What kind of job experience is considerable for MBA?

Many business schools prefer candidates with a minimum 2 to 5 years of work experience, which is ideal for an MBA program. Having professional experience in a huge corporate firm gives you a competitive edge. When applying for an MBA program, highlight all your achievements, skills, and qualities. An MBA degree looks for a professional experience which involves various leadership skills.

Every MBA aspirant might wonder if work experience helps in pursuing an MBA. The answer is yes. Having real world experience provides you with better insights into business and management studies. Professional work experience provides candidates with a certain level of maturity and managerial ability, which helps candidates become experts in the field.

Pursuing an MBA with prior work experience not only helps you plan your future better but also gives you an edge over others.

So, what kind of work experience is required for an MBA? Let’s figure out.

Is work experience important to enroll in an MBA program?

There is no rule about the requirement of work experience to pursue an MBA. However, most prestigious institutes prefer students with a minimum of two years of experience in the relevant field. The admission requirements of B-School varies. Some allow freshers to pursue an MBA, while some only have a few seats that the most experienced people fill.

Thus, it is better that before choosing an institute for MBA, you must research well about their experience requirements and select a school whose criteria you can match.

How many years of work experience is apt for you?

Pursuing an MBA degree with a professional work experience of at least one year will provide you with more practical approach and give you the best output of the course. Therefore, if we look at the placement reports of top business schools in India, they indicate that an average work experience of 2-3 years is ideal. These B-Schools also have candidates with up to 5 to 8 years of work experience. If you are looking forward to applying in for an MBA program, 2 to 5 years of work experience is considered an ideal work experience in most cases.

Is it okay to choose MBA after 2 years of work experience?

Yes, with a minimum of two years of work experience, candidates can successfully apply for all the MBA programs in India and abroad, which will also help them land in a high-paying job after completing the course. Hence, we can say that candidates having a professional work experience of at least two years are more likely to have a decent profile for an MBA. While pursuing an MBA degree, there are a lot of perks to having professional work experience as it helps you in learning and applying the concepts in real life.

Kind of work experience required for an ideal MBA?

None of the top B-School specifically mention the kind of experience that students or candidates must have. An MBA degree always welcomes students coming from diverse backgrounds along with their unique skills. No matter what kind of work experience you have, candidates need to possess leadership, problem-solving, and many other soft skills to get an edge during the MBA program. However, students with certain work experience may be preferred over others. There is a direct connection between work experience requirement for an MBA and the quality  of the program. These specialization courses include-

• MBA in finance
• MBA in marketing
• MBA in Digital Marketing
• MBA in Human Resources
• MBA in operations
• MBA in Healthcare Management
• MBA in Supply Chain Management
• MBA in Business Analytics
• MBA in Data Analysis

All of the above courses require thorough knowledge experience in  the relevant industry before entering the course. Ensure you have proper experience according to the stream you are willing to enter.

For example, if you want to pursue your career in MBA finance, you should have an experience according as an accountant or finance manager or analyst to gain a proper understanding of the subject and concepts.

What kind of work experience is suitable for an MBA?

Corporates vs Start-ups

A huge corporate firm can give you instant recognition, and the latter will not have to think twice while shortlisting a candidate with such a kind of corporate job experience.

However, if you can gain all the necessary skills while working with a start-up, it can act as a game changer during your MBA journey. But remember to educate the interviewers about your qualities and your skills acquired during the work experience. If you fail to do so, you might miss out on a few opportunities while succeeding in your career path.

Whether the candidate has experience working with a corporate firm or a start-up, all an MBA degree needs is a certain set of skills and the ability to effectively fulfill managerial responsibilities.

Family business experience

Indeed, a family business experience does not hold as much value or reputation as a corporate firm or a start-up. However, in some b-schools abroad, the family business experience is more important than an experience at a huge corporate firm.

It also depends upon what kind of family business you have. If you have a rapidly growing and lucrative family business, having an experience in it will make you stand out. If not, you must focus more on brushing up all your skills and qualities.

Internship experience

Do internships count as work experience for an MBA? Generally, internship experience is not necessarily counted as professional work experience when applying for an MBA program. However, doing an internship may add some value to your CV. Some universities consider internships as work experience.

If you are a fresher, doing an internship is the best way to highlight all your skills and qualities when undergoing the interview process. This may also help you to get a preference over the other fresher candidates during the selection procedure.

However, the value of your internship experience may vary depending on the nature of your internship and the type of organization. You will need to prepare to fit the exact criteria to reach your desired goals.

Part-time experience

Many students start working when in college. So, if you are a candidate with such part-time work experience, you might be wondering whether this kind of experience is considered for an MBA or not. Unfortunately, most b-schools do not count part-time experience for an MBA program. However, just like internships, part-time work experience may also be valuable to your CV.

At last, when it comes to pursuing an MBA degree, no kind of work experience is considered to be ideal. Whether a full-time corporate job, volunteering, or internship experience, an MBA degree looks for a work experience that portrays your most impressive qualities, skill sets, diversity, and uniqueness.