What can you do with an MBA?

Completing a Master of Business Administration (MBA) degree can open many doors for professionals looking to accelerate their career or make a significant change.

What you can do with an MBA goes well beyond accessing new pathways to senior leadership roles — though these are a significant benefit of doing an MBA. An MBA can create opportunities to enter new industries, land a role at a highly desirable employer and create new business opportunities.

Continue reading to learn more about what you can do with an MBA and the types of jobs the degree can lead to.

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• What can you achieve after earning an MBA?
• What jobs can you do with an MBA?

Because of their broad knowledge of business management and leadership skills, MBA graduates are highly sought-after candidates for many senior positions. Below are some of the types of jobs you can do with an MBA.

C-Suite Executive

An MBA focuses on developing well-rounded senior business leaders. Completing an MBA is an effective pathway to traditional C-suite roles such as:

• Chief Executive Officer
• Chief Operating Officer
• Chief Financial Officer
• Chief Marketing Officer
• Chief Technology Officer

But as organisations grow and adapt in a fast-moving environment, MBA graduates are also seen as strong candidates for a wider range of C-level positions including:

• Chief Data Officer
• Chief Product Officer
• Chief Risk Officer
• Chief Sustainability Officer

Management Consulting

Management consultants play vital roles in growing and transforming many organisations, large and small. Leaders and executive teams will often rely on management consultants when they are struggling to resolve complex problems, need to achieve a new level of growth, make a strategic change or would benefit from an outside perspective.

Unsurprisingly, management consulting is an ideal career pathway for MBA graduates. The broad knowledge that students gain through the degree equips them well for this work, and makes them attractive candidates for big firms like McKinsey & Company, KPMG, Deloitte, PWC, Accenture and others.

Head of Engineering

For an engineer looking to advance to a more senior leadership role, holding an MBA can be seen as a considerable asset, as well as preparing you for the additional responsibilities that a position like Head of Engineering will entail.

An MBA can be particularly valuable in fields like engineering, software development and technology. It is able to help graduates make connections between engineering challenges, finance and organisational challenges.

Similar career opportunities for MBA graduates include Head of Product and Vice President of Research and Development.

Investment Analyst

An MBA with a specialisation in finance equips graduates to master corporate finance, investments, markets and institutions, while deepening their understanding of the relationships between finance and all other business areas.

As well as creating pathways to senior finance roles within organisations, earning an MBA as a finance specialist can open up opportunities for graduates to move into investment banking.

Similar career opportunities for MBA graduates include Business Analyst, Research Analyst or Portfolio Manager.

Program Director

Project managers are among the people who can benefit most from earning an MBA. Developing strategic, operational and holistic all-of-business acumen through studying an MBA gives graduates the tools required to make the leap from managing projects to managing programs and portfolios across an organisation.

Similar career opportunities for MBA graduates include Chief Risk Officer, Business Analyst and Management Consultant.

Operations Manager

Operations management is an extremely broad and important responsibility within any business. It is concerned with maximising the business’s efficiency, and by necessity touches on many aspects of the business.

Successful Operations Managers need a firm understanding of costs and revenue, processes, logistics and supply chain, as well as possessing strong systems thinking skills. A Master of Business Administration – such as the AIB MBA in Logistics & Supply Chain Management – provides graduates with these skills and prepares them for leadership roles in operations.

Similar career opportunities for MBA graduates include Supply Chain Manager and Procurement Manager.

Head of People and Culture

A holistic understanding of how a business operates is a valuable attribute for any leader in Human Resources to possess. An MBA is the ideal pathway for an HR professional to advance their career and become a vital strategic partner within their business.

Undertaking an MBA specialising in Human Resources can provide you with the tools to improve the people aspects of an organisation to maximise its performance.