When we dig deep into the minds of students and the aspiring candidates for master’s education, we found a lot of confusion about career options and how they link it to the growth paths of those careers. Many also ponder about this issue as students from almost all of the disciplines are pursuing a management degree/program.

Ten years back, among those who were pursuing management course, arts and fashion students were taken as shockers. Back then the most popular career paths were medicine & engineering. MBA was an emergent career stream and people were opening towards the professional careers.  Within a decade, it became a preferred program for higher studies and slowly it was seen as a fad.

But there remains so much of confusion about it. And before we get on to the careers where MBA helps an individual in growth & sustenance it is important to learn why & how a management degree brings the difference.

The single reason is that MBA is not a classic degree with lot of lectures and one examination. It is a program which is equally backed with theoretical and practical knowledge. It has forever been positioned as one which prepares a candidate for the corporate world. Helps one practice the challenges, understand the cultural differences and teaches a lot about group dynamics.

An MBA Program certainly helps a student in putting up the Thinking Caps. It broadens the horizons and helps in thinking with a wider perspective. Also, the management programs are designed in such a way that it provides overall understanding of the industry, job, consumer behaviors, finances etc – it touches all the chords of corporate lives and business. And that is how it helps one attain the credentials which are valuable and useful in different areas of business. It also helps them in learning cross-functional management.

Before we explore the careers where MBA works as an accelerator, less at have a glance at the skill-sets which one attains in a management program and which are useful in almost every chore of work & life. To list a few:

• Team Skills
• Personal Grooming
• Business Learning & Career Counseling
• Real time exposure- to businesses & markets
• General Management
• Analytical Ability
• Presentation & Soft-skills

Lately it is been recognized that management education helps in almost all the streams of business across functions – be it finance, marketing, consumers or people. If we talk about the Careers where MBA helps in growth there will be several, so we will talk in relevance to the industry segments & job profiles.

Global Exposure:

A Management Program is developed with a global perspective of how business work worldwide. The pedagogy of an MBA programs offers to polish & improvise the skill-set of an individual. The good b-schools do not limit the exposure opportunities but in fact those are made a part of the program itself through the assignments and internships.  There are many universities & B-schools which offer Exchange Programs as a part of the 2 year program.

Globally an MBA helps in careers like Investment Banking, Travel & Tourism Management, Fashion and Hospitality as well.

Growth Perspective:

MBA Program also helps the working executives in planning a growth path for their existing careers. Many a times, qualifications are set as benchmarks for certain professional positions – be it the private or the government sector. MBA opens the doors for study and growth for those who for some reason couldn’t complete the masters program in life which is very much a requisite for certain promotions & positions.

A Management degree brings lot of hope for such candidates. The Executive MBA Programs are now offered in convenient course structures. There are evening classes, online classes, weekly classes and what not. All this makes studying again lot easier and in turn happy learners.

Majorly this could be seen in Government Sectors, In Education and those who are into lifestyle oriented businesses – like fashion, beauty, art etc – where is talent is already available but a management programs helps with the business cap.

Entrepreneurial Skill-set:

There is a lot of debate about whether an MBA helps in entrepreneurship or not. One school of thought says it is not but most of them believe that MBA has got the right ingredients which help one think wider with a vision. It gives way to analytical thinking and consumer perspective and that in turn helps in development of entrepreneurial skill-set.

The Case Methodology @ IBS bring up the real time business stories, subjects like business strategy coupled with group studies and class discussions all work as the value addition. Apart from the practical knowledge based curriculum, a management program equips the candidates with life & behavioral skill sets which are for a lifetime. Leadership, Negotiations, Communication skills are all the soft-skills which are forever required and help in all the careers.

The Executive Programs offered now a days, help the working professionals is attaining further education and add value to their qualifications and skill-sets. These programs are designed keeping the job hours in mind so that the class schedules are convenient.  Be it the regular MBA or the executive programs – these also help the learners thin in lines of their dreams by giving the practical exposure and how they could be turned into reality.

MBA fosters the very idea of Parallel path and that is why today we see lot of entrepreneurial ventures been coming out of the passion or hobby which one wanted to pursue.

To conclude, here is a smart advice, you will find so many programs, online courses which promise the similar kind of learning experience like a regular MBA Program. Beware of the courses –as there is absolutely no match of a regular management degree from a B-school. The approach, the faculties, the assignments and projects – everything real time is way different from those sessions and test we do online. Also a B-school atmosphere teaches a lot about cross-cultural functioning, networking and real-time learning with live problems and live solutions.

Lastly, an MBA certainly accelerates your career – be it any but before you go for it you must think about the happiness quotient and not just the hefty salary packages and urbane lifestyle. People usually assume this as a ticket to metro’s and abroad but the purpose shall be happiness and work satisfaction which one shall derive from this education.