In accordance with the 2018 report from the Graduate Management Admission Council (GMAC), more than 90-95% of major and minor employers around the globe preferred an MBA degree holder for filling executive positions, provided that the applicant had completed their MBA via an internationally/nationally accredited program. This proves that the demand for MBA degree holders never really came down, in spite of there being rumors about it.
Unfortunately, those rumors did lead to a significant fall in applicant numbers this year. As would be the scenario in any professional field, where the available number of professionals is lower than the demand for them, MBA graduates who pass out in the coming years will be at an advantageous position.
It is still important that business students choose their specializations with the future in mind. Prospective as the MBA course is, competition for the most lucrative jobs after completing business school is definitely going to heat up in the future.
Anyone looking to get their MBA now should be particularly careful about the field they choose to specialize in. Considerations for the future should take precedence over the present in this regard, so after taking the shared opinions of job analysts, recruiters and business owners into account, it isn’t that difficult to see which fields of MBA are the most likely to become even more valuable than they are today.
MBA in Finance
The classic MBA in finance has now been diversified, as well as being amplified with the necessary knowledge for technological adaptations. As a result, aside from the comprehensive but less detailed traditional finance MBA degree programs, students who are enrolled in online MBA programs at institutions like Aston University also have the option to specialize in specific sectors of finance. Some of the more important and futureproof of those subsets are as follows:
- Finance Leadership
- Real Estate Finance
- Corporate Finance
- Finance & Analysis
- International Accounting & Finance
- Invest banking
- Accounting and Economics
- Finance Certifications and Licenses
Out of these, International Accounting & Finance has one of the greatest present and future potentials. Keeping the already globalized nature of business in mind, specialized programs in International Accounting and Finance have been developed to ensure that the students remain relevant and valuable for the foreseeable future, irrespective of whether they are working in Canada or in a foreign nation.
Engineering MBA
An engineering MBA is a degree that is specially designed for hardware and software engineers so that they can take up higher responsibilities as business executives, rather than just staying limited to IT or engineering design. It broadens career prospects and makes an already valuable techie even more valuable.
A course like that will combine elements of the engineer’s technical specialization with advanced business management education and training so that they can take up leadership in their respective fields. For example, an engineering MBA designed for software engineers will often focus on IT project management and leadership.
We are already living in a time when the line between tech graduates and business graduates is blurred, so a degree course that’s meant to combine the best of both worlds would most certainly be extremely valuable for the student’s future career when he/she will be expected to handle leadership responsibilities.
MBA in Entrepreneurship
A specialization in business leadership is not that dissimilar to MBA degrees in entrepreneurship, but there are certainly differences. Highlighting a few key aspects of MBA programs in entrepreneurship will help get that point across:
- Unlike leadership and management MBAs, the entrepreneurship-focused courses are more concerned with creating innovators and founders.
- They are ideal for business students who are interested in starting their own businesses later on.
- Those with an innovative idea will be able to put a business model around it.
IT Management
IT management courses are a subset of engineering management programs that we discussed earlier, but instead of engineers in general, this one is specifically meant for IT experts only. Also, in order for a student to pursue MBA in IT Management, they do not have to have an engineering degree. A technical background and quantifiable experience in relevant fields of Information Technology are the main requirements here.
Whether someone has learned to code online or works as a hardware networking professional, as long as they have a background and significant work experience in IT, the right kind of IT Management program has the potential to propel their career to the highest tiers of IT leadership.
MBA in Business Strategy
One of the highest-paid specializations in MBA, Business Strategy is at its core, is all about learning how to make successful business decisions. In other words, we are discussing a professional who is trained to bring in success for his/her clients as a business consultant. They help in building businesses from the ground up while managing potential risks for large MNCs, even before they occur.
Primarily reliant on the student’s problem-solving skills in theory and in practice, the skills of an MBA graduate in Business Strategy are internationally applicable and remain relevant across most business segments, even if they are not directly qualified to handle the technical aspects of that specific field. It’s safe to say that the already amazing opportunities of a Business Strategy graduate are not going to dip anytime in the near future.
It would be incorrect to call any particular specialization obsolete or inadequate, although stats suggest towards a few hard facts all the same:
- As of now, the lowest paid business graduates belong to HR
- Rapidly developing automation tech in HR does not bode well for the sector either
- Healthcare Management MBA degree holders get the second-lowest salaries among MBAs, on an average
- Employability is not at its highest for fresh marketing MBA executives at the moment
Do keep in mind that marketing is a popular choice for business students globally, which will become even more popular by the end of the next five years. Down the line though, both salary and scope will increase with experience for MBA certified marketers.
