In recent times, an MBA degree has become imperative for aspiring managers to ensure a promising career in the growing competitive and demanding market. For students having career goals for MBA opens them up to a myriad of job opportunities that sometimes goes beyond the technical skills and training of an individual and comes as essential to power up your self-confidence, communications, and decision-making skills. Such all-around growth possibilities have made MBA one of the most prestigious and coveted post-graduate programs recently that is accredited globally. 

However, it is essential to note that having just an MBA can prove to be futile in terms of bringing value into your career. It’s necessary to set career goals before pursuing the degree since different purposes can come with its distinct predefined path and honing different skills. With the right set goal, the degree can help you attain credibility in the market, keeping you aware of the relevant industry trends and discerning tasks based on priority. A neat example can be that of: 

If there are two candidates for the role of a product manager, each with their own experience and MBA degree, the employer will go with the candidate having a deeper understanding of the company’s role, products and relevance in the current market. It would be best if you had well-researched, informative solutions or product improvements that can give an edge to the enterprise to that over its competitors in the market.

Such exposure can only come to a candidate when the scope of a job opportunity comes well within their strengths, technical skills, and industry experience. Unlike popular belief, not every MBA degree holder is deemed fit to be a product manager in large corporations, especially when it wasn’t something you’d prepared to be right from the beginning. 

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What’s in it for you?

For a candidate setting MBA career goals and labeling them as short-term and long-term based on its relevance, it helps candidates to attain those one at a time. People often perceive the MBA degree as an instrument to multiply salaries into one’s career, but in reality, it brings a lot more responsibilities in terms of understanding how businesses work in the ever-changing market. The moment you set your own goals, you’re handpicking your industry (needless to say its challenges and rewards). 

An example of the same can be starting as a fresher in management consulting and learning from client engagement strategies to network and devise custom-strategies that can help aspiring students and clients leverage most of the financial services industry in value, investment, and learning. 

An MBA graduate gets better notice from the employers as compared to others. It helps in setting oneself apart from the crowd. The employers perceives the MBA graduates to be having the robust understanding of the business and the specialization they must have studied that would add value to the company. Additionally, MBA professionals gets better compensation and are considered to be eligible for higher job roles.

Read: Career Options for MBA

Here are some of the long-term benefits of pursuing an MBA in terms of acquiring career goals:

How MBA Helps You Achieving Career Goals

1. Build advanced, robust management skills

It is the primary objective of every MBA professional to ensure proper skills development in an organization to keep it up to the industry standards.

Therefore, without adequate competence, you won’t be able to deliver your best in your role: 

1. Develop essential leadership and management skills
2. Devise, promote, and sell your products and services
3. Connect and build networks for successful partnerships and collaborations
4. Provide helpful solutions during the crisis, essential to the company’s revival
5. Ensuring constant revenue flow and maintaining brand reputation
6. Collate and curate targeted reports 
7. Hiring talent and provide employee skill growth.
8. Strategy thinking that helps the company to remain in profits 
9. Problem- solving aids the businesses in troubleshooting any risk that may have arisen due to market reaction, lack of negligence or any other factors.
10. Business understanding on a wider and deeper level, that is useful in keeping the business and its employees aware of the vision and why a certain is being done for what kind of impact to create.
11. Technical understanding

2. Choose from multiple specializations as per your goals

There are many new, vast MBA programs in numerous industries and focus areas that you can contribute, being an active member of the business world. Some of the most in-demand MBA spaces are:

Digital Finance and Banking: It is apt for bankers, finance experts, and enthusiasts with multiple overtones of Data Analysis, Statistics.

Finance and banking specialisation imparts the skills of financial literacy, analytical thinking,   budgeting, detail orientation, numeral literacy, accounting, investment, risk management, etc. 

So the question “How will pursuing an MBA program help you in achieving your career goals?” gets answered that how this specialization is in demand and plethora of opportunities it opens. It is a very in-demand field that employers are looking for. The annual  compensation for this specialization according to the market standards on average is 5.8 lakhs per annum and the could go up to 17.1 lakhs per annum (Source). This number could be higher guided by various factors such as skillsets, experience, location, etc.

Marketing: If you’re someone who has always dreamt of providing unique products/services to customers in the market, you can learn more about promoting products in real-time.

If the goal is to have a successful career, maintaining brands, yet be creative then marketing specialization is the answer to “ How will MBA help achieve goals?” 

Marketing specialization imparts the skills of data analysis, communication, technical understanding, project management, program management, creativity, etc. 

There are various roles available that marketing specialization opens the doors to, such as-

1. Marketing coordinator
2. Marketing Analyst
3. Brand Manager
4. Marketing Specialist
5. SEO Specialist
6. Content Specialist
7. PR Manager
8. Marketing Consultant

It is a highly rewarding career, the average pay for a marketing manager is 7.0 lakhs per annum. On average pay ranges from 2.4 lakhs per annum to 23.0 lakhs per annum (Source).

Entrepreneurship: Popular in the startup culture for its meaning.

This specialsition helps in imparting the skills to understanding and overcoming the challenges an organization may face. Leadership skills gets built and decision- making becomes a strong suit. The ability to identify the risk factors and strategy creation for mitigating those risk factors also gets an emphasis.

General Management: It is essential for building and maintaining a healthy business scenario online.

If the goal is to acquire a managerial position and handle overall management of the company’s ongoings and the recurrent question in the head is “ How will pursuing an MBA program help you in achieving your career goals?” then General Management is the answer.

This specialization imparts the skills of project management, other domains of business such as marketing, sales, finance, such as  the students gets to acquire the skills of financial management, marketing management, business management, etc.. Leader shop skills gets developed along with the knowledge of principles of business management, project management, etc.

IT Management: One of the most popular specializations currently as with newer technology comes innovative product ideas and data analysis and research. 

IT management brings technical expertise in the company. The organizations are looking for the experts who can help out in creative interesting products yet help out in troubleshooting any risks that could harm the business. If you get satisfaction by working technically and that is what brings you to your maximum potential then IT specialization is the answer for “How MBA will help you in achieving your career goals?”

The IT imparts the following skills-

1. Technical skills
2. Negotiation skills
3. Troubleshooting
4. Organizational 
5. Collaborative
6. Project Management

Some of the job opportunities one can procure after studying IT specialization are mentioned below-

1. IT Management
2. Business Analyst
3. Product Manager
4. Software engineer
5. IT Architect

Operations: Suitable for managers in charge of the production line and seamless working of all departments in an organization.

Operations is one of the most critical domain of any industry. Some of the skills that operations specialization  imparts are project management, time management, analytical, problem- solving, etc.

Human Resources: Completely focused on maintaining employees’ growth, the value in their work, team development, conflict resolution, and more. 

If the goal is to identify the people’s strengths and bring more productivity at the work place then human resources is the answer for “How MBA helps in achieving career goals?” 

Human resources impart the skills of screening candidates, interviewing, conflict resolution, learning and development, negotiation, leadership, communication, adaptability, etc.

On average a human resource manager procure the salary of 7.0 lakhs per annum, where the salary ranges from 3.0 to 18.0 lakhs per annum (Source). Experience, skills, location, etc. could lead to procure a higher compensation.

Consulting: Useful for candidates willing to have expertise across multiple industries and provide counsel to clients and companies to handle conflicts or problems.

3. Access Extensive Business Network

One of the most important aspects of having an MBA degree is the vast network opportunities it brings across several industries and helps you learn better about the business world. It may help you connect, reach out to global leaders, breakdown their working methodologies to learn, and adapt accordingly. You can also work closely with professionals around the world and contribute richly with your helpful insights to the issue at hand. 

The network of MBA students gets built due to many interactions and exposures they get. The students get a chance to interact with peers coming from diverse backgrounds, additionally the exposure to faculty, visiting faculties, site visits, internships, professional networks, etc. contributes to expanded network.

4. Building a Strategic Thinking Approach

For providing real-time solutions, an MBA degree would teach you to equip yourself for advanced decision-making abilities and get better at weighing numerous options for fixing a problem. 

Strategic thinking approach allows the professionals to approach any situation with logical thinking. The sub conscious mind engages during strategic thinkign and rather thinking in a haywire manner the approach of thinking in a systematic manner is followed.

Thinking strategically also helps in thinking creatively. The solutions that flows helps in making decisions that are considerate towards the people involved such as stakeholders, employees, and users.

MBA gives an opportunity to the students to read case studies and solve them by applying their theoretical knowledge into practical knowledge. Thereby contributing in developing strategic thinking.

Checkout: Best Online MBA Courses in India

5. Deeper Understanding of Businesses

The first thing that an MBA degree would help you learn is to have a broader understanding of business fundamentals that remain the same across industries and the industry-specific aspects of running an organization in the marketing, advertising, administration, finance, accounting, and other domains. 

In the first year of graduation, the students are required to study every domain that is  relevant to running a successful business such as finance, marketing, sales, operations, etc. Thus allowing the students to develop an understanding of the overall business aspects that contributes to a successful business.

6. Open To Promising Opportunities

For an industry fresher, MBA helps to have the much-needed head start to excel in their career by working entirely in crucial administrative and managerial roles in an enterprise. With years of experience, such candidates can gradually reach the top-most positions of the world’s most sought-after brands and corporations. 

The employers perceive the MBA graduates to be of competency  that is an asset to the company. Therefore the MBA graduates better recognition from their employers and are offered relatively higher compensation. 

The skill sets of the MBA graduates are recognizable and that is why they are a preferred choice for leadership positions. Moreover, the MBA is a criteria for most of the reputed companies that are a path towards a promising career.

7. Increasing Demand and High-Paying Career Switches

Estimated figures show that the demand for skillful, experienced MBA professionals will only grow in the coming times. Thus MBA professionals can have easy career switches because of the value the MBA degree holds and the extensive knowledge it provides. Compared to any other masters’ degree, MBA holders can find meaningful opportunities across various industries and even set up their very own businesses from scratch. 

Read more: MBA Salary in India

Conclusion

MBA is a ride way out of one’s comfort zone, only to find the perfect balance between chaos and control. While having a successful career for an MBA professional is tricky in its own way, but it sure makes the individual better aware of the dynamic market, the rigorous competition of the corporate world, and the need to cater to growing demands by the general mass. 

If you are keen on upgrading your career with an MBA Degree, upGrad is offering an MBA in Digital Finance & Banking in collaboration with the Jindal Global Business School and the Jindal School of Banking & Finance. The program has been designed to Future-oriented content suited for those working in or aspiring to work in finance across domains. Be a JGU alumnus and take advantage of continued engagement and networking with the world of academia, policy, and industry.