A MBA is a very useful and flexible graduate degree to those who have a few years worth of experience in the corporate world, even if the experience is considered by those who don’t know any better as “doing low-ranking jobs.” Non-profit organizations or government service also count as valuable to get accepted to an MBA program offered by many reputable schools. Most leading MBA schools require that their students have previous actual work experience. Making an investment in an MBA program will, in the long run, help you gain perspective in how your work relates with those of others in the place where you work.
Most MBA schools try to mold you to become more strategic in thinking, and hopefully tactical when taking actions in most situations in life especially at the work place (or even when you run your own business). The whole point of all the academic subjects you have to digest, read, and even probably write about (alone or with your classmates) is to be able to think through all the information, confusion, anxieties, threats, and still shine out through your strengths you’ve learned to identify, plus the opportunities you may fathom in dark times (so to say). Worry not, as you can do this, just like the others who have finished their MBA degrees.
1) Start by identifying at least 5 schools you’ve heard and believe are reputable as MBA schools in the place where you are currently working (or will eventually move to get a new job). Or your current employer may have in-house training program or advanced study-benefits being provided, which you may avail. Or you may ask around from some people you know have finished their MBA degrees (don’t even bother to ask those who have not finished the degree – they have different views which may not be helpful for you).
2) Check the academic schedules of each of these schools so that you can make plans when to apply. Write down the schedules, gather and collect all the necessary materials for the schools’ requirements, and make sure to submit them on time.
3) If you can visit each of these schools, or attend sessions where you can have a better idea of the process of getting into any of these schools, work it out on your schedule to gain the benefits of doing so. You’ll have a better appreciation on what’s the MBA program is all about, and then subsequently work on your personal goals along advance studies in business administration.
4) Though some don’t advise this, do engage in your MBA studies while you are working – you’ll have better use of your lessons from the classroom while employed at the same time. The topics at school become meaningful and more lasting to your memory when you encounter similar situations when you are at the workplace. For example, there’s not much switching done between vocabularies as most terms you encounter at the MBA school are also used at the workplace, i.e. the jargon is basically the same.
5) Figure out where you’re sourcing funds for your MBA studies – you may get funds from your own savings, different kinds of medium-term loans (as the outcomes of an MBA degree realistically show up usually in the medium term, i.e. 3 to 5 years), relatives’ support, or even from your paycheck now if your budget allows it. These programs are almost always expensive in well-known schools, as there are many students who enroll in these programs. The more famous the school is, the more expensive the costs of the education. Scholarships are also available, but be ready to compete against other students from all over the world, and not only where you are based now.
6) When accepted into the program, even if you’re basically timid or shy, try to do a lot of networking with your classmates, other MBA students, and your teachers. You’ll eventually get the hang of it. Have your business card handy during these networking situations – they can be during campus parties, group study sessions, or any academic activity happening while at school again. It’s up to you whether you’d give out your card without being asked, as it depends on whom are you talking to in each of these occasions.
7) Most, if not all, MBA schools follow the extensive use of case studies in conducting the classes to impart lessons under the confines of the walls of the classroom. A lot of active participation in the class is called for, so make your share of inputs in each class. The case-study method entails a lot of reading and understanding at least 500 case studies before the whole program is over; they’re briefly or extensively longer written materials from textbooks, and other printed sources, on all areas of the science and art of Management as applied in the business world. They can be on Finance, General Management, Logistics, Marketing, Human Resources, and related fields. Of course, you’ll not be able to read and comprehend all these case studies, as some of them are really bewildering to read, and given the high chances that you’d be employed full time while working on your MBA degree. The technique is to partner it out with other reliable students whom you are friendly with, so that the load is distributed, and everyone will have assignments on small parts to cover for each case study.
Learn to become confident in your platform skills. This takes a lot of practice and the readiness to do trial and error if you will. You’ll be asked most often to do presentation of all manner and style imaginable before your classmates, which would almost always be around issues that can be crafted out from the case study assigned. As such, you’ll dissect, discuss and cover the relevant subject matter covered by the case study on hand.
9) Be adept in using the computer and the Internet so that you’ll optimize the use of very helpful tools in working on your studies, both by yourself and with your classmates. Make use of what’s available and used by most number of students on social networking, too, to build a reliable support group who will be around to help you with your studies.
10) For the academic paper which most MBA schools require students to independently write, submit and present as a final requirement before conferred with the degree, plan to come up with a paper that integrates all the major subject matters covered in the MBA school. There would be less work to do towards the end. Depending on the school, this can be a “business plan” or a “business proposal” for a particular company. Connect the relevant contents of all the papers you’ve written for each subject, as an integral part of your final paper at the end of the MBA program. For example, under Finance, your paper for the subject should have focused on a topic that will then relate seamlessly with the other academic subjects like Human Resources, Marketing, Logistics, Operations Management. It’s tactical, too, to spend time writing reports covering the same company for all these academic subjects – towards the end, you’ll collate and relate all in one integrated draft that will serve as your final paper (or some MBA schools call this “thesis”) for defense and submission.
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