Apply this 3-Step Process for MBA Career Planning

When Business School & MBA research start, aspirants will analyze the curriculum, and evaluate the effectiveness of the program in fulfilling their post-MBA goals. Customizing the learning experience through electives, and experiential learning often happens during the second half of the program. With $80,000 to $120,000 investment in an MBA every year, it is important to understand how much control the student has in customizing the curriculum.

Initial Plan

Before writing about post-MBA goals, aspirants should evaluate their skills in an unbiased manner. After that, a career plan is developed aligning the aspirant’s personality traits & future contribution with post-MBA goals. Once aspirants have a clear career path they should evaluate the curriculum, and look closely at the course structure. Most MBA programs will offer the Foundational courses in management during the first 6-months. This is the time when students are exposed to the fundamentals of management. Some courses will interest the students more than others, and the student will also get a glimpse into interesting post-MBA career paths through student-led clubs, speaker series, and interactions with career service team.

Pro-active career service team will start the interaction right from the start and initiate the process of mapping personal strengths to job functions, and industries.

Midway Plan

Once the Business fundamentals are learned & career paths explored, it is time to stick to the initial plan or find a new career path. A large section of MBA students will digress to new job functions. The glamour that was associated with the initial plan often gets lost when students are exposed to related courses and day-to-day responsibilities. There is no shame in changing career plans, and MBA aspirants should be prepared for it. This is often difficult for MBA students, and the common “REGRET” shared with us is their inability to make that switch midway through the course. The admission process has forced students to affirm their career path several times, and it requires a strong & balanced mind to see the bigger picture and change directions accordingly.

Final Plan

The final stage of the course – the internship & job search phase often require some BOLD decisions. As we had earlier shared, “SWITCHING INDUSTRIES AFTER MBA IS NOT EASY”, especially in an economic downturn in a stagnant economy. Pre-MBA experience & Internship play important roles in opening up opportunities in an industry. Instead of worrying about the industry, focus on the job function. If you were good at sales, you would be adept at selling “Software services”, or “Healthcare Products” in equal capacity. End of the day - the decision is yours. The peer pressure can be high when it comes to accepting an offer. This is extreme for International students where visa status is linked with the job offer. Give a lot of thought before accepting an offer. For 3-5 year experienced MBA professionals, job-hopping might not be a good strategy. It will impact future job offers. Therefore, stick to you plan, widen your network, attend career fairs, and invest in services that increase your profile reach.