In the worlds of finance, marketing, entrepreneurship, and business, few credentials are as important as the MBA. An MBA can unlock new opportunities, and can equip businesspeople with the knowledge and information they need to build a successful company or get ahead in their current workplace.
But while some MBA students will opt to take time off to fully immerse themselves in their studies, others may want a more balanced approach that allows them to stay in their current position and workplace. For these students, the part-time MBA offers three distinct advantages:
Get a Credential That Means Something
Every industry has its own standards and requirements for advancement. Just as you cannot hope to practice law without a law degree, fulfilling your dream of working in a major corporation, or opening your own successful business, can be difficult to achieve without the right qualifications.
The MBA is one of the most internationally trusted degrees a businessperson can hold, and studying at a recognized program like the Lazaridis School of Business & Economics, which allows you the option to complete your MBA while working full-time, gives you the credentials you need to move forward in your career without needing to take a leave of absence from the company you work for.
Apply What You Learn, While You Learn It
Effective learning always requires a balance between theory and practice. A good full-time MBA will offer co-op placements to help students get the real-world experience they need to round out their education.
One of the main benefits of doing a part-time MBA designed to be pursued while working full-time is that you can learn the high-level concepts behind contemporary business practice on the weekend, and then see how they interact with your personal experience from Monday to Friday. If you enrol in a part time MBA program this winter you will be able to start applying what you learn in the classroom in your current workplace immediately.
A Sign of Dedication
On top of the practical advantages of getting your MBA without leaving your job, there is also the fact that working full-time while pursuing your degree demonstrates to your employer — and to any future employer — that you are a dedicated individual who has what it takes to finish a difficult project.
Studying while working is not easy, and being able to say that you have done so will show that you are a self-starter who is willing to make short-term sacrifices for long-term gain. Being able to tell that story in a job interview will only enhance the value of the degree itself.
Unlike a regular MA or M.SC, the MBA is designed to build off of experience you already have. Most MBA students have already spent several years in the workforce, and are going back to school to improve on a base of practical knowledge they have already built. In many cases, this means that MBA applicants are already building a career, and may not want to take time off to pursue full-time study.
For these students, a part-time MBA like the one offered at the Lazaridis School of Business & Economics is ideal insofar as it helps students gain the credentials they need while directly applying classroom learning to the real-world workplace.