Which of the MBA Specializations Should I Choose?

The MBA, or Master of Business Administration to give it its full title, used to be the gold standard for anyone with the ambition to be a senior manager at a Fortune 500 company. Then as time went on, and more and more graduates noticed the power of this post-graduate course, it became increasingly common to hold an MBA. There were very limited MBA specializations at this time.

Because of the sheer numbers that enrolled, the power of the MBA to secure a top management job was diluted. This meant that the school that the individual enrolled in was increasingly used as a way to distinguish someone, and MBA rankings were keenly watched by employers and applicants alike. But schools worldwide stepped up their game, in particular those outside of the US, and employers saw that there was a lot of quality outside the Ivy League.

Another problem was that since students paid in excess of $100,000 for a high-quality two year MBA it was almost unheard of for someone to fail. Employers caught onto this and even started to ask for the details of the GMAT scores that job applicants had. This demonstrated a dwindling faith in the MBA itself.So now what sort of landscape do MBA graduates face? Basically they are going to have to try harder than just doing an MBA at a highly ranked school in order to impress employers. This is where the MBA specialization comes in. Whilst MBA specializations in finance, marketing, and international management, have always been commonplace, you can now secure them in fields as diverse as wine management and football industries. This means that students have an extra way to attract the attentions of employers.

The MBA has come a long way since the late nineteenth century, when it emerged to meet a need for people trained in the management of companies. It was thought that a scientific approach to management needed to be taken. Now we have reached a point where people need to be trained in very specific areas of management. If you want a Fortune 500 job, and the nice salary that goes along with a management position, then you should consider these MBA specializations. However, if you have entrepreneurial ambitions then you could be better off on investing school fees in a business of your own.

If you do go the MBA specialization route make sure that the school you select has been accredited by one of the three main accrediting bodies: Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB), Association of Collegiate Business Schools and Programs (ACBSP), or the International Assembly for Collegiate Business Education (IACBE).

For more information: http://hubpages.com/hub/MBA-Specialization