Returning to school to get an MBA might be something that you have considered if you want to boost your business career. If you are thinking about obtaining an MBA, the first step should involve determining your career goals and spending some time thinking about how this advanced degree could help you reach them.
Whether you are aiming to climb the career ladder in your current place of employment, want to find new opportunities in a different industry or with a new employer, or are considering starting your own business in the future, getting an online MBA can be the first step in the process of reaching your future career goals and taking your professional life to the next level.
Currently, the interest in hiring MBA graduates is higher than ever among employers in a range of industries, giving graduates the chance to enter a field that offers a high level of demand, job security, and diverse opportunities. Over 80% of companies are now actively planning to add more MBA graduates to their workforce, and there are many more reasons why getting an online MBA can be useful when it comes to achieving your career objectives.
What are the Benefits of Getting an Online MBA?
A master of business administration online degree from Kettering University can be the ticket that you need to take your business career to the next level. Along with being a highly sought-after, well-respected, and in-demand qualification in the business world today, there are further benefits that will come with having the ability to study online including cost-saving and time management benefits for students. Some of the main benefits of getting your MBA online include:
#1: Overcome Career Roadblocks
If you have been working in your current career for some time and feel that you’ve hit a point where you need more qualifications to get to the next level of the career latter, an MBA can help. After working in a career for several years, it is not unusual to feel that you have reached the maximum knowledge, skills, and experience you need. And that it is time to proactively invest in improving your education to take your professional life further.
If you have noticed more roadblocks in the way of reaching your career goals recently, getting an online MBA might be the ideal opportunity for you. MBA programs are available with a range of different concentrations to study and are designed to ensure that students have the crucial business skills, tools, and knowledge necessary to allow them to bring a broader perspective to the workplace and come up with strategic approaches to challenges and opportunities faced by the organization.
#2: Boost Your Resume
An MBA qualification on your resume will come with a certain amount of prestige, immediately making it easier for you to stand out when you apply for certain job positions. MBA graduates tend to be viewed and respected as individuals with a lot of knowledge about the business world. And the majority of employers tend to expect that an MBA graduate will have a lot to bring to the table.
Online MBA degree programs are designed to provide you with the skills, capabilities, and qualities that you need to successfully work in an upper management position for any organization.
#3: Improve Your Career Opportunities
Perhaps you are considering going back to school for an online MBA to change or advance your current career. Maybe you are interested in working in a different field or department and getting an online MBA can be one of the best ways to do this.
With various concentrations to choose from, your online MBA can be the best qualification to help you become an expert in various business areas based on your current strengths and skills.
Along with being able to provide the credentials that you need to get a promotion in your current area of work, an online MBA can also be used to facilitate a career change into a different industry or pursue a different area of business that you are passionate about or interested in.
#4: Improve Your Teamwork Skills
Despite being an online degree program designed to help candidates get into upper management positions in business in the future, one of the first things that you will learn when you study for an online MBA is how to become a better team player.
Getting your MBA online will help you work in a way where you are not only in charge of leading the team, but also a vital team member who works well and communicates easily with others to ensure that the desired results are met.
MBA graduates tend to go on to work in environments where collaboration and working together are absolutely essential for getting the results needed, and an online MBA will help you develop the skills that you need to do this successfully.
#5: Become a Better Leader
Earning your MBA online will also provide you with an opportunity to develop and hone a range of management skills that are needed to lead in a range of different teams and organizations. If you already have some experience as a supervisor or manager, an online MBA provides you with the opportunity to take the skills that you have developed so far even further. It also allows you to develop a better ability for big-picture thinking and develop a stronger understanding of theoretical foundations when it comes to making the best decisions on behalf of the organization from an authority position.
You will have the chance to become somebody who can make the best decisions that are based on helping the organization meet its strategic objectives, along with using evidence and data to back up any decision that you make.
Why Consider an Online MBA?
An online degree is just one of the options that are available to you if you have decided to further your career with an MBA. Some students might prefer the idea of attending a traditional business school or college to get their MBA with on-campus classes and lectures.
However, with online MBA study becoming more and more popular recently, there has been an uptake in online study, distance learning, and blended learning opportunities for students who want to get this qualification.
With more and more master’s students now getting their degree alongside working full-time and other responsibilities, it’s easy to see why the convenience of getting an MBA degree online makes it such an attractive choice. For many students who opt for this route, the additional convenience of being able to study from home and in their own time is one of the main factors.
Along with this, it’s often cheaper to get an online MBA since there’s no cost of commuting or relocating even though you’ll probably pay the same in tuition fees.
How to Choose the Right Online MBA for You
Now that you have weighed up all the main reasons to consider getting your MBA online, it’s time to consider how you are going to choose the right online MBA program for you. Not all online MBA degree programs are created equally, and it’s important to sort through a wide range of programs to consider the pros and cons of each one and ultimately find one that is a good fit for you.
This will obviously be based on different factors such as the schedule, learning environment, objectives, accreditation, school reputation, cost, and more.
Is Online Study Right for You?
First things first – make sure that studying online is actually going to be the best choice for you. While there is a lot of hype around distance learning and it’s hard to deny that it does have lots of benefits, the truth is that for some people it’s just not as effective.
If you don’t need the added convenience of being able to study from home and find that going to classes and lectures on-campus is a more effective way for you to learn, then you may want to consider a different option. Blended MBA programs are an ideal choice as they offer the option to either study on-campus or online, providing you with flexibility where needed but helping you avoid feeling isolated as a student.
Factors to Consider When Choosing an Online MBA
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Time Available
Before getting your online MBA degree, it’s crucial to be realistic with yourself when it comes to the amount of time that this is going to take and think about how much time you have. In general, you can expect to spend between one and two years studying for your online MBA degree, and this can vary based on whether you decide to study full-time or part-time.
This might be too long if you want to take advantage of an imminent promotion at work, for example, and an industry certification might be a better fit right now. On the other hand, if you don’t have a time limit but need flexibility and time to get your MBA in a way that suits you best, a highly flexible program that allows you to study at your own pace might be a more suitable option.
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How Much Networking is Available?
When attending business school to get an MBA, networking opportunities are often one of the most important factors to consider. After all, who you know is often just as – if not even more important than what you know when it comes to furthering your business career. And students who are serious about hitting their career goals will need to take networking opportunities into consideration when choosing the right online MBA program for them.
Since studying online does not give you the same opportunity to meet and get to know others in person as you would have when studying on-campus, it’s important to choose a school that has strategies in place to overcome this. Most good online MBA programs offer a range of ways for students to network including forums, social media groups, in-person meetups, and more.
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Flexibility
Consider how much flexibility you are going to need from your online MBA programs. Online MBA programs come in a range of different flexibility levels, so it’s a good idea to compare a range of different options to find one that is going to be the best fit for your life. Some programs are more structured and work on a similar basis to a campus-based program, requiring you to be online and available for lectures and classes at certain times of the day.
In contrast, other programs offer complete flexibility, leaving it up to you to decide when you want to log in and access the learning materials.
No matter the type of program you choose in terms of flexibility, there will usually be set deadlines to meet for submitting assignments and other work. Fully flexible programs tend to be a better choice for students who have busy lives with a lot of commitments that might lead them to study at unconventional times.
On the other hand, if you are able to commit and feel you would benefit, structured programs can help to keep you on track.
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Accreditation
When you look for the right MBA program for you to study online, whether or not the school and the program that you are choosing is accredited is one of the most important factors to think about. Accreditation is provided by an independent accrediting body such as the Accreditation Council for Business Schools and Programs or the International Accreditation Council for Business Education.
These accrediting bodies hold schools and programs to a set of strict, rigorous standards that must be adhered to. They will conduct an analysis of the faculty, resources, educational materials, services, and students to make sure that the standards are met.
You can usually expect to gain the best quality business education when you ensure that the school and program you choose has been awarded accreditation by one or more of these bodies.
If you want to achieve more from your business career, it’s worth considering getting an MBA online as an ideal option for boosting your credentials, finding better career opportunities, or moving into a different field or industry.
