It used to be tough to put a promising career on hold to pursue an educational credential that might help you advance down the road, but now the flexibility and convenience of online MBA degree programs has changed all that. Online MBA programs have removed the dilemma that used to face people as they moved up through their business careers. Thanks to technology, an online MBA can be part of a fast-track career, rather than an interruption to it.
Besides convenience, there are at least five distinct ways an online MBA can help your career:
1) Increase your earning power
Studies show that MBAs earn more on average than people with bachelor's degrees or lower. The Wall Street Journal recently reported that nearly a third of new MBA grads receive starting salaries of more than $100,000. In fact, it's not uncommon for MBA students to double their salaries upon graduation. Clearly, an MBA degree is a wise financial investment.
2) Improve your prospects for promotion and career advancement
Whether you stay with one company, shop around, or even ultimately change fields, an MBA can help you do the following:
- Get on a faster track within your current organization
You'll have to compete against people from within and outside your organization for promotion opportunities. An online MBA program is an ideal way to keep your foot in the door of your current job, while potentially opening new doors in the future. - Create more career flexibility
The experience you gain on the job is valuable, but may be just focused toward your current field. Should you want or need to change careers in the future, an MBA degree will give you a more universal set of skills. - Balance technical expertise with management skills
You may have mastered the ins-and-outs of your field, but to take the next step forward in an organization, the management emphasis of an MBA degree might be just the ticket. These are situations in which an online business degree can be especially useful -- you don't have to give up what you've got in order to reload your qualifications.
3) Become more competitive in the job market via new skills and expanded expertise
An online MBA can help you go after new opportunities as well as help defend your current position.
- Make yourself more competitive in the job market
At this point, a bachelor's degree is pretty much a minimum requirement for entering the business world. To make your resume stand out, you may need an extra edge, such as an advanced degree. - Acquire specialized knowledge in an area of interest
There are a number of online business schools offering MBAs with specialties in a variety of fields. This is an opportunity to distinguish yourself as an expert in your chosen field.
4) Benefit from networking opportunities
Learning is a communal experience, and in the pursuit of an MBA you will meet a variety of teachers and fellow students. What they all have in common is that they are serious, career-minded people -- just the sort of people who may be helpful to you in the future.
5) Learn from the experience and knowledge of others
You'll get a better view of the business world if you learn how to see through the eyes of others.
- Acquire the wisdom of those who have gone before you
We all learn from our experiences in the business world, but think of online business degrees as a way of accelerating that learning curve. MBA programs are generally oriented toward case studies, so you can benefit from the brilliance and the mistakes of those who have gone before you in the business world. - Apply lessons from other industries to your own
You may be working in an emerging field, where there are few precedents. One way to get ahead of your industry's life cycle is to study how the history of other industries can be applied to your own.
As with any educational program, you should check which online business schools are accredited by an organization recognized by Council for Higher Education Accreditation or the US Department of Education. With a properly accredited online MBA degree, you can continue to pursue your immediate job while helping your long-term career in some or all of the above five ways.