Studying MBA Abroad – Is It Worth?

In today’s globalized world, an MBA is considered to be a must-have for many positions in the fields of Management, Marketing, Finance or Consulting. This once add-on qualification is now expected to be an elementary qualification needed to screen candidates.

So, before we debate on whether an MBA abroad is worth your time and effort, let’s make an effort to understand the motivations of doing an MBA, what it entails and what you need to do in order to get this coveted degree on your resume.

MBA is a specialized degree that successfully navigates you through the world of business and finance while imparting knowledge of how the world works. The motivations of doing an MBA can be to widen your horizon and to understand the nitty-gritty of making decisions that have wide ramifications across industries.

Any candidate that is interested to step into this world has to have an analytical bent of mind, strong will power and above all else, the financial backing in the form of debt or savings.

Benefits of Studying MBA Abroad

The following enhancements can be expected in your career if you wish to pursue your MBA course abroad:

Confidence to Engage with any Part of the World

An MBA degree abroad can lead you to interact with people from all walks of life, across various academic backgrounds. A harmonious relationship with a slew of professionals across business, law, medicine, engineering, arts, technology and others can give you the confidence to connect with almost everyone in the world.

You may as well end up doing business with a foreign country, which makes it imperative to learn people management skills while being confident in your own abilities.

Experience to Work Internationally

An MBA can take you places, quite literally so. An international working experience lets you learn an unknown language, interact with native people, business leaders as well as other international students who are part of the expat workforce.

While incorporation a great amount of versatility, the international experience makes you a savvier business person.

Learning Diverse Ways to Conduct Businesses

It remains a fact that no two countries have the exact set of business practices or deal-making styles. International experience in terms of MBA as well as working career makes you grasp a style that is different from your own while enabling you to make the best of both worlds.

Emerging Market Experience

There are certain skills for MBA candidate that are learnt only by visiting a foreign country. In such cases, if you are studying for your MBA abroad, you will be in good stead to grasp this skill. If this country turns out to be an emerging economy, you can expect a major skills upgrade and a hefty compensation from employers in lieu of your experience.

The Trade-offs of Pursuing an MBA Abroad

One of the biggest pitfalls while opting for an MBA abroad is the opportunity cost associated with the program and the associated cost. This is especially a bigger concern for professionals who are working at various corporations.

Should you leave a high-paying job at the lure of a potential better working opportunity? Or should you stay put and enrol in an in-house or distance learning MBA course to give that shiny degree a place on your resume.

The various reasons professionals and other candidates opt-out of the MBA races are:

The Burden of Debt

Any MBA worth it’s salt these days comes with a hefty fee attached to it. As demand for qualified MBAs grows and companies outsmart each other to pay top-notch salaries to candidates, the course will only cost more in the future. This high cost entails the burden of substantial debt on the shoulders of most candidates.

Unless you have saved enough for a debt-free MBA experience, it may not seem worth for many working candidates to lose their pay for a span of one or 2 years while also incurring a big amount of debt for an MBA; a double whammy most people might steer clear of.

Multiple Ways to Get Ahead in Your Career

Even though MBA is celebrated as the only gateway to success when it comes to climbing the corporate ladder, the fact remains that many employers encourage their people to undergo a similar level of skill-building while holding out to their usual business activities.

This includes frequent pieces of training, workshops, working at different business units, geographical locations and more, so that management can be developed in-house instead of recruiting a complete outsider to helm their state of affairs.

This way, you could be hired as an engineer and work your way up to the higher echelons of any firm that constantly trains and skills you into the art of managing a company.

Lack of Ample Post-MBA Opportunities

Another rouse that is common among MBA candidates is the dearth of quality jobs and high-paying opportunities after completion of their coursework. Most candidates expect a job opportunity that enables them to service their MBA tuition fee debt while getting on with the course of normal life.

However, this may not always come true, as high debt burden coupled with subsequently higher compensation expectations dampen the spirit of candidates if they are not successful.

To conclude, studying an MBA, whether at your home or abroad, can be the biggest investment of your academic life. To incur this expense and getting a decent return on the investment requires you to be diligent, skilled and street-smart. The rigours of the course also demand a zen-like focus on academic and industry goals for an extended period of time.

This way, things may turn out to be different depending on whether you are currently employed at a major corporation or undergoing graduate studies. In the latter category, the opportunity cost can be lower, but an increase in your debt burden can dampen spirits. For a working professional, the costs are much higher, in the form of a drag in regular earning and increased expectations from oneself.

In both cases, careful consideration of your strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and challenges can help you decide whether pursuing the MBA is worth your time, effort and capital.