What Can an MBA Do for Your Career?

Sir Ken Robinson makes an entertaining and profoundly moving case for creating an education system that nurtures (rather than undermines) creativity.

According to me as normal employee you may want to gain a position of greater responsibility in your current field. Or you may want to switch from one area of business to another from marketing or sales to like a strategic planning or finance one, OR for that matter you could be looking to change your career path altogether. Using an MBA to switch career focus is a typical strategy. Many people seek a management position after acquiring certain expertise in a different field altogether in various industries because they want to shift to a management position in their area. An MBA can help you make a major break or leap in your career path with a huge leap in income.

 An MBA signals a prospective employer who's got the knowledge and skills a demanding job requires, as well as persistence, energy, and even time management skills to handle it.

An MBA can only support a person's skill set if s/he is ready to imbibe the concepts and learn how to apply them well. Otherwise it'll be just like a doctor who hates surgery or an engineer who despises dirty hands.

To me as a professor, it is more about obtaining specific management training and expertise is the main reason for pursuing an MBA, Although the MBA is a general management degree, most programs provide opportunities to study one or more areas in greater depth.

Like in the case of Investment bankers, where they typically concentrate on finance in their MBAs, for instance.

But then if you have a very singular focus on a particular field, you may want to consider some alternatives such as a specialized master's program, course work as a non degree student, or non university based courses, seminars, and workshops.

But then if you need to learn something about a few specific topics, then consider an executive education program, which is typically conducted as workshops or seminars lasting from a few hours to several days, an executive education program may provide the training that you need.

MBAs generally have higher average salaries than workers with similar work experience who hold only a bachelor's degree. But then the road to this higher salary has a cost. While you're working on your degree, you may need to leave your job, so say goodbye to your full time paycheck for a couple of years, With the hefty amount of time you'll have to devote to classes, studying, and related activities, you won't have much time or energy left over for personal, family, or leisure activities.

Your M.B.A. is an investment in yourself, and as with any investment, you need to decide whether the potential return is worth the time and money spent. The M.B.A. degree does not guarantee a fabulous job at a fabulous salary. When you look at placement and salary reports from schools or in the media remember that half of the salaries fall below the average, and that salaries are influenced by local conditions.

Salaries tend to be higher in areas with high living costs and lower where it's cheaper to live. An M.B.A. grad's salary is also influenced by his or her salary profile prior to entering the program. And one will have real good pay package after this....