Nishat Paiker/StudyPlaces desk
The ongoing global slowdown has forced students all over the world to ponder, and make cautious informed decision of their career and choice of courses they want to pursue. The one course that has been constantly under scrutiny during the current global economy meltdown is an MBA Programme. To do an MBA or not to do? This is one question that has been bothering many MBA aspirants during the recession. When corporate sector has witnessed thousands of lay offs, job and salary cuts, is it wise to invest time and money in an expensive course of MBA where the admission into good management college is also difficult? With the US on the down and out affecting other nations and news of lay offs of several employees by major companies flashing in newspapers and TV channels every other day, this debate becomes important., as the situation seems scary to many in the job market.
Lets here analyse the situation for an MBA aspirant and this year’s pass out MBA job seeker perspective.
Timeliness
It is more about timings rather than evaluating a management degree of MBA. The students who had enrolled for the MBA programme in 2006, two years back did had the least idea about the ongoing economic slowdown. For them, then was a best time to join a degree programme that leads to a high paying and white collar career in best of companies globally. They never anticipated the recession and now they may have to face the heat. And again for anyone, who will enrol in MBA Programme in the year 2009, will probably seek job after 2011, when the situation might improve. Though, the attempt here is not to make any prophecy about the current economic situation getting better and meltdown may end by 2011. But you can expect this also with global economic powers trying hard to deal with the crisis. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has revised its growth forecasts for the global economy for the year 2009 - and in an unusual prediction, they raised it slightly upwards.
Matter of Key Skills
An MBA degree teaches key business concepts which are viable for long term. It’s a kind of knowledge that when you gain can work or utilised whether on or off recession. An MBA offers the opportunity to learn new skills and its curriculum facilitates entry into the job market, adding value to undergraduate degrees and expanding job prospects.
Even during economic crisis like these corporate do need people, just that they become choosy. They seek for skilled, competent managers who can handle challenges and who can give effective business solutions for the benefit of the company. So it gets tough now to gain entry into any top global company of your dream.
Though, the top colleges will always attract recruiters, recession or no recession, the lower ranked colleges may find it little difficult. The fact remains even in tough economic times, there are opportunities. To confront and overcome the job market situation like this, you need to make yourself elimination or denial proof. From the beginning you have to work towards convincing the recruiters that you are worth it.
- Try to seek admission in the tier 1 or top / good ranked MBA School
- Improve your communication skills, theory and practical knowledge. Remember now the recruiter wants skilled manager and not just one with MBA degree
- Be ready to work hard
- Be ready to face challenges
Good Time to Study
It is always a good idea to go to school, upgrade skills, utilise the bad times and wait till the good times are back. It has been reported a 22% rise in international test taker registrations for the GMAT admissions test this year.
An MBA degree has a peculiarity to beckon students from disciplines as diverse from Engineering, Science, Medicine, Arts and Commerce to working professionals who consider an MBA a necessity for the growth of their corporate careers. People from any industry who are in the middle of their careers and looking for better pay can add a degree of MBA as an important credential. It will give ones career a push even if economic recession looms. An MBA Programme will also be a significant investment in your personable development.
Short-Term Courses: A Trend in Haste?
The ongoing economic recession saw more and more people opting for vocational and job oriented short term courses that would fetch them jobs and give comfort to earn something during the bad job market.
Short-term, vocational and certificate courses globally like online or part time courses in business etiquettes, IT certifications, project management, foreign languages and typing are reportedly have more enrolments as compared to last year. You can take these courses at times of your convenience and they are affordable and often reasonably priced.
Any knowledge never goes waste. They add value to the education and may be helpful in a long run. So even if you want to do an MBA but feared investing time and money during recession, short term courses are not a bad idea unless they are relevant to your long term career goals.
What You Can Do?
Specialisation: Though it is said one should not limit himself/herself to a particular profile and should be multitasking. True, but this does not mean you cannot be an expert on one subject or on particular affairs. The current economic scenario requires experts in specific field. MBA aspirants have a liberty to choose from a wide range of specialisations offered by management colleges. Some top B schools like Wharton, IIMs even allow students to devise their own majors or choose electives they want to focus later in their career.
Market Yourself: When the competition is tough and job market seems grim, its time to make you recession proof. Market your skills, abilities, strengths and putting together, be the best package that a recruiter would look for his company.
Freelance: It is advisable that rather than sticking and depending on one job, try to do freelance work along with the ongoing job or even after you grab any good permanent job during economic recession. That may increase your prospects of employability as it increases your social/employer network adding to your skills and work experience. Moreover, it will add value to your resume and pocket both.
Executive MBA Programmes: If you are already employed go for executive MBA programmes without sacrificing your job. These are distance learning, online or part time programmes often of shorter duration and economical to do. They can add value to your resume and will keep your earnings also continue during economic slowdown.
Conclusion
An MBA degree has been always helpful in ones career. Even during economic slowdown there are plenty of jobs available for fresh MBA pass outs, although the competition out there is fierce. MBA Graduates from reputable business school always have better chances of surviving the job bad market. The good example is the placements of thousands of fresh MBA graduates from various business schools this year, when the heat of economic meltdown is said to be maximum.
There has been a reported 22% increase in the average salary of the MBA graduate in 2008 as compared to last year. With the ever growing crop of management graduates every year and the ongoing slowdown, placement teams and graduates were worried about impact, but top global companies kept their promise and offered reasonably good placements. It is noteworthy that this year saw finance sector hiring maximum managers followed by consulting firms. For detailed overview visit http://www.studyplaces.com/information-center/article/indian-business-sc...
