Will A Master’s Degree In Business Management Improve Your Employment Prospects?

While most people already realise that there is a correlation between better career opportunities and a higher level of education, how much of an advantage does completing a master’s degree offer compared to completing an undergraduate qualification? And will completing a master’s degree help to improve your employment prospects?

The cost of education is a huge talking point in many countries worldwide and the conversation about whether or not taking on further study is worthwhile is hard to avoid. The answer isn’t always straight forwards, it depends on a number of external and individual factors, such as subject specialisation, the professional sector, and job market demand.

A survey of 4,000 students who were getting ready to apply for postgraduate degrees was recently completed. This survey found that approximately 75% of applicants were under the impression that having a graduate degree would improve their chances of employment. Is this belief justified? Read on to find out more:

The Global Demand for Skilled Workers is Growing

A recent study showed that there has been a huge growth in the demand for people who have STEM skills (STEM is an acronym for science, technology, engineering, mathematics) in Europe and the US. This has prompted countries like the US to provide immigrants who hold a master’s degree or a PhD in these areas with visas. It was shown in this study that there needed to be a 20-30% increase in the number of visas issued to immigrants in order to meet the growing demand of the economy. Overall STEM employment increased at 3 times the rate of non-STEM employment over the last 12 years and it’s expected to continue rising.

The Confederation of British Industry (CBI) also echoes this position. The CBI is a business lobbying organisation that publishes a wide range of data and also represents employers. In 2013, the CBI released a report called ‘Tomorrow’s Growth’, which spoke about the increased prospects in highly-skilled roles. This report anticipated that by 2020, nearly half of all employment will be for highly skilled workers.

In fact, studies have shown that the demand is already higher than expected and many businesses are reporting a major skills shortage in areas like engineering and manufacturing. This is expected to become even more evident as the economy expands. From this evidence, we can see that over the next few years, we will need many more people to achieve higher-level qualifications.

The House of Lords in the UK agrees with this. They published a report that acknowledged the important roles that postgraduates play in undertaking research and development, driving innovation and providing entrepreneurship and leadership. They also stated that the government needs to make it clearer to students what the benefits of postgraduate study are.

Around the world, we have heard of similar reports. For example, a recent report from India stated that graduates were in high demand and were sought after by the technical industries around the world. And it’s the same in the Gulf.

There is a Growing Demand for MBA and other Business Master’s Graduates

According to a survey completed by the Graduate Management Admission Council (GMAC), over 75% of the employers they surveyed were planning on hiring MBA graduates within the next 12 months. This is an increase of 4% from the previous year.

Another survey completed by the GMAC of MBA and other business master’s students found that over 60% of students around the world had been offered a job before graduating from their course. This percentage has continued to increase yearly for the last five years in almost all business master’s programs. China was found to have the highest percentage of job offers (75%), and the lowest was in Europe (55%), but even this figure suggests a clear majority. All of this data shows us that completing a Master’s Degree in business management can help to improve your job prospects.

Increased Employment Prospects for All Master’s Graduates

Recent figures in the UK suggested that 74% of people who completed a master’s degree were offered a job within six months: 56% at home, 13% abroad, and the other 5% combined working and studying. Compared to 72% of first degree students, where the breakdown is 63% at home, 3% abroad and 6% combining working with studying.

The US Bureau of Labour and Statistics recently produced a chart of unemployment rates and earnings by educational attainment, which showed the average rate of unemployment for master’s degree holders was 3.5%, in contrast to the rate of unemployment for bachelor’s degree holders, which was 4.5% and associate degree holders which was 6.2%. This chart also showed that the people who had master’s degrees were on a significantly higher wage – £1,050 per week, compared to associate and bachelor degree holders earnings of approximately £800 per week.

As you can see, the two most popular places for higher education, the UK and the US, both show better employment prospects for students who undertook a master’s degree. This evidence certainly looks encouraging.

However, you must also remember that it’s not just the degree itself, it’s how effectively you use it to show future employers you have the skills and knowledge they are looking for and what you do with it that matters. In other words, a master’s degree is not just an extra line to add to your CV, it can be used to help you progress up the career ladder.

Careers Available With a Business Degree

The combination of practical focus and academic challenge makes the idea of studying a business degree extremely appealing for people who are attracted to the collaborative and competitive learning environment.

Business graduates can go on to work in a number of different sectors, some of which you might not even associate with a career in business. Some of the obvious careers you can apply for once you have a business degree include roles in the finance or accounting departments, marketing and advertising departments and retail, human resources, sales, and business consultancy. The plenitude and diversity of careers available to students who have completed a master’s degree are one of the main reasons this subject is so appealing.

Another option would be to look into pursuing a career in an SME (small-to-medium-sized enterprises), work for a charity, innovative start-up or work for a non-profit organisation. If you have a clever idea and enough knowledge, then you might even think about starting up your own business.

Depending on your specialisation and your area of interest, these are some of the possible careers you could choose from:

• Trading
• Management consultancy
• Investment banking
• Advertising
• Bank management
• Teacher training
• Retail buying
• Chartered accountancy
• Retail management
• Sales
• Marketing
• Market research
• Public relations officer
• Personnel officer
• Distributions and logistics management

Salary Expectations for Business Degree Graduates

Earning potential is one of the main reasons people choose to complete a business degree. While you shouldn’t expect to receive a huge amount of money straight after graduation, the knowledge and skills you’ve learned from your business degree should help facilitate your career progression. This will help you to reach the higher-paid management positions in time.

However, having a business degree on its own doesn’t automatically mean that you will get a high salary – though graduating with strong grades from a good business school like Aston University is likely to provide you with a number of different opportunities and perhaps a significant salary. You’ll still be expected to prove yourself and understand that you’ll have to work hard if you want to achieve a high salary. You should also prepare yourself for a huge amount of competition along the way.

People who have completed a master’s degree will likely receive a higher salary. If receiving a large salary is extremely important to you, then you should consider researching the latest forecasts and trends for different business specialisations. You could also look into which regions around the world are reporting a high demand for business graduates.

The Transferable Skills You Could Learn During Your Business Degree

When you undertake a business degree, you will not only develop your knowledge of business operations and gain skills in your specific field, but you’ll also learn a number of transferable skills, which you can use for your career as well as in your everyday life. Some of the transferable skills you could gain during your business degree include:

• Strong communication skills (written and oral)
• An understanding of how an organisation operates
• Problem-solving
• Logical thinking
• Analytical and critical thinking
• Decision making
• Presentation and report writing skills
• Self-motivation, effective time management, and initiative
• Numeracy and an understanding of how to use and interpret data
• Project and resource management
• A good understanding of external changes affecting a business and economic fluctuations

Business degrees are one of the most popular fields of study around the world. Graduates are in high demand in almost every country worldwide because business touches on almost every aspect of modern society; this has led to careers in the business sector being paid highly. Taking a master’s degree in business management has been shown to only help improve your employment prospects.