Career Avenues for the new MBA grad…

There is an old adage, “it is the quality of the general and not the standard of equipment at his disposal that decides the outcome of a battle.” Nowhere is this old saying truer than in the field of modern business and commerce. An integral part of the success of virtually any business is a great manager. And being a great manager means having the skill set required to extract the best possible results from any situation or resource. An MBA degree does not guarantee that a person will be a great manager, but it definitely hones the skills required by a person to be said kind of manager.

Career Prospects for fresh MBA grads:

Considering the fact that MBA offers a number of specialisations, the job prospects for MBA students are as diverse as the specialisation they choose. Gone are the days when an MBA in Marketing meant that only Marketing Manager positions were ideal for a fresh grad. With businesses themselves looking to diversify outward and inward, the number of newer positions that are being created are virtually endless (in a matter of speaking). The fresh MBA grad today has a plethora of career prospects based on his/her individual specialization and interest.

MBA in Finance: Many MBA students opt for a specialisation in finance these days, simply because of the number of job opportunities this particular specialisation opens up.

Considering that a finance background is required in almost all functions of a business process, like Taxation, Planning, Auditing, Allocation, Marketing Budget, Valuation, International Finance and Financial Statement Reporting and Analysis, the career prospects for a fresh MBA grad are pretty widespread.

The job titles and descriptions are also quite interesting and challenging. Some of the job designations open to MBAs include, Financial Managers, Analysts (in banks and brokerage houses among others), Risk and Insurance Management (in Non-banking Financial Companies and Insurance majors), Investment Banking Associates and Managers (across investment banking firms).

The challenges in the roles faced are also equally different. Says Jatin Vaidya, an investment banking associate, “the challenges we face in an ever evolving, dynamic and fast growing world economic market is really something that excites me. Not only do I have to take stock and keep an eye on commodity and stock markets in India, but with my firm having several international clientele, I have to take an active interest in world markets as well. And because of this, no two days are ever the same!”

MBA in Marketing: Marketing as a function is an essential business process that straddles both communication and sales. An MBA in Marketing therefore needs to possess both a flair for communication as well the aptitude and flair for sales. An MBA in marketing can open doors in both advertising and every allied field of the same as also in corporates with a focus on developing and executing strategy that will affect the bottomline of the company.

The positions available to an MBA in marketing include Client Servicing Executives/Managers in both Advertising and Public Relations, Marketing/Sales Managers in companies across the board, Marketing Strategy Consultants and professionals in firms that research and consult with large scale multinational corporations.

Says Kimberly Athaide, a marketing manager with a fast growing beverage company, “creativity and numbers live in harmony as two vital cogs of my job. If one day is about coordinating with my advertising agency about our latest ad campaign, the next is about strategising about distribution and reach with wholesalers, so that our products are placed and priced competitively vis-a-vis our competitors. Like I said, it is both about numbers and creativity in equal measure…”

MBA in HR: No business can ever run successfully with a dissatisfied staff. An HR MBA equips individuals to better connect with their personnel on matters of morale, remuneration, work ethics, policies and organizational hierarchy.

Job titles in this space can vary from an HR executive to a Chief Motivational Officer (a concept popularised in several tech companies and startups). The challenges facing a fresh grad are complex as HR is about dealing with people and complex relationships within the purvey and framework of a professional set up.

Says Roshi Ahluwalia, an HR officer with a Hotel chain, “my job involves solving, in a mutually beneficial manner, the problems and issues faced by different cadres of people. From day labourers to managers and from chefs to bell boys, I’m the one point of contact for practically everyone who works here. What makes my job satisfying is that I make an impact on people’s lives in a positive manner.”

MBA in Logistics and Operations: An important function of any business is in the maintenance and upkeep of a supply chain. Logistics and operations are vital across several lines of business, and an MBA in this specialisation prepares one for the challenges faced in this critical function. 

Job titles and responsibilities vary in this field and growth is based on performance and skills shown. Companies have known to have Presidents and Vice Presidents (Operations), demonstrating the vital nature of this function to the success of a business.

MBA in IT: There is absolutely no doubt that Information Technology has revolutionised the way one does business. With data and processes now run singlehandedly by smarter computers, an MBA in IT enables a fresh grad to contribute in a positive manner to the efficacy and maximization of IT resources for the stability and growth of a company.

With this degree under one’s belt the glass ceiling is CIO (Chief Information Officer) which in tech companies and several financial majors is seen as on par with the big three job titles i.e. CEO (Chief Executive Officer), CFO (Chief Financial Officer) and COO (Chief Operating Officer).

MBA in Retail: With Retail emerging as one of the strongest sectors in the past decade, a specialisation in the business of retail is seen by many as the next big post graduate degree to have. An MBA in Retail isn’t just about procurement and dispersal of stock, it is in fact a science and an art, in so much as there are several facets to retail. Planning a retail experience is the buzzword in the industry and Retail Management equips a grad to do just that.

Job titles in the ambit of an MBA in Retail include Visual Merchandiser, Store and Retail Manager, Retail Buyers/Merchandisers, Experience Creation Executives, Logistics and Warehouse Managers, Supply Chain Executives/Managers and so forth. 

MBA: Part Time or Full Time, what should your choice be?

While it is important to make up one’s mind about the subject matter one is interested in, the reputation of the institution one is enrolling in, the faculty the institute offers, job prospects and industry perception of the institution etc. One must also ascertain whether they want to do a full time MBA or a part time (executive) MBA. Executive MBA programmes are now being offered by almost all institutions today. Are they for everyone? What are the major differences between the two? And most importantly what should one choose?

The answer to these questions lies in first understanding the nature of the two programmes offered. Some of the salient features of both types of MBA are listed below.

Part Time MBA	Full Time MBA
Can be pursued while holding a steady job. Hence it is also called an Executive MBA.	Is an extensive, exhaustive course that does not allow a student to pursue a job while pursuing the course.
Classes are often conducted in the evenings with a more rigorous lecture schedule on the weekends in order to accommodate working students schedule.	Classes are conducted throughout the day, like any other post graduate course, with one weekly off. Lectures are normally spaced out in order to give students the time to prepare for projects, assignments and presentations.
Peer to peer learning is a lot higher in the Executive MBA, considering that most students bring with them certain learnings gleaned from their day jobs which are then shared amongst peers.	Peer to peer learning is present, but not as high as that in an Executive MBA, considering that most students are freshers and inexperienced in the ways of corporate life.
Greater emphasis is on re-learning and fine tuning existing skill sets in order to forward one’s career.	Greater emphasis is on understanding business and acquiring or determining one’s skill sets in order to secure a job and begin one’s career.
The fee structure of a part time MBA is more flexible and structured in order to suit the paying capability of the student. It is generally lower than that of a full time MBA.	Fees are generally higher than a part time MBA simply because of the time investment of the faculty, and the fact that is a postgraduate degree.

Advantages of Part Time MBA:

Saves on time: A part time MBA is generally a short term course where a student isn’t expected to invest a lot of his working time. Considering that the curriculum is tailored to suit the time schedule of a working professional, a part time MBA is a time effective option.

Cheaper than a Full Time MBA: Cost is an important consideration when planning a postgraduate course. Another plus of the part time MBA is that is significantly cheaper than the full time variant.

Real world experience: Working professionals come from the ‘real’ world, in the sense that they are already exposed to the realities of business. A part time MBA focuses on enhancing that real world experience and helps the working student to tackle these situations better.

Great tool in income enhancement: Most executive MBA students take up this option simply to forward their careers. And according to the data collected for a 2010 peer-reviewed study published in the Journal of Education for Business, Mark Johnston & Keith Whittingham, found that part-time MBA graduates achieved a median post-MBA pay raise at graduation of 41% over their pre-MBA pay, and by the fifth year post-MBA their pay had gone up another 56%.

Full Time MBA: Advantages

Exhaustive Curriculum: Compared to the short duration of the Executive MBA, a full time MBA with its curriculum spread out over two years affords students the chance to study the course material, in-depth and with greater focus.

Job Assistance: Most institutions of repute have promising candidates picked off campus thanks to the job cells and on campus interviews.

Preferred by recruiters: Whether it is a matter of general perception or there’s any truth to it is debatable, but on a whole, students who pursue a full time MBA programme are looked at in a more favourable light vis-a-vis their Executive MBA counterparts when it comes to interviews.

Better Faculty: On an average, a full time MBA course has a better balance of theoretical and industry related faculty. This gives full time MBA students a better balance of real world and theoretical exposure.

Based on the above comparisons, your conundrum about full or part time MBA should be an easy one to navigate through.

Sources:

http://www.blog.epravesh.com/?p=726

http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2012-04-18/full-time-or-part-time-mba-a-primer

http://www.forbes.com/sites/ronaldyeaple/2012/06/04/does-it-pay-to-earn-a-part-time-mba/

Choosing the best course to fit your career goals.

Education in the modern era is an ever evolving entity. With more and more courses on offer, it is never too late to update oneself and take up a course that will help one further one’s career in the long run.

A Masters in BusinessAdministration (MBA) degree is a great way to gain a holistic understanding of business and explore the possibilities the arena has to offer.

That being said however, one must remember that an even an MBA today isn’t a generic, broad based course, it is for all intents and purposes a course designed to go into far reaching specifics of almost every conceivable ‘specializationary’ niche a business may have. Therefore one must thoroughly research, evaluate and then and only then decide the course, the institution and the specialisation they want to opt for.

Educate your way to success!

The following is a comprehensive list of things one needs to do before deciding the course they want to take up.

1. Always choose an institute of repute: The reputation of an MBA institution should be one’s prime consideration when choosing an institution to pursue the course from. While this seems like common sense advice, it needs to be followed to a tee. Always check the credentials, the faculty’s reputation, the list of courses and co-curricular activities offered and the perception of the institution in the market. A good institution will always have an excellent placement cell, critical for a student hoping to be placed off campus.

2. Full time or Part Time? A new trend is the emergence of part time MBA as a viable and sensible bet for those who want to ‘earn while they learn’. Most of the premier institutions in thecountry offer a part time MBA these days. The question though is more about the flexibility of the curriculum, as against the ‘full student experience’. Remember, the primary target audience for Part time MBA is working professionals who seek to upgrade their skill set and knowledge base.

3. Getting the right focus: Richard Branson admits that he knew he wanted to be an entrepreneur at a very early age, as do many successful businesspeople in every sector of the economy. Some people, it seems, know what they want to do almost from a young age and cannot wait to start doing it. If you know your strengths, whether it be in entrepreneurship, finance or general management, and more importantly, you want to build on them, doing an MBA is an excellent means of achieving your goal.

4. Return on Investment: Let’s face it, an MBA is a far expensive course and calculating one’s return on investment is critical. How to enhance the return on investment of an MBA is the million-dollar question among most MBA students. Fortunately, the return on investment is indeed rapid for the vast majority of graduates, with the average return being three to six years. An MBA graduate is more likely to see advancement in both career prospects and remuneration almost twice as fast of a non-MBA.

5. Faculty matters: Once you’ve decided on an MBA programme you should look into the background of its faculty. Good-quality education depends primarily on the calibre of the university’s faculty members. Most top business schools boast a ‘team’ of world-renowned professors with diverse interests and expertise. Their faculty is very much a part of the real-life business world and will bring a range of important and useful topics to the classroom – from accounting to strategic management. Visiting the websites and accessing the faculty section of the website should bring to light the profiles of both the visiting and permanent faculty.

Following these easy steps will enable you have a better understanding of the kind of college, course and career prospects you can have.

So why should an MBA be your dream?

There used to be a time, when an MBA was considered an all access pass to the upper echelons of corporate management. An MBA degree was one’s passport to the big leagues. Irrespective of whether one graduated in Marketing or Finance, an MBA degree was thought to be an infallible mark of a person’s competence and finesse in all aspects of a particular business. The situation though is rapidly changing. Students themselves today realise the importance of aptitude and attitude and have wisened up to the need to seriously self-evaluate before taking up an MBA course. Industry insiders and corporate houses in turn now scrutinise candidates and evaluate them based on their qualifications and whether or not they fit the job description to a tee.

MBA: Changing trends and the need for self-assessment

Like any good educational course, an MBA today can be availed of in the sphere of interest of a student. With courses like MBA in Retail, Technology and e-commerce available, the once broad based curriculum of the course in itself has gotten modified into an intensive, super specialisation mode. Students now are faced with the problem of plenty. This also leads to the rise of the need to self-assess one’s aptitude, seek advice and only then pick a course of one’s choice.

Says Bennett Nathan, a first year student at a reputed college in Chennai, “Passion and practicality are two different things, sometimes conflicting and almost always polar opposites. I pursued an MBA in Retail Management, simply because I was always interested in the segment. My passion and my profession happily coincided, but that needn’t always be the case. It took me several months and advice from knowledgeable people to make up my mind about this course.”  

Self assessment is the process of discovering one’s strengths and playing to them. One needs remember that passion and practicality aside, there is an important factor of market demand that needs to be considered. A frank and open discussion with one’s parents is a good first step in deciding the course of action. A session with a guidance counselor, post an aptitude test is also important, as it helps determine in a practical, scientific manner, one’s interests and where they may fit in the wider job scene as it were. Peers, friends and seniors also form an important support system when analysing one’s strengths and figuring out one’s next steps.

Why should one consider an MBA?

If a rise in pay or a good first pay cheque is one’s only consideration, an MBA might not be up that person’s alley. Consider this, just because the army instills discipline and a strong work ethic, one doesn’t abandon one’s life and enlist, does one? By the same logic, simple career advancement or monetary gains are a very poor motivator towards taking up a course that is meant to mould one into the future leader of the business or sector one majors in. One must consider the following as the ‘right’ reasons to take up an MBA.

MBA colleges

1. A holistic perspective of the business world:

Remember, irrespective of one’s specialisation, an MBA gives a student a unique insight into the operationalworkings of a business. This is vital as it gives an MBA student a great advantage, considering that they are made intimate with workings and analysis of an entire business sector.

2. Better consolidated business network

The advantage of doing an MBA is further enhanced by the fact that one’s batch-mates and friends will soon disperse across industries and companies and keeping in touch with them is an important networking tool, to further one’s career and to be introduced into the upper echelons of corporate hierarchy.

3. New skill and knowledge acquisition

An MBA enables an individual to keep their eyes and ears open in the pursuit of acquiring new skills and knowledge. The way the course is fashioned, it simply acclimatises a person to keeping an open mind towards new processes, new ways of doing things and constantly upgrading themselves. Evolution is key, never forget it.

References:

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/careers/business-education/mbas-need-career-guidance-too/article9687988/

http://www.mastersportal.eu/articles/340/5-very-good-reasons-to-do-an-mba.html