Importance of MBA for Non-Management Graduates

MBA or Masters in Business Administration was developed in the USA during the late 20th century, for a post-industrial world where companies demanded scientific management.

MBA is a terminal degree, which means that it is the highest degree awarded in that particular field.  

MBA is a full-time course, a part-time or executive course, or an online course. Typically MBA lasts for two years when offered as a full-time course. A part-time MBA can last for three or more years.  Students acquire knowledge about business fundamentals and analytical skills during the first year and management skills after MBA degree.

The MBA program covers various aspects of business administration, both practically and comprehensively.

This course is designed in a way that focuses on theoretical and practical aspects alike. The course includes lectures, case studies, and projects( individual or team). The course also involves consulting projects where students work with real industries to gain practical knowledge and soft skills. All this makes the MBA degree one of the most sought after both by MBA aspirants and the employers.

An MBA prepares students for different types of careers. According to a survey done by the Graduate Management Admissions Council (GMAC), 64% of graduates in 2012 used the degree to change their careers. This shows how MBA for non-management graduates is helpful as it can allow them to change fields irrespective of their current fields and past choices.

Why should non management graduates pursue MBA?

We will talk about the MBA degree in more detail as we move forward. And how an MBA without a bachelors in business is helpful. 

And answer the question, ‘Can you get an MBA without a bachelor's in business?’

It's A Versatile Degree

Being a professional course, MBA is one of the most versatile degrees in content delivery and delivery mode. There are a lot of specifications available for those opting for this degree. The study in itself focuses on a lot of different skills that are needed in any industry. This allows students to pursue careers in various industries or start their own company, making it versatile. Universities allow MBA for non-management graduates making it even more diverse.

It prepares students for advanced careers in any industry

The advantage of an MBA for non-management graduates is that the skills you develop during your MBA, including soft skills, are necessary for every industry. Hence, people with an MBA degree qualify for most of the specifications needed to pursue advanced careers in any industry. It also allows you to move higher up in your field, whichever that might be, and get higher salaries. 

Allows graduates to move into the management field

The benefit of an MBA for a non-management background. There are many competencies that students develop when doing their MBA. Management skills after an MBA designed for the students are no joke. Including the soft skills learned during the program allows them to become one of the most competent candidates for any managerial position.

Start your own business, change careers, or shift careers, All with an MBA!.

Another upside of the skills developed during the MBA is that it can help students start their own company or business. The students’ versatile background in the program allows students to connect to individuals with the same vision and the same level of abilities. This makes the path to starting their venture more lucrative and more comfortable.

These skills which graduates acquire, such as practical problem-solving skills, leadership, and other soft skills, are required in every industry in one way or another hence making it easier to change careers or shift career focus.  The benefit of an MBA for the non-management background is that they can easily use the knowledge acquired from their experience and start a new venture.

Become A Specialist In The Business Field

As specified earlier MBA program, due to its popularity and diverse student background, offer different specializations in many fields, which are:

General Management	Most common and versatile of the specialization. Focuses on overall development in the business field.
International Business	Great for global companies. It helps in making better decisions and goals according to different cultures and traditions across borders.
Strategic Management	Great for long term planning for business and preparing backup plans for them.
Finance	Focuses on accounting, data analytics, and statistics, hence great for positions involving lots of finance such as chief financial officers.
Marketing	As the name suggests, it focuses on strategy related to how to market the company’s products and services.
Entrepreneurship	People who want to start their ventures can use this specialization.
Operations Management	This branch focuses on how to make operations more optimal and efficient.
IT Management	Ideal for businesses that deal with or involve technology. You learn how to handle data and product development.
Human Resources	As the name suggests, ideal for the human resources department. A company always needs its employees to be happy and productive. A go-to specialization if you are a peoples person.
Consulting	Prepares students to be experts in fields; companies occasionally consult experts in various areas when expanding or launching their products.

Now let’s talk about the most frequent query that people have regarding the MBA program,

MBA for Non-Management Graduates

There is a very frequent quarry among the aspirants, and that is if it is feasible to pursue MBA for non-management graduates and different background candidates. However, most of the applications to enrol in the MBA program come from a non-management background.

Unlike a regular undergrad degree that requires knowledge and skill in a specific field, MBA focuses on a business’s comprehensive aspects. This allows the MBA to cater to students with various backgrounds, such as engineering, pure sciences, and social sciences.

However, the program still assumes that the students have some necessary foundational business skills, such as statistics and accounting. Some programs even make it a point to make students familiarize themselves with such skills.

Can I do an MBA without a management degree?

There are numerous benefits to pursuing an MBA without a business degree. Some companies prefer to hire people with a non-business graduate degree and an MBA degree like medical research and technology. Some companies prefer people for higher posts if they specialize in business, and the field company caters to. Thus, MBA Allows people with non-business backgrounds to advance their careers or move into management.

Management skills after MBA are exorbitant, allowing them to pursue upper management positions such as director, president or chief executive officers, and other top managerial positions in the company. The MBA program also allows people to understand the corporate structure making it easier to work your way up.

The course work of an MBA degree focuses on building skills such as people management, financial resources management, and optimal business decisions. MBA students also receive training in the delegation, task completion, and stress management, which are critical business skills. Hence, people pursuing an MBA without a business degree learn skills that they would have never known in their field.

 The on-job training or internship done under the program further helps the students test and apply their knowledge. The graduate degree and the internship strengthen the students’ resume, helping them land the highest paying jobs across all the degrees. 

Lets us now talk about the skills after MBA degree.

Benefits of MBA for non-management background

1. Change of career path: As we have already discussed, skills developed during an MBA program help people change their career path or move to higher positions. Especially during these times of the slow economy, prospects for people who hold an MBA are broad; opportunities exist in accounting, management, consultancy, human resources, and entrepreneurship. Thus, MBA for non-management background aspirants opens up the ways which previously were inaccessible and it is possible to pursue an MBA without bachelors in business.
2. Keeping up with the changing times: Owing to top MBA schools and businesses’ connections, the MBA program is dynamic, with management skills after MBA getting you a good job in the corporate sphere. The schools keep up with changing demands from the business world. The graduates also develop adaptability, which helps them keep up with the demands prevalent in any given scenario.
3. Starting your venture:  An MBA holistically deals with all the aspects of businesses and the corporate world, hence providing students with the specific skill set required. Students also develop an extensive professional network.  This allows MBA graduates to start their own venture and make it successful even during current challenging times.
4. Getting an MBA while doing your job: Many companies allow their workers to pursue an MBA while being in their current position. Companies will willingly adjust the specific individuals’ work timings as they know the importance of their skills after completing their business school graduation. This adds to the program’s lucrativeness as people can easily fund their education, and the student is already doing the on-job training required to complete the MBA.
5. Pursuing your career goals: There are career steps that can’t be overcome with just a bachelor’s degree. The person needs to have graduated from a business school to climb up the company’s ranks into management. The diverse nature, no time limit, inconsequential undergraduate major make it easier to pursue an MBA. Hence, an MBA makes it possible for the person to pursue their career goals further in any field they want.
6. Professional and personal development: The MBA course content is very practical and applicable to all aspects of life. The huge peer network and communication with world-class faculty ensure that you develop even after completing the MBA.  MBA is one of the most stringent programs that allow people to develop discipline, determination, and commitment to their goals, which lasts a lifetime.

Conclusion: MBA, The Golden Ticket

MBA is a degree that focuses on practicality and some inexorable business skills like statistics and finance. MBA develops different perceptions through various projects, case studies, and a real-world example. The things which are very apparent to an MBA graduate may not be evident to an average person with just an undergraduate degree. They learn how to put their thoughts in a framework, observe things that other people cannot. This makes the MBA without bachelors in business feasible.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q.1 What type of skills are developed in students with an MBA?

With an MBA, the graduates learn how to approach a specific situation and develop the best plan, especially in a business setting.
The learned skills after an MBA degree are very lucrative for various industries as they need people with high employability skills, problem-solving skills, adaptability, work ethics, and leadership qualities to make their businesses expand further. 

Q.2. What value does an MBA add to my career path?

An MBA develops skills like people management, time management, and crowd management. Different specializations nurture different kinds of skills needed by the student in the field. For example, people doing specialization in operations learn how the processes work and how to optimize them, thus gaining optimal use of different resources. While people doing specialization in marketing learn how to make consumer strategy, understand the consumer’s perspective, identify potential consumers, and make an optimal strategy.

Q.3. What opportunities open up after getting an MBA?

This high demand for MBA graduates reflects in the high paying jobs. The graduates from MBA have various options in their careers; they can choose to change their field, move higher up in their current area, and start their own company from scratch. Other skills remain with the students for a lifetime, continuously enhancing their personal and professional life. As long as the prospective students meet the school’s pre-requisites and understand necessary business skills, they can excel in every area of life and lead a prosperous and successful life.

Q.4. Can I get my MBA degree without bachelor degree in business?

Yes. One can attain an MBA degree from almost any institute with the required qualification of possessing a bachelors degree. This holds even for people doing an MBA without bachelors in business. Some schools even offer an MBA program to people without a graduation degree, as long as they show the necessary skills to complete the program successfully. 

Q.5. How is an MBA advantageous for non-business degree holders?

An MBA is a holistic and practical program developed with the help of existing businesses to teach business skills and perspectives in students from traditional backgrounds such as pure science, social science, engineering, and humanities, which don’t provide such skills. In fact, there are many companies and employers who prefer to hire a non-management background MBA's for diversity.

About Sunstone

Sunstone is a leading higher education service provider that works with academic institutions in up-skilling students for employability. Sunstone offers career oriented training interventions for undergraduate and postgraduate students at 30+ institutions across 25 cities.

Sunstone’s training programs are industry endorsed to enhance employability. These programs are designed for hybrid delivery with unparalleled focus on soft skills and personality development. Sunstone’s focus is to provide students with holistic educational experience.

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