There are lots of things you can do over the years to build your career, including working hard, being proactive, knowing your goals, and more. However, one of the best ways to give your career a boost is to educate yourself.
In particular, it pays to complete a university degree that employers (and investors and lenders if you end up being self-employed) will view favorably. One great, all-round degree worth considering is an MBA.
Improve Job Prospects and Career Longevity
One of the first big benefits of studying an accredited online MBA degree or on-campus program is that doing so is sure to improve your job prospects and career longevity. These days, it’s more important than ever to have a degree, and an MBA shows companies that not only do you understand how businesses work (which is important no matter the industry), but also that you can commit to something, are adept at learning, and simply have more knowledge and experience than less qualified people.
With an MBA, you should find it much easier to land jobs, in particular the higher-ranking positions you’re after; plus you’re sure to earn more than unqualified colleagues too. In addition, people with an MBA degree tend to find their career longevity is better because, when times are tough, employers usually keep on their most qualified staff members.
The Chance to Network With Interesting People
Next, note that MBA degrees attract a wide variety of students, many of which may come from all around the globe, and from many different cultures and backgrounds. Due to this, when you join an MBA program, you’ll have the chance to network with all sorts of interesting and like-minded people, many of whom you wouldn’t have had the opportunity to meet otherwise.
Lots of MBA graduates find they come away from their studies with lifelong friends and business contacts who can go on to help them in all sorts of ways over the years. For instance, you could develop relationships with people who go on to become your partners, investors, clients or suppliers, or who act as your support system when you need a shoulder to cry on, someone to vent to, a person to brainstorm with, or require some other type of support.
Hone Helpful Personal Skills
Completing an MBA degree isn’t a walk in the park, and requires much commitment and hard work. It tends to challenge students to rapidly learn new things and put themselves outside their comfort zone. As a result of this, many graduates come away from their degree with numerous helpful personal skills they can then use throughout their careers, in various situations.
For example, you will no doubt hone your level of discipline, and your time-management, analysis, critical-thinking, problem-solving, creativity, and reading, research and comprehension skills during your studies. You will also have to develop excellent written, verbal, and body-language communication skills as you answer essay questions, take exams, present talks, complete practical assignments, intern at companies, and more.
Negotiation skills are also something which may be worked on, particularly in group assignments when you have to find ways to work effectively with multiple people, many of whom will probably have strong, dominant personalities and opinions. In addition, during an MBA program, graduates can become adept at using different types of computer programs, apps and other tech tools.
Prepare Yourself to Be an Entrepreneur
For many people, the main reason to complete an MBA program is learning more about businesses and how to develop and run them. If you want to be an entrepreneur at some point, an MBA degree can prepare you because you will learn about all the different topics business people have to be up on, such as sales, marketing, human resources, finance, accounting, customer service, using Big Data, and so on.
As well, studying an MBA will provide you with a good understanding of the bigger business picture, and how your current or future venture might fit into things. You will come away from your university time with clarity on how the global economy and trading markets work, what kinds of things affect them, and how and when.
You will end up with a good grasp on key topics like reporting, obtaining investment, managing cash flow, getting loans, and trading currencies; and you’ll also learn about how what happens on one side of the world can affect what happens on the other, at a micro and a macro level.