What Can You Do With an MBA? 10 Hot Jobs for MBA Graduates
Are you interested in pursuing a Master of Business Administration degree? An MBA degree offers many professional and personal benefits. It opens up great opportunities for career advancement, greater responsibilities, and financial rewards while improving your leadership and communication skills, which are essential for a successful career. So, if you are wondering what you can do with an MBA, the answer is a lot.
In this article, we will try to answer questions that you may have about pursuing an MBA degree and give you a list of the ten hot jobs for MBA graduates. So, let’s get started!
How Long Is an MBA Program?
The answer to this question is “it depends”. MBA programs can vary in length of completion time. It all depends on the university’s graduation requirements, academic calendar, whether it is an online degree or an accelerated program, and so on. Furthermore, it depends on the school’s system; some universities operate on a traditional semester system, and others on trimesters. But, typically, you can expect to complete an MBA program in 18 months.
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MBA Skills You Will Get
One of the most important advantages of getting an MBA degree is that it improves your theoretical and practical knowledge of how businesses work. It teaches you the essential hard and soft skills that enable you to work in a particular field.
So, what exactly are soft skills? Well, they relate to interpersonal relationships, leadership, management, communication, teamwork, and problem-solving skills. These are typically taught through work experience, trial, and error, but they can also be taught theoretically and then be applied in practical situations.
Hard skills, on the other hand, are those that can be easily identified, taught, and measured. These skills include quantitative skills, strategic planning skills, risk management skills, project management skills, and so on.
What Can You Do With an MBA?
There are plenty of career opportunities and jobs for MBA graduates in every field, so you can pursue whatever career path you feel passionate about. The most popular industries for MBA graduates are finance, consulting, marketing, technology, and healthcare, and these industries are growing every day.
You might be wondering about where you would fit within a company. Because an MBA education is so versatile, you will most likely find MBA graduates in many areas of a company such as executive offices, human resources, accounting, auditing, data analytics, marketing, productions, business development, technology, marketing counseling, healthcare, and so on. Here are some common examples of positions MBA graduates fill and how much they get paid:
Chief financial officer
The chief financial officer (CFO) of a company or organization is responsible for keeping track of the money flow, conducting financial planning as well as managing the internal and external financial activities of the company. The CFO should be able to foresee in advance and know in detail the company’s financial situation, as some of the most critical decisions undertaken within that company will be made based on that individual’s prior capital situation analysis. So, to put it simply, a CFO is responsible for the company’s accounting and finance divisions and ensuring that their financial reports are adequate and accurate.
Chief financial officer salary
According to Payscale, a chief financial officer with an MBA major in corporate finance gets paid from $94,000 to $151,000 yearly. And the U.S. Bureau of Labor and Statistics foresees a 17% growth rate for this occupation, which is much faster than the average for all occupations.
Chief executive officer
A chief executive officer (CEO) is the top decision-maker within a company; therefore, they need strong communication, leadership, and critical-thinking skills. They guide fellow employees in pursuit of the corporation’s missions, as well as represent the organization to the public, its board of directors, and its stakeholders. The main duties of a CEO include oversight of budgets, human resources, strategic planning, and policy setting. They should also understand the aspects of business operations, practices, and processes.
Chief executive officer salary
The average salary for a CEO, according to Payscale, is $156,522, and the U.S. Bureau of Labor and Statistics (BLS) projects an 8% overall employment growth until 2030, which is about as fast as the average for all occupations.
Product manager
A product manager needs to be good at pretty much everything. Their job is to optimize profit by ensuring high production standards, cost-effectiveness, and that the product is well marketed and meets customers’ needs. Having an MBA degree can be a significant advantage since you will need excellent business as well as interpersonal skills.
Product manager salary
According to Payscale, a product manager (unspecified type) gets paid from $59,000 to $135,000 annually. The U.S. Bureau of Labor and Statistics reports that the product manager jobs should increase at a rate of 5% from 2020 to 2030.
Sales manager
Sales managers work with other professionals like marketing managers, and their responsibilities usually include training and supervising sales representatives, analyzing reports, and establishing selling objectives. The sales manager guides and leads a group of people towards the best techniques in order to meet the sales goals set within a company. They also plan ahead strategic sales plans, quotas, targets, and trainings and are involved in the hiring process. Because sales managers have to work with other people, their communication and leadership skills need to be at a top-notch level.
Sales manager salary
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor and Statistics, the 2020 median pay for a sales manager was $132,290 per year or $63.60 per hour. The projected employment growth rate from 2020 to 2030 is 7%, about as fast as average.
Financial analyst
If you have a passion for finance, becoming a financial analyst is an ideal step after getting your MBA degree. But what do financial analysts do exactly? Well, they guide businesses and individuals in decisions about expanding money to attain profit. As a financial analyst, you can work in various industries such as banks, investment firms, and businesses.
Financial analyst salary
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor and Statistics, the 2020 median pay for a financial analyst was $83,660 per year or $40.22 per hour. The employment of financial analysts is expected to grow by 6% from 2020 to 2030, about as fast as the average for all occupations.
Human resources manager
Human resources managers are responsible for planning, coordinating, and managing the administrative functions within a company or organization. Their duties typically include handling employee relations, compensations, trainings, benefits, managing employee records, and processing paperwork.
Human resources manager salary
According to BLS, the median yearly wage for a human resources specialist reached $63,490 in May 2020. And the employment of HRs is projected to grow by 10% from 2020 to 2030.
Marketing manager
Marketing is a vital part of every company, and so is a skilled marketing manager. Marketing managers are in charge of managing budgets for marketing campaigns, testing marketing opportunities, building relationships and negotiating, preparing sales and advertising contracts, reviewing marketing material, directing different strategies and plans, analyzing feedback and returns, coming up with new ways to promote a product, and so on. They need to come up with creative ideas to position the company, and manage the marketing resources.
Marketing manager salary
The average salary for a marketing manager is around $141,490 per year. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics foresees a 10% growth rate in employment from 2020 to 2030, which is about as fast as average.
Investment banker
An investment banker provides leaders with investment recommendations to grow their business and capital. They look at a client’s financial situation, assess risk and reward, analyze financial data, and give advice for how companies can meet their target and financial goals. Even though an undergraduate degree in finance or business is a minimum requirement, most investment bankers have an MBA degree. So, if you want to be an investment banker, you are most likely going to need an MBA.
Investment banker salary
The U.S Bureau of Labor Statistics includes investment bankers among a group of occupations called “Securities, Commodities, and Financial Services Sales Agents”. Their median annual salary is $64,770 per year or $31.14 per hour.
Business operations manager
A business operations manager is the go-to person in a corporation; every business needs a person like that. They help different departments within an organization to meet their target. They hire people, negotiate contracts, address budget matters, guide work teams for projects, as well as make strategic decisions and create policies to help the company operate efficiently.
Business operations manager salary
According to BLS, the median annual salary for general and operations managers was $103,650. The lowest 10% earned around $45,850, while the highest 10% earned more than $208,000. The expected growth potential for general and operations managers is 8%, about as fast as the average growth rate for all occupations.
Medical and health services manager
Healthcare organizations are faced with tremendous logistical challenges, especially since the Covid-19 outbreak. They need skilled managers to overcome these challenges. Medical and health services managers run different kinds of healthcare organizations, and their responsibilities are maximizing quality and minimizing cost. They also have to keep meticulous records and ensure that their facilities comply with regulatory requirements.
Medical and health services manager salary
The median pay among these professionals is $104,280 per year, or $50.13 per hour, according to BLS, which predicts that employment in this field will be 32% higher in 2029 than it was then.
Conclusion
In this article, we have attempted to give you some specific examples of what’s available to you once you get a Master of Business Administration degree. No matter what profession career you embark on, getting an MBA will enhance your knowledge of common business principles, as well as improve your hard and soft skills that are needed in the workplace. And most importantly, it will equip you with high-level management strategies and open a plethora of career opportunities for you to consider.