What skills will an MBA give you?

Imagine this: you’ve worked at the same company for years, and you’re ready for a promotion. You’ve got everything you need to take on a senior role – experience, know-how, and a solid relationship with the manager. What could possibly go wrong?

When the time comes for the big boss to make their decision, you’re overlooked. But, why? Because they had something you didn’t – a variety of skills they got from completing or studying an MBA.

Australian Institute of Business (AIB) is a registered higher education provider with a wide range of high-quality tertiary programs for busy working adults – including Australia’s number one online MBA*, the Fast-Track MBA. With over 30 years of history, we’re one of Australia’s most established private education institutions, but we still pride ourselves on being future-focused and dedicated to continuous improvement.

So, what skills will an MBA give you that’ll help you land that management position? Read on to find out.

What is an MBA?

MBA stands for Master of Business Administration, and it’s an accelerated pathway to the career success you’ve always dreamt about.

In a nutshell, an MBA is the world’s most popular postgraduate management degree. Those who take the plunge graduate with fundamental management knowledge – meaning that they have a holistic view of how business works in industries such as marketing, finance and accounting. AIB also offers specialisations to gain in-depth knowledge in these areas while developing industry-specific skills.

Having an MBA on your resume will make you stand out to potential and current employers, build your business knowledge, grow your network, and boost your salary and employment status. Not bad for three little letters!

Learn more about our Fast-Track MBA and how it can benefit you.

What skills will an MBA give you?

Communication skills

According to LinkedIn’s Global Talent, ‘soft skills can make or break a company’ and good communication is one of the most important soft skills you can have.

How many hours of work have you lost through misunderstandings, mistakes and lack of accountability through poor communication? On the flip side, effective communication can boost your company’s productivity by 25%. Just think how much money a company can save with the right communication skills!

But becoming a strong communicator isn’t just about speaking well. It covers many  abilities, such as:

• Negotiating
• Active listening
• Public speaking and presenting
• Written communication
• Conflict resolution and mediation
• Emotional intelligence

Our Fast-Track MBA helps you develop your communication and interpersonal skills through practical and industry-based assessments. These projects are focused on giving you the skills to persuade and collaborate with others and implementing your own communication strategies.

Risk management skills

Every business owner knows that there’ll be some challenges at some point, but not everyone has the skills to foresee them before they become an issue. That’s where our MBA comes in.

Anticipating any potential difficulties and taking steps to resolve them minimises risk and can prevent unnecessary drama. It also puts you in a pretty unique position – after all, someone who can make clever, calculated decisions based on available data doesn’t come along every day.

Our Fast-Track MBA teaches you to make assessments based on the facts at hand and give informed, well-thought-out recommendations. This develops your analytical skills and increases your value to new employers.

Critical thinking skills

A recent survey by Brandon Hall Group claimed that critical thinking is the single most important skill for leaders and managers in all organisations. Why? Because being strategic in your thinking to formulate the best plan of action means that you can ensure that your company stays competitive – no matter what industry you’re in.

Critical thinking is the ability to analyse information objectively and make a careful and considered judgement based on the facts. And wouldn’t you know it – all the best organisation leaders have mastered it. Luckily for you, it’s a skill that can be taught through our MBA. At AIB, we put critical thinking into the heart of all our subjects, teaching you how to pull apart problems to get to the core issue. Our MBA will also sharpen your ability to:

• Make reasoned decisions
• Compare issues and challenges based on facts
• Tackle tricky situations
• Problem solve

Networking skills

What’s the most powerful tool in a leader’s toolkit? Is it their amazing interpersonal skills? Or is it their depth of knowledge and expertise? Nope – it’s their ability to network.

Good networkers show a sincere interest in their contacts and work hard to maintain those relationships. They also establish trust by sharing their knowledge with other people in their network – because every successful leader knows that no one is too important to learn new things.

So when a manager needs advice, a sounding board to bounce ideas off, or to find a new employee or consultant with a specific skill set, they turn to their highly-qualified and experienced network for guidance. An effective network should have:

• A diverse range of people from all backgrounds
• Links with people and groups you usually wouldn’t be able to connect with
• Dynamism – meaning that your connections evolve as you grow in your career

Our MBA teaches you how to build a strong network of supporters and introduces you to a whole team of people you wouldn’t have met before. And the best part? You get to work closely with them day after day as students, mentors and even graduates. Think of it as an instant family – without the dad jokes and awkward holiday dinners.

Delivered online with continual updates, innovations, and new releases, the Fast-Track MBA offers flexibility, industry insights, practical skills, and support to achieve your career goals. Learn how your new MBA skills can accelerate your career.

*AIB is Australia’s largest provider of Online MBAs; Source: 2019 Higher Education Statistics, Department of Education, Skills and Employment (DESE) (provided December 2020)