and attention of your audience.
5 No Break in Your Education
Although you can put off earning your MBA, you might end up regretting this decision. Having a break in your education can make it much harder to go back to school later. When you start working right after earning a grad degree, there are no exams to study for or assignments to complete. You lose that school-focused mentality. It can make it a struggle to get back into a routine of paying attention to classes, completing assignments, and studying for exams. You may have to brush up on study habits that you’ve forgotten.
By going straight from grad to post-grad school, you maintain that learning momentum and focus. You’re already in the routine of handling school-related tasks from your bachelor’s degree program. While an MBA program is likely more academically challenging, you won’t have to make as big of an adjustment as you would if you chose to start working first. Earning your MBA right after graduating with your bachelor’s can set you up for success in an advanced degree program, since you’ll seamlessly utilize the study habits you developed as a grad and adapt them, as needed, for your MBA program.