What is an MBA useful for?
An MBA is a Master in Business Administration degree and can be taken either full-time or part-time depending on the individual taking it. Some work full time alongside their studies and so the part-time option would be ideal for them.
An MBA is useful for professionals in corporate industries looking to further their skills and get a cutting edge to their competition in order to stand out and be the best they can be in the world of business.
The modules involved in learning an MBA differ, and they are aimed at particular types of industry, which changes the sort of theory and lessons taught, for example, what the latest software is in that sector, and so on.
The opportunity to work and study at the same time also gives an MBA a greater advantage over a degree in business, which can be studied part-time too, but as it’s a less specialist course the discipline of each module can vary greatly, making it a little more challenging to go from one module to the next with ease.
What is a degree in business useful for?
As the name suggests, a degree in business is useful for those working in the world of business, but it’s more useful to those who are looking to go into business in the future as the learning of the degree is usually mostly undertaken in a theoretical manner rather than a practical one.
A degree in business will teach you the administrative side of business as well as some of the marketing bits too, and they are useful in helping you decide if business is really what you want to be involved with, in the first place – it’s renowned for its difficult and high-demanding pressures.
That’s not to say creatives aren’t under pressure too, but they have a less structured and uniform way in terms of the working world, and so this allows for some flexibility that business and its administration does not. Sometimes, these can even be a legal requirement, and trying to be flexible around them would mean you would be breaking the law.
How is an MBA different from a degree in business?
The clues are in the titles – looking at an educational establishment like Hult International Business School for example, an MBA is a Master of Business Administration degree and a degree in business is simply a degree in business, meaning the tiers of these educational qualifications differ considerably.
It is also worth noting that an MBA is a degree at an advanced level, and a Business degree is a four-year undergraduate degree – meaning you have to have a Bachelor degree before moving on to do a more advanced MBA, although this doesn’t necessarily mean it has to be a business degree.
Business degrees usually consists of lectures and coursework and the student listens to the teacher who then marks the work completed from the lesson.
With MBAs, the student will have a learning environment in real-life as well as in the classroom, and so is expected to see their tutors more as mentors, as MBA students will usually be working already as a professional in their chosen sector and have some experience under their belts. It is common for MBA students to have held jobs before or during their MBA.
Should I do an MBA or a degree in business?
Whether or not an MBA is right for you comes down to your ambitions within the workplace and where you want to be in the future.
Typically, those who hold an MBA qualification do earn more than their counterparts who hold a BA, and though many people are happy with their positions, it’s worth noting that many jobs require a minimum of a BA, whereas there are others where it’s an absolute must to have graduated with an MBA – particularly in those sectors of work that require high-level management skills.
If however, you are looking to do a degree or an MBA, it’s worth heading online to find out for yourself what there is on offer and weigh up the pros and cons. It would be worth thinking about whether or not you want to work full time and study simultaneously, and if you do, it is up to you to decide if you can handle the pressure, or whether it would be worth jump starting your career and doing a degree in business instead.
Though it’s worth bearing in mind that you cannot do an MBA without a post-graduate degree under your belt first. However, that may be more expensive than simply taking a business degree, as MBA courses in the UK for a year can be on average £10,000 to £15,000, but at a top school like Oxford and Cambridge you’re looking at a cost more in the region of £45,000, about the same price of a good quality degree in business.