What Career Can I Have With an MBA?

For years, people have debated whether anyone can learn to be an effective entrepreneur. Business schools have taken the position that it is absolutely possible. Some of the top MBA programs, such as those at Stanford Graduate School of Business and MIT Sloan, have placed an emphasis on teaching entrepreneurship and producing graduates who could potentially change the world with their ideas.

In addition, many schools provide access to incubators, fundraising, and coursework specific to those interested in launching startups. Some schools even invest in student projects.

Managing healthcare in the United States is complicated and requires astute, flexible leaders. You need to understand efficiency and cost-cutting while also being mindful of various laws governing medicine, prescribers, those doling out care or researching potential cures.

As a result, MBA programs have heard the call and are providing specialized programs for those interested in this field. People with a healthcare management MBA degree could end up managing a hospital. Sometimes, they are physicians, who use the business skills to innovate medicine.

Many young people are committed to saving the planet, and they would like to apply their business skills to addressing problems such as climate change. MBAs with an interest in sustainability may work in nonprofits related to topics, such as clean air or water, or they might work for a startup providing green products and services.

Some work in the alternative energy sector, while others might work in traditional, established businesses with departments focused on reducing the organization’s carbon footprint, for example.  

Marketing is a traditional, yet dynamic industry for MBAs. Nowadays, business students need to learn how to navigate digital marketing and be able to best utilize technology to create brands and have a dialogue and personal relationship with customers.

Jennifer Apy, a graduate of Stanford Graduate School of Business, runs her own marketing business – click here to learn about a typical day on the job for her. The head of marketing at an organization might be managing blog posts, social media, public relations, media relationships, all while assessing the types of advertising and events that will have the most impact. Indeed, many are required to have the ability to analyze big data effectively.

The digital economy has caused a proliferation of data unimaginable by previous generations of business leaders. Now, even if MBAs do not specialize in data analytics, they must have a firm grasp on how to effectively use the available data to make more thoughtful decisions and strategies for success.

Well into the future, businesses are going to hire people who understand machine learning and can manage, organize, and analyze available data so it becomes useful. Companies need leaders who know how to use the findings to take action.

Another emerging field is fintech, which relates to financial products and services provided in an end-to-end process on the Internet. Imperial College Business School is among the business schools making this area of study a priority. 

Blockchain, on the other hand, is a list of records maintained on the internet to keep track of financial transactions. It is used for cryptocurrency, but the concept can be applied elsewhere. Many experts anticipate blockchain technology will be a big part of the future of finance and understanding on-the-cusp technology like this will give you an edge on the competition in the future job market.

Artificial intelligence (AI) is in the headlines regularly with some experts believing AI will eliminate some jobs but make up for it by creating others. Business leaders who can effectively put AI to use will be in demand, as will those who can build, program, and fix AI. Business schools such as MIT Sloan are already preparing for such a future.