Career Options after MBA

Overview

The popularity of the Master of Business Administration (MBA) post-graduation program among the millennial youth is best explained by the beckoning world of opportunity that awaits them. Career options after MBA offer a vast canvas to chart a suitable path and attain business leadership in enterprises in India and abroad. The program was first introduced at the turn of the 20th century in the USA. It arrived in India in 1954, when the Indian Institute of Business Welfare and Social Management, Kolkata, started offering management education. Four other Indian universities quickly followed suit. India emerged as the hub of management education only in the nineteen sixties when the Indian Institute of Management Calcutta was established in 1961, followed by many more over the next few years. 

Today, more than 2500 management programs are offered worldwide, making it the most popular professional degree. An excellent path driving the MBA career options is determined by students excelling in Communication Skills and Language Proficiency. Participants are expected to grab challenges in business leadership, honed through MBA programs that have evolved to keep pace with the time demands. How the MBA program sharpens the skills of the youth pursuing a suitable specialization leads to the cardinal question – what is an MBA?

What is an MBA Program?

The Master of Business Administration (MBA) is a postgraduate qualification that constantly delivers value by enhancing the skills needed for facing leadership challenges in the current demanding business world. It is an internationally recognized degree essential to pursue the best career after an MBA in Business and Management in the Public Sector, Government, Private Industry and other competence areas. 

By pursuing the course, you are expected to enhance your innate talents comprising a flair for Communication, Problem Solving, Analytical Thinking, Mathematical expertise, and above all, an eye for detail. The MBA program provides the nursing ground for research-oriented Management, focused on specific goals under pressure, and understanding the nuances of business administration and operations. An aspiring student from any background, including Science, Commerce, and Humanities, is free to pursue the program in a business school of your choice. The full-time MBA of two years is the most popular among aspirants both in India and abroad.  The program suits both the fresh graduates and those with a few years of working experience. A manager is expected to lead a group of professionals. The skills required for pursuing a full-time MBA are summarized below:

 Most of the business schools follow a distinctive pattern in management education, leading to an MBA. The core curriculum subjects include economics, accounting, marketing, and operations. Added elective courses are the key to the areas of specialization towards achieving your personal and professional goals. The full-time MBA program includes theory classes, practical projects, and internships with reputed organizations for real-life experience while staying on the school campus during the two years of transformation. The internship often leads to concrete career options after MBA.

However, a one-year program is gaining wide acceptance among working professionals, who cannot dedicate longer periods amid their careers. The part-time Executive Master of Business Administration (EMBA) is tailored for professionals with years of managerial experience compared to traditional students. 

What are the compelling reasons for pursuing an MBA program?

Most young, aspiring, ambitious students fancy joining an MBA program after completing the minimum graduation requirement in any discipline. They look out for business schools to open a gateway of job opportunities for MBA graduates. The primary reasons motivating the students and professionals alike are summarized in the following:

• Career Advancement: The principal reason for joining an MBA program is to aim for the next level in your career progression. Most quality business schools welcome candidates with some amount of managerial experience in the business and industry world. The MBA program provides the necessary firepower and business skills to assume the roles in management leadership armed with the toolkit to overcome emergent challenges with strategic thinking abilities. 
• Create a Network: An important lesson one learns while pursuing the MBA is who you know is equally important as what you know. The program affords an introduction to various people beginning from the professors, faculty, and students with varied backgrounds, transcending geographical boundaries. The internship is integral to an MBA and the passport essential for entry into the hallowed portals of industries and organizations that interest you. Business schools often sponsor panels and mixers where you can meet lots of people from the business world and beyond. The Career Service Department provides the requisite impetus by hosting networking events where potential employers get introduced to the students to lay the foundation of an invaluable asset to help propel your career options after an MBA.
• Learn about Industry Functions: It suits the professional aiming to switch industries. The MBA is a treasure-trove of information to tap for the right impact as and when necessary. Switching from diverse industry functional areas like retail to energy becomes seamless with specific knowledge in energy policy and regulations. Similarly, switching from the IT Industry to Marketing is a song by adopting the right way of thinking learnt during the course. The specialized MBA is the instrument that helps bridge these gaps. 
• Increase Mobility: Many business schools are ranked based on an “International Mobility” metric, which essentially assesses the percentage of MBA graduates choosing a career in nations different from their origin. MBA graduates can smoothly assimilate into their adopted countries by identifying the potential employers and the lay of the land. It helps that the MBA is an internationally recognized qualification to facilitate settling in an unfamiliar city and country once the country-specific VISA regulations are sorted out. Thus, foreign nationals pursuing an MBA program here can look forward to career options in India after MBA.
• Enhanced Earning: The clinching argument favoring an MBA program is its potential to enhance your earnings manifold. One factor that weighs highly on the student’s minds before enrolling in the MBA program of choice is the B- School’s placement record. It remains one of the significant metrics to rank a B-School. Pursuing an MBA in a choice B-School in India and abroad is expensive. Considering it as an investment pays off throughout your career, whatever industry you choose to prosper in. 
• Kindle Entrepreneurship: Giving wings to entrepreneurial ideas is increasingly emerging into a real trend.  MBA program students choose to be entrepreneurs forsaking job opportunities for MBA graduates by using the knowledge gained in the MBA program as a launchpad for their businesses. Many B-Schools have joined the bandwagon, offering accelerator programs with specialized curriculum in entrepreneurship. It helps that they also sponsor startup competitions to nurture talent and add elements in electives to encourage the development of business ideas. The faculty is actively involved in launching startups with the assistance of other entrepreneurs sharing their experiences to build a business with a global reach. 

Requisites for Lucrative Job Opportunities for MBA Graduates

As you complete the undergraduate course and emerge from college, you must be contemplating an MBA program for all the reasons already enunciated. Your calling to seek job options after MBA in India and abroad is driven by your aspirations and ambitions for a business leadership role in the future. It is necessary to check out if you fit the bill for the criteria set by various B-Schools. 

The baseline requirements are similar for MBA candidates both in Indian B-schools and the top ones abroad. The prerequisite for the candidate is to possess an undergraduate degree in any discipline from a recognized or accredited university. Some of the critical criteria essential for MBA admission are:

• Most B-Schools fix the minimum score criterion in the undergraduate degree at 50%.
• It is best understood that the MBA program is conducted in English anywhere globally, including in China. Suppose you are looking for a B-School abroad. In that case, it is essential that you have a standardized English proficiency certificate, either from TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language) or IELTS (International English Language Testing System). The certificate must not be more than three years old to muster validity.
• Depending on the B-School’s location, you are expected to have a valid score in the entrance tests specific for the location and the country. Accordingly, the GRE (Graduate Record Examination) and the GMAT (Graduate Management Admission Test) is essential if you pursue your full-time MBA abroad. 
• The top-ranked Indian B-Schools look for valid scores with cut-off points in many national and state-level admission tests, including CAT, XAT, CMAT, NMAT, ATMA, SNAP, etc. 
• A fresh graduate is eligible for admission to MBA in India and abroad. Still, often candidates with a minimum of two years or more managerial experience are preferred over the fresher. Many top international B-Schools specify the criterion of two-year work experience as mandatory. 

How does the right Business School impact career options after MBA?

The MBA is the most popular program offered anywhere in the world at present. Starting from a single institution offering management education in India in 1954, there are roughly 5200 institutions in India offering management education today. Of these, the prime is the 20 IIMs set up in different cities across the country. Not all B-Schools can dish out the coveted degree valued by potential employers to help you embark upon fruitful career options after MBA. It is a tricky job to select the right B-School matching your credential as a future business leader. A good option is to check the annual rankings determined by reputed agencies based on several assessment metrics. 

The QS (Quacquarelli Symonds) Global Rankings is a leading provider of services in the higher education sector, motivating people to realize their potential through education-driven career development and aiding international mobility. They provide insight into different aspects of education anywhere globally, making it the most widely accepted rankings globally. 

In the Indian context, their counterpart is the NIRF (National Institutional Ranking Framework) adopted by the Ministry of Human Resources and Development, Government of India, to rank higher education institutes. It is a good measure to rely upon the rankings from these two agencies to pick the top B-Schools here and abroad. Accordingly, the following are the latest rankings for the students to fancy their chances in them. 

The above list is only indicative, as it is confined to the top ten among the hundreds of B-Schools globally, which provide the passport to rewarding career options after an MBA. The potential employers prize an MBA graduate from any of the top B-Schools with handsome placement offers. 

Cost of Career Options after MBA

The coveted MBA degree is a dream-come-true for many millennial youths aspiring to leadership positions in business and industry, not to mention launching an entrepreneurial venture on their own. But the course is expensive to pursue, whether in India or abroad. The following grids provide the necessary input for the cost involved in the top-ranked foreign and Indian B-Schools. 

Source: https://www.topmba.com/mba-rankings/full-time-mba-rankings-global/top-10-mba-programs-world-2021

 The following infographic depicts the percentages of B-Schools in the separate fee structures for the student’s knowledge. 

Most students are compelled to cobble up funds from various sources combining scholarships, loans, savings, etc., as a way to fund the expensive MBA program. Some of the most common ways to fund your MBA program in the B-School of your choice are:

• Scholarship: B-Schools and universities offering MBA provide for merit-cum-means scholarship. The primary factor considered for the merit scholarship is the CAT/GMAT ranking and the score in the undergraduate studies. On the other hand, the need-based scholarship checks upon your background, your financial status, and what your potential contribution to the MBA ecosystem may be. There is a myriad of scholarships available to the student to tap for sourcing funds. While some specific courses attract industry scholarships, alumni endowments also chip in with their brand of scholarships.  You must seek a scholarship in tandem with the application process for a fruitful outcome.
• Loans: Commercial banks are more than willing to extend credit facilities to applicants who have secured admission in the MBA course in a B-School of repute. The terms are generous with minimal interest charged and a suitable moratorium before the repayment commences. It is far more convenient to approach banks for the loan than tapping family and friends for the necessary funds for the pursuit of your dream MBA. 
• Savings: Not every student is fortunate enough to fund the MBA program through savings. However, professionals who have been in the industry before seeking to enrich themselves through a suitable MBA may be able to tap the nest egg built up over the years. However, considering the overall cost of the program coming to a few Lac, it is a tall order. In any case, savings can supplement the incidental expenses during the program tenure. 
• Employer Sponsorship: For the professional, the MBA program is designed to deliver value to your resume and employer. It is not a bad idea to approach your employer for sponsorship to fund the MBA study. In return, the employer will expect the value of loyalty for a fixed period after MBA graduation. 

It is sensible to start early by tapping various sources of funding for your MBA study, including the office of the targeted B-School that often assists prospective students with various ideas to raise funds. 

Does B-School accreditation help launch career options after MBA?

The accreditation of your chosen B-School often determines its standing in the employment market. Accreditation from a reputed organization is a painstaking process with a rigorous evaluation of the B-School’s students, faculty, teaching, and services, among other things. Most B-Schools covet three of the most prestigious international accreditation for the MBA program from AACSB, AMBA, and EQUIS. It does not preclude the B-School from seeking accreditation from other institutions, including domestic bodies. However, the MBA program listing refers to the three international accreditations as a mark of quality assurance. It is thus sensible for the student to ascertain from the targeted B-School about their accreditation status. 

From the student’s point of view, an international accreditation guarantees that the pursued MBA program is world-class and is sure to provide options for the best career after MBA. As for the employer, a candidate with the credential of an international accredited MBA has received quality management education at par with the best in the world. The candidate they are hiring is fully conversant with the latest and relevant skill sets and equipped to thrive in the rapidly changing business environment. Needless to say, internationally accredited B-Schools score over others in terms of reputation and student placement. 

• AMBA Accreditation: The Association of MBA certifies B-School programs on the primary parameters comprising quality of faculty, students, curriculum, interactions, and strategy. It bridges the relationship between the student and the school on the one hand and the MBA graduates and the employers on the other hand. The Indian B-Schools accredited to AMBA are:

• AACSB Accreditation: The Association to Advance Collegiate School of Business has been in existence since 1916. It is the world’s longest-standing professional accreditation body for management education, working out of both the USA and Singapore. It boasts of about 756 management institutes globally under its fold and 186 more institutes for accounting programs. The Indian B-Schools accredited to the AACSB are:

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