Can MBA really help in switching careers?

Table 1 depicts the employment sectors in which MBA candidate respondents are currently employed.

Table 1: Current Employment Sectors of MBA respondents – Worldwide (expressed as a percentage)

Source: 2007 QS TopMBA.com Applicant Survey

As reviewed in the above table, 18 pc of respondents to this survey listed ‘other’ as their current field of employment. What’s interesting is that many professionals not conventionally grouped under the commerce field are taking up MBA studies. Some doctors and lawyers, for example, are now turning to business education to improve career prospects and propel them in a new direction.

As a result of increasing interest in MBAs among non-businesspeople, progressive schools have begun combining postgraduate degrees with the MBA. Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem has developed a five-year program in which students can earn a joint MD/MBA degree. McGill University, in Canada, offers a joint MBA/Law degree program designed ‘for those students who are interested in both the legal and administrative aspects of business. It gives them the opportunity to prepare themselves for careers in both private and public enterprises, government service, large corporations, and as management consultants.’

An MBA is seen as the perfect way forward by many looking to change career, and 34% of MBA applicants surveyed reported ‘career change’ as their leading motivation to undertake an MBA, according to the 2007 QS TopMBA.com Applicant Survey expressed in Table 2. In some regions like North America, almost 60% of MBA candidates are turning to MBA education in their quest for a new career.

Table 2: Reasons for MBA – Worldwide (expressed as percentage)

Source: 2007 QS TopMBA.com Applicant Survey

So can business school really give you all the necessary skills to succeed in a completely new realm of work?
Unlike other Masters courses that may provide the graduate with a theoretical understanding of a particular topic, like history, for example, the MBA prepares the graduate for the ‘real’ business world through practical applications like case studies that teach the student all aspects of running a business. Skills learned in MBA courses are therefore far more transferable to the business world than those one may learn in other Masters courses.

“A vast majority of our hires have MBAs,” explains Georgia Foley, Recruitment Manager at AT Kearney. “We certainly have a preference for candidates with MBAs, as they offer a passion for learning, academic and communication abilities and a strong entrepreneurial spirit. They also have energy, rigour and a breadth of understanding of general management principles.”

If you’re a new MBA without much applicable experience in the sector in which you intend to work, graduate programs may be your answer. Sony Europe, for instance, runs the European Graduate Program which takes on new MBAs. Tom Verbeke, HR Manager of Sony Europe, says, “we are looking for internationally minded, highly-skilled and intelligent people that want to take on a development course in order to complement their business education (MBA) with the experience of working in different cultures, different organizations and in different functions, supported by on-the-job and off-the-job development initiatives, aimed at fully developing highly-talented students to later take on a key role within the Sony organization.”

When it just might not work

Your choice of field, however, may work against you if you choose an area typically requiring extensive experience that you just don’t have. Consultancy, for example, is one field known for demanding its undertakers gain prior work experience. Damir Latte, Recruitment Consultant at Global Workplace (a specialist in Management Consultancy) says, “candidates for consultancy roles ideally need 3 to 5 years relevant work experience. For those with none or very little relevant experience, consultancy positions are out of the question; however, if they are good they could be considered for analyst roles.”

Of course, this all depends on your career intentions. If you’re a chef trying to become an account and lack exceptional numerical proficiency, it may take more than an MBA to put you in the right direction. All in all, it takes time to evaluate your options and research the enormous range of careers out there. If you’re a lawyer taking an MBA to become a management consultant, business education would probably provide you with the practical skills to accompany the ‘softer’ skills learned in the law realm.

Source: www.TopMBA.com