When it comes to improving your education and boosting your professional business career, getting an MBA degree can be one of the wisest investments to make. And these days, getting your MBA is easier than ever with a wider range of MBA programs than ever before available to study online. As a result, people who may have otherwise struggled to go back to college due to full-time work and other commitments have an option available to them to help them reach their career goals.
No matter what you want to do with your career in the future, it’s hard to deny that studying online has many different benefits. Being able to study flexibly around your schedule and get your MBA puts you in a better position to be promoted in your current role, move into a different business field, or get started with building your own business in the future. Let’s take a look at some of the biggest reasons why people decide to get their MBA online, and some of the most popular MBA concentrations that you can choose from today.
Stand Out in the Workforce
With an MBA on your resume, you can be sure that you are going to stand out from the crowd at least a little bit more. Today, around 80% of employers are going to be interested in learning more about you when they read your resume and see your qualifications as this number of businesses are looking to hire MBA graduates around the world. If you are aiming to work in upper management positions in the future, getting an MBA can be one of the best things that you do for your career in terms of the opportunities that will be available to you as a result.
Improve Your Skills
Studying for your MBA online will give you the chance to not only build hard, business-specific skills that will help you in your future career, but also a diverse range of soft skills that will help you be a better business leader in the future. The online MBA programs available today are designed to help you improve your leadership skills while becoming a better team player, boost your verbal and written communication skills, and help you become better at critical thinking and making decisions, which in turn makes you a better asset to any organization that you work for.
Save Money
If the cost has been the main thing holding you back from getting your MBA so far, then studying online might be an ideal alternative for you to consider. While online and campus-based MBA programs do not tend to differ much when it comes to the tuition cost, there are many areas where you can really save money with an online MBA. For example, being able to continue working full-time while you study means that there is a lower opportunity cost, and you will not lose out as much financially throughout the program. Add this to the opportunity that you have to study from home and avoid the cost of either relocating or commuting, and it becomes easy to see where the cost savings are when you decide to study online.
Pivot Your Career
Various MBA concentrations give you the opportunity to become an expert in a different area of business and ultimately pivot your career in a different direction. You don’t have to focus on studying for an MBA qualification that is based around what you are currently working in if you are interested in something else. Getting your online MBA can be one of the best ways to learn more about a different field of business, including options to study marketing, big data, finance, leadership, entrepreneurship, supply chain, and much more. Whether you want to learn more about the area of business that you are currently working in, or are interested in getting into something different, a specialist MBA concentration makes it possible for you to follow your interests and passions when it comes to your career.
What are the Some Online MBA Concentrations Worth Considering?
The traditional MBA program is still one of the most popular, in-demand, and well-respected qualifications in the business world. However, when it comes to getting an MBA online, an increasing number of students are now deciding to focus their efforts further and get an MBA that is designed to help them become an expert in a subject that they prefer. Whether you have a keener interest in one area of business, feel that learning more about a certain business area will help you get further in your current career, or want to get into a certain future career role by becoming an expert in one business aspect, MBA concentrations allow you to fully align your education with your future career goals and best prepare for your future work. Some of the most worthwhile MBA concentrations that you can study online include:
Business Administration
A traditional MBA online from Kettering University is still one of the top choices for business students. It is chosen by professionals around the world due to the large worldwide demand for graduates and a lucrative average annual salary. Although the traditional program does not offer a specific concentration area to focus on, it does offer a solid education in the main pillars of business and is flexible enough for students who want to choose from a range of elective modules further down the line when they have a clearer idea of which topics interest them the most.
Entrepreneurship
Getting an online MBA might be something that you have considered doing if you have a main goal of starting your own business in the future. With the business world more competitive than ever before and nine out of ten startups failing within their first year of operation, it makes sense to consider embarking on an advanced business program to make sure that you are fully prepared with a strong business foundation before you begin building your own company. An MBA with a concentration in entrepreneurship is designed to help you understand more about the role of the business owner, with learning tailored towards the unique responsibilities that you will have in this role.
Human Resources
If you like working with people and enjoy the idea of being in a role where you are responsible for improving the workplace for everybody, an MBA in human resources may be worth considering for you. Graduates with an MBA in human resources earn an average of $110k per year and there is a rising demand for these professionals, particularly right now as more and more businesses are faced with the need to adjust to remote hiring and working practices.
Logistics and Supply Chain
Global supply chain issues around the world have been making the news over the past few months as a result of the COVID19 pandemic. It’s clear to see that well-educated supply chain professionals and managers are going to be in higher demand in the future, with many industries in need of people who have the knowledge and skills needed to help them plan and be prepared for any such issues that may occur again. With an MBA with a concentration in supply chain management, you will get a strong foundation of core business principles along with a heightened focus on logistics and supply chain and the impact that these have on all other aspects of a business. You will also have the chance to narrow your focus and learn more about other aspects of logistics and the supply chain such as manufacturing, purchasing, warehouse management, and quality control to name a few.
Management and Leadership
No matter the industry or the organization, good leaders and managers are always going to be needed in the world of business to lead teams, manage projects, delegate tasks, and ensure that things continue to run smoothly. This MBA concentration is often a top choice for people who have gained some experience in a management or supervisory role and are interested in building on the knowledge and skills that they have already developed in order to get into an upper-management role with more responsibility, higher pay, and prestige.
Environmental Management
People who are passionate about the environment and helping businesses make positive changes when it comes to going green and being kinder to the planet might be interested in a career where they will be responsible for helping organizations reduce their environmental impact. With an MBA in environmental management, you can combine your passions for and interests in both business and the environment to help make the world a better place. Recently, businesses everywhere are being increasingly forced to face the damage that they do to the planet, and the demand for good environmental business professionals who can help companies to undo what’s possible and make better environmental decisions in the future is growing.
Business Intelligence
Business intelligence is a dynamic field of business that is growing rapidly as companies collect more and more data on customers, competitors, and more. Data has become absolutely necessary to the success of any organization today, and it is having a bigger impact than ever before on the world around us. If you like the idea of a career where you can take real-world data and use it to find the information, facts, and insights that a company needs to move forwards in the right direction, an MBA in business intelligence might be a great choice for you. With this concentration, you can be sure of high demand as the world is currently collecting much more data than there are professionals who can make sense of it.
Marketing
Marketing is a great choice for MBA students who are looking to get into a career where their knowledge and skills are always going to be in demand. While your skills can quickly become outdated in marketing if you are not careful since this is an ever-changing and evolving industry today, it is a great choice of role for anybody who feels that they work best in a career where they need to stay on top of things and always have something new to learn. Marketing is an aspect of business that will always be needed no matter how much it changes. With an MBA in marketing, you can find roles where you’ll be coming up with campaigns to help companies attract and retain more customers, learning more about target audiences to effectively market to them, and using data to help a business make more effective and successful marketing decisions.
International Business
With more and more businesses now going global, there is a higher demand for business professionals who are knowledgeable and skilled in this area. The international business sector is currently experiencing a job growth rate of around 8-10%, although the COVID19 crisis has limited travel. However, global business is still growing as quickly as before, and professionals in this sector can enjoy not only generous salaries of around $100k on average but also the opportunity to travel to different parts of the world and learn more about how business is done elsewhere as part of your job.
IT – Information Technology
Right now, IT is one of the most lucrative industries to work in, so it’s no surprise that tech professionals are looking to combine their strong tech knowledge with business acumen by getting an MBA with a concentration in IT. With organizations around the world becoming more tech-led and more and more businesses now cloud-first, it’s clear to see that almost every business industry has been impacted in some way by IT and technology, driving the demand for professionals who have a diverse set of skills across both areas. MBA graduates with an IT concentration can expect to earn around $140k per year, along with a career that offers high demand, stability, and great opportunities.
If you are considering getting an online MBA, it’s worth thinking about the different concentrations on offer, and whether specializing in a certain area will boost your career opportunities as a graduate.
