An MBA is a gateway to better career prospects and with that comes added responsibilities. As an MBA graduate, you will go on to become the manager of your team at work. This means leading everyone on the team and being accountable for everything. The success or failure of any project will be on you at the end of the day.
The first thing you need to know is everything about MBA eligibility. Generally, you need to be a graduate and have 50% marks in college.(This may differ for individual colleges). Moreover, even final year students can apply but the admission provided will be on a provisional basis.
A dual specialization in MBA can enhance your skill set even more, but that’s a conversation for another day.
To be successful in your career and stand out you need a set of skills, some of which you may already have but others that an MBA will imbibe in you or help improve further. The skills are as follows:
1. Business Acumen
Business Acumen is defined as keenness and quickness in understanding and dealing with a business situation that leads to the result you want. It is one of the most important skills an MBA grad should have.
Two years of MBA will definitely teach you how to handle certain situations that may arise in your career. However, it depends on you how quickly you learn and how you apply it in the real world.
The hallmark of a great manager is predicting what will happen beforehand and adapting to that to lead the team to a good outcome.
2. Communication Skills
You might think communication skills don’t matter. Let me tell you, you couldn’t be more wrong. Communication and interpersonal skills are crucial in today’s world. Every recruiter out there is looking for candidates with good soft skills.
Being able to communicate your point of view across to team members and clients effectively is worth its weight in gold.
You should strive to improve your soft skills and an MBA will help you do that.
3. Leadership
Leading a team is not easy. You will face challenges at every corner and fighting fires every day. The key is to lead from the front, let your team know you are with them, and support them to do their best.
Having a good relationship with your team is important as they need to be able to trust you. As you are working towards the same goal, everyone needs to be a team player.
Moreover, you need to know when to delegate and how to best make use of everyone’s abilities.
4. Strategic Analysis & Research
Coming onto technical know-how, an MBA grad should be good with numbers and research and be able to conduct market research to meet the end goal. An MBA will teach you the ability and skills needed to analyze any data and information to solve problems.
Strategic analysis means you have to have the foresight to look ahead and formulate effective plans to suit your needs. Being one step ahead of the competition is a key skill to have and an MBA will help you critically analyze situations.
5. Time Management and Decision Making
While pursuing your MBA degree you will constantly be juggling loads of assignments, projects, and exams at the same time. This will teach you the skill of prioritizing and time management.
Effectively managing your time and meeting deadline is essential in the corporate world. You can lose your job if you don’t meet deadlines and even your mental health will suffer if you cant separate your professional and personal life.
The other aspect is decision making. You need to be able to make the right decision at the right time and an MBA is the best preparation for this.
Conclusion
Being an MBA grad, you need to have a certain skill set to survive and thrive in the industry. These skills can be inherent in you or picked up during your MBA degree, what matters is that you utilize them properly.