Six Reasons to get Work Experience before your MBA
Pursuing an MBA is a worthwhile decision to advance one's career. If you are a serious candidate, you would have many questions, a prime being - should one have work experience prior to an MBA? Here we will discuss in detail the advantages of having prior work experience. Why it can be mandatory in some cases. Towards the end you will have an answer to this tricky question & others too.
Without any ado, let’s dive right in! A work experience prior to an MBA has the following advantages;
Career Head Start
Having prior work experience helps in placements post an MBA. Candidates with work experience often get a head start during placements with most getting directly recruited for mid-high level positions. Subsequently, they even get a bump in the pay package.
Business Management
Real world work experience is far beyond any book can teach. No amount of theory can counter even an iota of on the job experience. There are deadlines and subsequent stressful situations which may arise at work. A candidate with prior job experience is familiar with this and hence can seamlessly transition into a position during placements.
Real Life Experience
As the previous point addressed, real life experience gives one a good understanding of a business, its working and other ancillary functions. This helps a prospective MBA candidate as he is well versed with the management of business. Thus, learning & grasping the theoretical concepts become easier.
Study Abroad
Foreign universities often have work experience as a prerequisite for their MBA program. Some accredited business schools require their candidates to have at least 2-3 years of work experience. Top US universities often require around 3-5 years of work experience. If you wish to pursue an MBA degree abroad chances are high that you will require the relevant work experience.
Networking
Having prior work experience enables students to leverage the professional network during & beyond an MBA. Networking is crucial & given the diversity of backgrounds of classmates leads to a wide set of opportunities.
Financial Freedom
An MBA degree from a top business school can cost in lakhs. It can be daunting for somebody willing to pursue an MBA. However, those working prior to an MBA have the liberty to save a certain amount for the fees. This can elevate the financial burden of the candidate as well as reduce his loan liability in case he or she opts for one.
What type of work experience matters for an MBA?
If you wish to pursue an MBA in Finance, having finance related work experience will help. However, it should be relevant. Now experience in a clerical position in a bank will not count towards work experience for an MBA. Instead, it would be recommended to pursue a job in analytics for starters, which will have some weightage when it comes to financial analysis under your MBA course.
How can one stand out with work experience for an MBA?
Picture this, you want to be Virat kohli. To fulfill this dream, you join a cricket academy, learn all the batting techniques from a coach but keep just at it. You read books & watch footage of Virat Kohli in your spare time. Now, another budding player learns all the ABC’s of batting in cricket and plays day in and out. He plays with his friends, he plays local tournaments & even ranji league. Though he may not have the vast knowledge about Virat Kohli but for sure he will gain game awareness, strategy & much more from being in the real situations.This is relevant for work experience prior to an MBA. The second player is much more likely to be inducted in a team (company) over the first for the obvious reason.
How much work experience is required?
Generally, a 2-5 years of work experience is the sweet spot for an MBA aspirant. It is noticed, any experience further than this actually dilutes the ROI. Having said that, the top institutes do not place any bar on the maximum work experience.
