By Heream Yang
Getting an MBA means investing a significant amount of time and money into a degree — one that has the potential to pay off in the form of accelerated career opportunities and a lifelong network of business leaders. How do you know if getting an MBA is the right career move for you and your goals? We spoke with Emily Anderson, Senior Director of the Career Management Center, to learn about the 6 ways that getting an MBA will help your career.
Career and Salary Potential
Emily Anderson
Perhaps the most obvious reason to get an MBA is the high return on investment: For example, the average base salary for the Vanderbilt Business MBA Class of 2020 was $126,137, coupled with an average signing bonus of $26,991. For many MBA graduates, their diploma comes with a bump in title and salary, not to mention jobs at prestigious organizations like Amazon or Deloitte.
“Some employers that really value an MBA design their jobs and have their compensation scheme geared towards entry level from that degree,” Anderson said. “Those are where you see the biggest pay bumps. Generally speaking, those are development programs like an MBA Rotational or Leadership Program. Additionally, there are the traditional MBA hiring areas, like consulting, investment banking, or brand management. Those 2 buckets are the ones that are going to pay the most.”
Big-Picture Business Education
One of the biggest selling points of an MBA is the opportunity to develop a diverse portfolio of business skills. Earning an MBA opens up doors to a wide array of career paths, from marketing to finance to human capital. However, the broad nature of the MBA program may not be an ideal fit for students looking to focus on a highly specialized technical field.
“The MBA tends to be one of those degrees to help people pull up and see a larger-picture outcome around how an organization runs and what makes organizations successful,” Anderson said. “If you want to be an expert in one particular area, the MBA is not developing expertise in any one particular field. It’s much more of a broad base; it’s kind of a horizontal smorgasbord of business functions.”
Career Pivot
The vast majority of MBA candidates enter business school with several years of work experience under their belt, giving them a good understanding of their desired career trajectory. For students wanting to pivot into another industry or function, business school provides the broad business exposure and customized curricular opportunities needed to successfully enter a different business sector.
“The good thing about (pivoting) is that you can still leverage your previous experience by being exposed to a different business function and having a better understanding of why you’re more interested in another function,” Anderson said.
Geographic Flexibility
Whether you attend a flagship business school with a broad national reach or a regional school with strong local ties, earning your MBA can be the stepping stone to getting your dream job in your dream city. Even if your school isn’t located in your target city, a strong alumni network and established recruiting relationships can help get you there.
“Because recruiting relationships tend to be around the locale of the school, you’ll see higher percentages in the region that the school is in,” Anderson explained. “If you want to live in Nashville, we have by far the biggest number of students because of the market itself here, but we also have a national profile, so if you have a desire to move to the West Coast or go to the Northeast, you can find opportunities for sure because we have a recognizable name.”
Entrepreneurship
Some great startups begin in basements, and others begin in business school. In addition to opening up a network of some of the best business minds, MBA programs often have dedicated programming that allows entrepreneurs to grow their startup skills and even compete for funding opportunities. At Vanderbilt Business, for instance, the Center for Entrepreneurship hosts pitch competitions, awards startup grants, and provides curricular programming to empower the rising generation of business pioneers.
“In every class, there’s probably about 10 percent of the class that has a really strong desire to start a business at some point, whether it’s right now or a few years out,” Anderson explained. “When you come into an MBA program, you’re getting access to networks — potential funding networks and people networks — and expertise from a faculty standpoint.”
Network
Lastly, but perhaps most importantly, getting an MBA helps your career by allowing you to form lasting professional and personal relationships with your classmates and professors. Choosing a business school also means choosing a community of alumni whose legacy you will build upon, classmates who will become your colleagues and partners, and faculty who will provide insight and guidance as you build your career.
“I think (the MBA) is a mind-opening experience, because most people are coming into the program with a limited view based on their connections, what they did before, and where their network exposures have been,” Anderson said. “When you come into an MBA program, you meet people with a wide variety of backgrounds and different outlooks. I think that is hugely valuable. You tend to see people making lifelong friendships because of their exposure to these types of programs.”
