Forum: General Forum (33 Comments)

MBA or Master in Management?

  • Posted by - thomas.graf - on 6 November 2018 - 4:05pm

    Hello,

    in general, I recommend you to read my eBook "Business Masters: How you find the best Master in Management or MBA" carefully. This will deepen your knowledge and on masters a lot and provide you with useful tools on how to select schools strategically.

    Regarding your question, I always recommend to go beyond saying "I want top have a good "job". Instead, I recommend specifying

    (1) what kind of job you want? - e.g., do you want to be a finance expert or do you want to be a consultant?
    (2) which industry? - it doesn't make sense to apply at schools if no company from your target industry recruits there
    (3) which potential employers? - it doesn't make sense to apply at schools if none of your target employers recruits there
    (4) your interest? - doesn't make sense to enroll in a finance program if finnace bores you.

    THIS ANALYSIS should be the starting point for your decision in favor or against a specific program type and school eventually.

    A key question, for example, will be: Do you want a general management education (MIM or MBA) or do you want to acquire competence as an expert in a specific business field (MSc in Finance etc.)?

    Next, forget about the Master in Management (MIM). This is for graduates without work experience. If you want a general management degree, the MBA is your program type.

    If you go for a MSc in Finance, make sure you go for a post-experience MSc in Finance - check the Financial Times Ranking for this.

    Finally, if you decide for the MBA (=a general management degree) and still want some focus on finance, choose a school that offers you many electives in finance-related subjects such as banking, finance, financial economics etc. Most MBA programs offer a perdiod where students can select their own courses (electives) from a total list of courses offered and when you choose many finance courses here, you build up competence without studying a Msc in Finance.

    Now, again: Read my eBook - and then feel free to come back with questions.

    Best regards,
    Thomas

    By Thomas Graf
    Owner MIM Compass
    Author of the MIM eBook

  • Posted by - Adil Khan - on 2 November 2018 - 1:28pm

    Dear Thomas Graf....

    I am writing to you with great interest and seeking your valuable advice. I am 28 years old and have done Bachelor in Business Studies (16 years education). I have 2 years work experience in UAE and 1 year in Pakistan. Now I want to apply for Master's degree at any good university in Italy for 2019-2021 session but the problem is I am stucked in subject selection. I like 2 subjects and can't decide which one to select? 1 is MIM and 2nd is Master in Finance. Do suggest me which one is good for me or evergreen in job finding?

    Where I want to see myself in Future:

    I just want to complete my master degree and then have a good job whether it's an office job in a company or a teaching job back there in Italy and want my degree to have job scope anywhere in the world (if I migrate). Also whether my professional career after Masters go well or not, I have a 2nd thought to do Phd in the same subject and does not want any trouble in admission because of Master degree. At recent, Phd is on hold and its in my mind may be I will do or may be not but if I want to do then I dont want any trouble.

    Waiting for your decisive opinion.

    Thanks in advance

    Regards
    Talha Ahmad Khan
    Pakistan

  • Posted by - Denise - on 23 October 2010 - 10:13pm

    Hello,

    my name is Denise. I am 21 years old and wonder what is better for my career after my bachelor: MBA or Master in Management?

    Thanks
    D.

    • Posted by - vijay ch - on 17 June 2012 - 4:34pm

      thank u for your valuable suggestion, I have found out that university of st. gallen (switerzland) and WHU (germany) are suitable. But my carrer plan is to do job from a good company at a higher level than start up my own. But will the masters from these institutes will fetch me a good job atleast the position higher than what my present degree will provide me, and also the network that I will have?

      • Posted by - Thomas Graf - on 17 June 2012 - 5:00pm

        Hi Vijay,

        I recommend you to

        • check the statistics (student class and companies) of both schools' websites
        • and contact the schools to ask about where the graduates find a job later on

        Then you can better assess if this is the career benefit you are looking for.

        Keep in mind that it is difficult to answer a broad question such as "I want to find a better job than what I have now" or something similar. There are thousand answers to this question. Therefore I recommend you to become more precise in your career planning:

        • In which country or area do you want to work?
        • In which industry do you want to work?
        • What tasks or functions do you want to do?
        • Which employers are your favorites?

        With this career lens you can approach the schools and screen them specifically with respect to their potential input on your career.

        Moreover: Both, the University St Gallen and the WHU - Otto Beisheim School of Management are renowned institutions and their Masters in Management (MIM) are top-ranked in the Financial Times MIM Ranking.

        Finally, we offer a Direct Contact option to the WHU. You can click on the REQUEST INFO Button in our School Contacts Section and ask for more information directly at the WHU Admissions Office.

        best wishes
        Thomas

    • Posted by - Thomas Graf - on 15 June 2012 - 10:14pm

      Hi Vijay,

      let's first have a look at your objective options: RIGHT NOW you can

      • either go for a Master in Management (MIM)
      • or for a specialized Master (e.g. MSc in Finance, MSc in Entrepreneurship etc.)
      • or try to start your professional career by applying at a company (and maybe do an MBA later)

      You can not do an MBA right now because Masters of Business Administration are for Professionals with at least 2 years of work experience (I even recommend doing the MBA not before having a minimum of 3 years). Please have a look at our article on the Difference between MIM and MBA.

      Now let's try to assess each of these options a bit more:

      • Master in Management (MIM): If you go for this option be sure to choose a MIM program that REQUIRES a first degree in business or economics. These programs build on your existing knowledge and are thus much better suited for you than MIM programs that are open for graduates from any discipline. Our Search Engine is the only one in the world that allows to search for MIM programs that require a first degree in business or economics and those that are open.
      • Specialized Master: Since you want to become an entrepreneur a Master in Innovation or Entrepreneurship may be an interesting option for you. Although I don't think that you need to do a Master to become a good entrepreneur (instead you need to have some capabiities such as creativity and the "heart of an entrepreneur" ) a Master can provide you with some special knowledge and a network of other entrepreneurs.
      • Career start: Finally, you may want to consider starting your career right now. It depends on your current career preferences and career options. Do you want to start a job in a company now? Do you have the option to do it (or to work as an entrepreneur right now)?. Whether you go for an MBA later on is totally irrelevant by the way. You can decide in some years. If you feel like needing or wanting it THEN fine. If not fine.

      So, I think I have given you some food to think about now. Take the time to sort these things out and then take a step further - either studying or working.

      Best wishes
      Thomas

    • Posted by - vijay ch - on 15 June 2012 - 7:07pm

      Hello,
      Am a graduate in bachlor of commerce (honours), as my cource curriculum i had all management
      subjects and I want to have a postgraduation from a reputed institution but stuck up whether to go for a mim or mba. I recently completed my graduation and my long term goal is to be a global entrepreneur. As of now I have joined my family business and experiencing many challenges in the business market.

    • Posted by - runi - on 23 April 2012 - 12:39pm

      Hi Thomas,

      thanks for your reply.Well,I am still in a dilemma as I can't wait for more than an year now.What do you think?

      I do not want to go for colleges that are not really good.

      Can you suggest me colleges (UK) that are good and accept two years of experience.

      Ans as far as MIM is concerned,I really do not know how to figure out the prospects of job in India after MIM.

      How to go about things!This is such a fix!

      • Posted by - Thomas Graf - on 23 April 2012 - 5:35pm

        Hi Runi,

        as I said in my previous comment: You decide about the timing. If you want to do a Master now then I would apply for a MIM now since most of them start in fall (the most in September actually).

        As for the work experience,
        ...every MIM program would accept 2 years.
        ...If you still want to go for an MBA I can not tell you the schools that accept 2 years. I recommend you to take the Financial Times Ranking (Top 100) Global MBA ranking as a starting point and screen the websites of the UK schools to find those that accept people with 2 years.

        Which schools are "good"?
        The FT Rankings - either the MBA Global Ranking or the Master in Management Ranking - are good starting points to assess "good" schools. Another approach is: Visit the schools' websites and check the statistics about which companies recruit at the campus and where do the graduates end up. Another one is contact the schools and get in touch with the career offices - ask them they same questions.

        Finally, career options in India:
        My recommendation is: Check the schools' statistics and talk to the schools - how many graduates from India do they have? And where do these Indians work later on? Second, contact firms in India that you like and ask them if they have preferred UK schools to recruit from.

        With these recommendations I think you have everything you need to move on now. I am aware that it takes time and energy to find out these information. But no one else can do it except you by yourself. And I think that taking the effort to find this information now and according to the structured approach that I outlined you eventually will pay-off.

        Best wishes
        Thomas

        • Posted by - runi - on 26 April 2012 - 11:38am

          Hi thomas,
          Thanks for the reply.Hope I take the right decision!

          I would get back to you in case I have any queries further.

        • Posted by - Thomas Graf - on 24 April 2012 - 10:23am

          Hi Runi,

          an important advantage of this website is also that we offer you direct contacts to people in the admissions department of some schools. You can contact them directly, ask your questions, ask for information material, or kindly ask if they could bring you in touch with students or alumns.

          You find these contacts in our School Contacts section.

          Since you are interested in UK schools, Hult International Business School, Warwick Business School, Ashridge Business School, and Manchester Business School may be interesting for you.

          All of them offer MBA and MIM programs. Even if you should not start a Master at these schools, with these contacts you may have a first step into the educational landscape in the UK and get a sense of how programs work and which career options you can expect.

          Best wishes
          Thomas

    • Posted by - runi - on 20 April 2012 - 10:18am

      Hi Thomas,
      It is really good to see your impeccable dedication towards the queries and concerns that people come up with.I am going through a rough phase as I am in dilemma like a lot of other people out there.I completed my graduation last year,june 2011(Bachelor of technology-4 years). Since then I have been working with a leading MNC as software engineer ,but this is not for me,I feel.I am sure I can do my best,if I steer towards management.

      I have always wanted to do an MBA,but my work experience is less.The other option is MiM.I am, particularly,talking about the UK.

      I would return back to India(where I belong) after completing my post-graduation.

      I am confused ,as to what I should go for.MBA,I feel,is better.But I have only 1 year of work experience.So ,for that,I would have to wait for another year and go for fall 2013.I would be starting my MBA in 2013 fall(a 2-year work experience at the time of commencement).

      I have been a good student,a leader,a captain through my entire schooling.

      I do not know the importance and value of MiM which I can go for this year itself.I do not know the job prospects after it...

      Kindly, help me get out of this dilemma.

      Thanks and Regard,
      Runi

      • Posted by - Thomas Graf - on 20 April 2012 - 5:09pm

        Hi Rudi,

        thank you for your post. You indeed have two options, going for an MIM now or for an MBA in one year - at least to those programs that accept people with two years of professional experience (3 years ususally is minimum).

        As to my best knowledge there is no study so far that compares the career trajectories of people with MIM and those from people with MBA. Therefore it is very difficult to anticipate which degree will be more beneficial for you at the end of the day. Therefore I provide some rationals to deal with this level of uncetrainty:

        1. The general idea behind MIM and MBA is: The MIM is to START a career wheras the MBA is to develop your career. Therefore, MIMs are postgraduates, often between 23 and 26 whereas MBAs are professionals, often between 28 and 32 of age. Accordingly, the positions offered to MIM graduates and MBAs often are different - positions for people without experience and positions for people with professional experience ("experienced hires").
        1. The MBA still appears to be better recognized. It simply exists for decades and more people, for instance in the HR departments, know about it. On the other side, also MIM programs aim at placing their graduates. Therefore, your career options with one or the other degree likely depend on the career service quality of the respective school and its network.

        My personal recommendation is:
        Do what you need NOW and don't close yourself towards future options. If you are not happy with your current job situation and have the resources for an MIM go for an MIM. You likely will develop new motivation, you will learn something, and both together (new motivation and knowledge) will increase your career options. Just make sure that you find a school that offers you either good firm connections or that is known in India where you wanna work later on. And if you find out in 2, 3, 4, or more years that your education is not sufficient THEN you can still go for an MBA (fulltime, parttime, or Executive).

        OR

        You are kind of okay with your current job situation. Then why doing a Master NOW? Why not waiting one or two more years - see if things change - and keep in mind the MBA option.

        Does this help you in seeing things clearer?

        Best wishes
        Thomas

    • Posted by - - on 21 January 2012 - 2:06pm

      Hi...

      I am in my final year of UG. But, i have these doubts...

      • Should I do a MIM right now ?
      • or Should I work for someime and then do an MBA ?

      • Posted by - Thomas Graf - on 21 January 2012 - 4:32pm

        Dear Gughan,

        thank you for your question.

        First of all, people with an engineering background are exactly the people that business schools are looking for:

        • as for Master in Management (MIM) programs, you need to search for programs that do not require a business or economics degree (for this we have a filter in our search engine)
        • for MBA, you don't need to filter because ANY MBA is open for people with engineering bakcground

        So, the combination of engineering and Management (whether MIM or MBA) is good!

        So, what do I recommend you? My idea is: risk-reduction and option increase:

        1. Risk reduction
        If you do an MIM now you may miss a decent job opportunity and don't know what happens after the MIM. So, why not taking this job opportunity (PROVIDED that you like the job)?

        2. Option increase
        Let's have a look on your options:
        a) do an MIM now (by the way you can stil go for an MBA later on even if you have done an MIM)
        b) start a job
        b1) if you don't feel comfortable in your job after 6 or 12 months, you can still do an MIM
        b2) if you stay in your company you can maybe climb up the career ladder even without a Master
        b3) if you stay in your company you can change your company later on
        b4) if you stay in your company you can do a fulltime MBA
        b5) or you can do a part-time MBA or Executive MBA later on

        Bottom line: If you current job offer is satisfying for you, I would take it - KNOWING that you still have all options. If you do not feel satisfied with your current job options (and if you have the resources for a Master) I would go for a Master.

        I hope this outline of your options helps your decision making process.

        Best wishes
        Thomas

    • Posted by - mallikanarang - on 28 August 2011 - 3:23pm

      Hey!

      I was very keen on doing a MiM after my undergrad as I do not have work experience and would like to go into the management field. I feel MiM will give me an edge over others. Plus I will get the grounding in management that I do not have as I am an econ major.

      My question was that after doing a MiM and then working for some a couple of years, can I do a MBA? WIll I be eligible as I would have already done a masters in management? From what I have heard MiM is more theoretical but gives you a good career start. Whereas MBA is more practical and good for higher positions in companies. I am keen on doing both, but want to know if it makes sense? Or will it be a waste of time?

      Thanks.
      Mallika.

      • Posted by - Thomas Graf - on 29 August 2011 - 1:45am

        Hi Mallika,

        thank you for your question. In general, there is no problem to study both a Master in Management (without having professional experience) and an MBA after some years in business.

        A similar question came up regularly when European educational systems still had 5-year diploma programs instead of today's Bachelor and Master system. People asked: Does it make sense to do an MBA with a five-year diploma in Business already done? And the answer is Yes.

        Of course it depends on the personal preferences. And of course you may find the beginning of the MBA program easier and even filled with some redundancies. But this will change over time and you will learn a lot from the practical approach of an MBA program the longer the program goes.

        In addition, I would make sure that you choose an MBA program with a lot of internationality and people from different industrial branches. The three letters M B A are used to depict many different programs that all call themselves Master of Business Administration but are different in many respects. One of these differences indeed is the degree of internationality.

        For someone who is only or primarily interested in acquiring management knowledge MBA-programs without an international focus may be sufficient. But for you (with a MIM program already done) the additional advantages of an MBA - international experience etc. - may be even more important than for someone without that academic background. So my advise is: Choose that MBA that gives you the most (even beyond pure knowledge).

        For the moment, however, I would not care about MBAs to be honest. If I follow you a Master in Management is your next step - and you will see automatically overtime whether or not you still want to do an MBA later on.

        For your info: Here is an article about the differences between the MBA and the Master in Management.

        Best wishes
        Thomas

        • Posted by - mallikanarang - on 29 August 2011 - 11:00am

          Thank you soo much! This has really helped clear my doubts. :)

    • Posted by - User - on 3 August 2011 - 12:09am

      Hi Thomas,

      That really is good news. I will put some effort in receiving a good GMAT score. However, I might not have an influence on the type of work experience gained before starting an MBA. Does it necessarily has to be some sort of leadership experience? Starting an MBA with 2+ years of work experience probably means that I might lack of experience in this regard.

      Best wishes
      M.

      • Posted by - Thomas Graf - on 3 August 2011 - 12:43am

        Hi M.,

        there are two main reasons why people do an MBA:

        1. They are already in a leadership position and need more knowledge and capabilities to be successful in their role.

        2. They want to qualify for a leadership position.

        Of course there are many other reasons but these are the two main ones. Most fulltime MBA students are in group 2. This means that you don't need leadership experience. Leadership experience is required only for Executive MBAs.

        Best
        Thomas

    • Posted by - User - on 2 August 2011 - 11:23am

      Hi Thomas,

      once again, thank you very much! This is really a great website and most helpful for people trying to identify the right postgraduate program. I truly appreciate having the possibility to talk to an expert like you are.

      I am really interested in starting an MBA after 2-3 years of professional experience, that would be 2012/2013. How would you evaluate my chances to be admitted to a business school with outstanding reputation like for example Insead, IE etc. or on a national level business schools like the HHL?. As I mentioned, I hold a Bachelor degree in Business Administration from a "Berufsakademie", that is a three-year program of simultaneously studying and working. I am aware, that this is not a degree with the highest reputation because of the fact that it is only a 3 year part-time program. However, I was able to graduate at the top of my class. My guess is that the GMAT will probably play a a decisive role. What do you think?

      Do you know graduates from a university of cooperative education that have been admitted to such a program?

      Thank you for the hint regarding the "e-fellows.net MBA Day". I applied last week but haven't received an answer yet.

      Best wishes
      M.

      • Posted by - Thomas Graf - on 2 August 2011 - 6:33pm

        Hi M.,

        of course I can't speak for every school but my general impression is that the German Berufsakademie-Bachelor (Dual Studies) is fully recognized. Key for your admission will be your work experience after graduation and your GMAT score.

        Furthermore, I quickly had a conversation with Mrs Jana Vogel from the HHL Leipzig today and she allowed me to cite her: "Der BA-Abschluss ist bei uns als Zugangsvoraussetzungen sowohl für den M.Sc. als auch den MBA-Programm anerkannt. Bei den part-time MBA müsste man schauen, wieviele ECTS der Kandidat hat, da müsste er/sie eventuell ein Vormodul belegen (bei 180 ECTS). Aber generell sind uns BAler herzlich willkommen und wir haben auch sehr gute Erfahrungen mit diesen Absolventen gemacht. "

        Best wishes
        Thomas

    • Posted by - User - on 27 July 2011 - 12:37pm

      Hi Thomas,

      first of all, thank you very much for your advice from April 08, which was very helpful. I kind of like the idea to first exploit the opportunities in my job and then go for a prostgraduate MBA (fulltime) as soon as I have the respective work experience to apply.

      As I mentioned above, I hold a Bachelor degree in Business Administration and I am wondering if a fulltime MBA is the right choice for someone with a degree in Business Administration. You often hear that a MBA is intended for engineers for example, seeking to gain knowledge in Business Administration. Does it make sense for me to do such a program? I am just not sure how companies appreciate an academic career like this.

      Best wishes
      M.

      • Posted by - Thomas Graf - on 27 July 2011 - 4:51pm

        Hi M.,

        I am happy that you could progress in your decision-process regarding postgraduate education.

        As, for your question, I don't see any problem in doing an MBA (or a Master in Management) with an undergraduate degree in business.

        First, having a look on the statistics most MBA-programs include people from all academic disciplines and roughly 20% have a background in business or economics. This is my rough impression after doing an EMBA and after doing business with MBA-schools for many years. But if you are in doubt, ask the admissions office of your favorite business schools to give you the student statistics of last year's cohort.

        Second, from my personal experience people with an academic background in business has some slight redundancies in the beginning. However, these redundancies were only for a short period of time and only in SOME courses, not in all. From the beginning on, an MBA - if it is an internatinally focussed and recognized program - provide your with a unique experience. For example, you will learn through the case study teaching method, you will learn from the practitioner's point of view with academic tools, you acquire leadership skills and experience group dynamics, you will participate in discussions with people from different countries, which pushes your intercultural capabilities, and you will be exposed to new integrative courses (e.g. Marketing and Strategy) that you did not have in your undergraduate program and so on.

        Third, I made the experience that people with a German 5-year business diploma never got bored by the program - so I am pretty sure that you will not get bored either.

        Fourth, I also don't see any problem with employers. I know that people who start their career in the McKinsey Fellow Program work for 2 years as a consultant and then do an MBA or a Doctoral degree. The MBA is fully recognized as postgraduate education (again: provided that the school is accepted by the employer) no matter what you have studied in your undergrads.

        Lastly, if you want to get into contact with schools and ask exactly these questions I recommend you to apply for the event "e-fellows.net MBA Day" in Frankfurt.

        Best wishes
        Thomas

    • Posted by - Thomas Graf - on 25 June 2011 - 3:20pm

      Hi Suprith,

      thank you for your question. Let me try to guide you back to the main question: What do you want? More precisely: Which goals do you want to pursue with a postgraduate education?

      And then let's have a look, which program offers you the tools and means that you need for reaching your goals. Finally, we need to distinguish between programs who require and who do not require work experience.

      1. Goals
      A useful distinction when thinking about postgraduate management programs is the one between GENERALIST and EXPERT.

      • Do you want to be a generalist who has an overview and understands a lot on many (management) areas (but lacking the depth in each single topic)?
      • Or do you wanna be an expert in or two fields while lacking knowledge in other fields that are less interesting for you?

      You do not need to answer that question for a lifetime. For example, you can become an expert in a specific function (e.g. engineering) and become a general manager later. Or even, though maybe less proliferated, you may go the other way round. Key today is what you want to become at the next step in your career.

      2. Program types: broad or specific
      As a rule of thumb, MBA and Master in Management or Business Programs are GENERAL management programs. They may offer you a certain specialization by offering electives in the second part of the studies but the core idea is to provide you with an overview on the most important management disciplines.

      In contrast, the Master in IT Management, Data Management, or Management Science are SPECIALIZED management programs. They may also cover areas beyond their core discipline but the idea here is to provide you with expert knowledge in one area.

      3. Program types: professional exprience
      Also regarding the requirements there is a rule of thumb. MBAs require work experience (and should do so in my opinion as this is part of their profile), Masters in Management and specialized Masters do not.

      Now, with these three dimensions you have a model to screen the education landscape. You will find exceptions:

      1. Programs who are named MBA but in fact offer a specialization
      2. Programs who are named MBA but are open for students without work experience.
      3. Programs who are Masters in Management or specialized Masters who require work experience
        etc.

      Actually, this is not important. Important is in my opinion that you have the three dimensions like a lense on your mind, decide what you want and then screen the landscape, pick out 3 to 5 programs and contac them for refined investigation (for example on their experience with Indians and career opportunities).

      Now let's match the three dimensions with you. From the distant perspective, my impression is:

      1. Narrow or broad goals? You want an EXPERT education in IT-Management for the moment.

      2. Narrow or broad programs? So you want specialized programs. Now search for them - whether they call themselves Masters of Science or MBA (I would prefer Masters of Science as they seem to provide a better fundamental knowledge which may be important for your career start). You can use our Program Focus Filter to search for them.

      3. Work experience? You don't have work experience. So you are not developing or enhancing a career - instead, you want to optimize your chances to START a career. Now look for programs who require work experience (again, Masters will be your primary object - not MBAs). You can use our Entry Requirements Filter to search for them.

      I wish you all the best and hope that my answer helps you.

      Best wishes
      Thomas

    • Posted by - supersuppi - on 25 June 2011 - 2:09pm

      Hi Thomas sir...im from india..just finished my Engineering in Computer Science and i want to do post graduation and im interested in MBA(IT) and Ms(IT management)...

      i hav no work experience(zero)...but some college provide mba for freshers(from State university )...will it be gud to pursue mba with out work experience....will i get good jobs after completing my mba..

      or should i go for MS in IT Management...will i get gud jobs after having ms from Manipal university..karnataka..india...

      so i need ur advise...im not interested in coding but i hav gud knowledge about computer and softwares ...im interested in jobs like system analyst, information system manager etc.....which degree help me...waiting for ur valuable answers...thanku

    • Posted by - Thomas Graf - on 8 April 2011 - 11:04pm

      Hi M.,

      thank you for your feedback. Feels good to hear that you like the MIM-Compass. As for your question, my personal opinion is:

      1. A bachelor is good, I like the idea.
      2. The "Berufsakademie" is good, I like the dual system in Germany.
      3. But in my opinion both are not sufficient for ambitious people.

      Accordingly, I can very well understand your thoughts about how to further develop your skills, qualifications, and competences and maybe also a bit the "impression management potential" of your CV. A postgraduate program in Management seems to be a good decision.

      So far, so good. My next opinion is that unless you have a very good job with a lot of development opportunities, e.g. through a formalised leadership development program, I would go for a fulltime program.

      • If you are in a strong position in your company, if you enjoy your job, if you have exciting opportunities in the next years, I would first exploit them and then decide for a prostgraduate program (fulltime) in some years, in that case for an MBA as this is the right program for people with professional experience.
      • If you want to begin a new program soon (within the next 12 months), however, you can go for a Master in Management (an MBA usually requires 3 years of professional experience)

      In both cases, however, I would go for a fulltime program (unless your job pushes you so much forward and is so much satisfying that you simply "can't" leave).

      To sum it up: Your opportunities regarding a fulltime program are

      1. Start a Master in Management as soon as possible
      2. Start an MBA after 3 years of professional experience
      3. Or wait some years more, exploit the opportunities that your company gives to you, and do the MBA then

      As for the EBS Reutlingen. I personally heard only good things about this school. So I am confident that it is a good address. Given, however, that there are many more MIM programs in this world. you may first do some reflection about your own goals and your potential future employers.

      • If you know more or less where you want to work after the Master you could contact these firms (and their competitors) now and ask them directly (just call the HR department) how they evaluate the ESB.
      • The same for your future country: If you want to work in the UK, for instance, I don't know how much they know the school. You can also ask the ESB about their experience with your future target countries or employers. I know they are very international, so it can really be a good address. But playing a bit safe in advance may not hurt.

      Just a thought you want to consider before deciding too quickly.

      I hope I could help you a bit structuring your thoughts. All the best.
      Thomas

    • Posted by - User - on 8 April 2011 - 2:38pm

      Dear Thomas,

      first of all, congratulations on this great website! I was looking for something like this for a long time.

      I am 26 years old and currently working as a sales analyst for a globally operating company. I have finished my bachelor degree in business administration in 2010 at a university of cooperative education (Berufsakademie). At this point, I am trying to figure out what might be the best way to do my master studies.

      Should I go for a MBA/MIM part-time programme or should I go for a full-time MIM? I am not sure about the perspective within my present company and I just received admission for the IPBS MIM programme at the ESB Reutlingen. PS: Financing should not be a problem.

      Could you give me some advice?

      Thank you very much in advance!

      Best regards
      M.

    • Posted by - rahulnair - on 24 January 2011 - 6:11am

      Hi,

      Thanks a lot Thomas. Your reply has helped cleared many doubts that I had.

      Rahul Nair.

    • Posted by - Franziska Rook (HHL) - on 23 November 2010 - 5:32pm

      Hi Denise,

      Most MBA programs require work experience of several years - this makes sense because an MBA class is also thriving because of the (work) experiences the different students bring to the table.

      MBA programs are not consecutive and as such allow non-Business students to gain Business knowledge. MIM programs are consecutive and built up on previous knowledge attained in a Bachelor.

      From my experience at HHL, I would think you are a too young to take an MBA just yet. If you want to continue your education right away and have the necessary first degree then opt for a Master in Management.

      Best regards,
      Franziska Rook (HHL)

    • Posted by - Thomas Graf - on 24 October 2010 - 1:13pm

      Hi Denise,

      many people have this question since both programs - the Master in Management and the MBA - are postgraduate studies in general management. In other words, the idea is NOT to specialize in one specific subject only as for exmaple the Master in Marketing or the Master in Finance. Instead you gain knowledge in a broad range of management subjects ranging from marketing, human resources, or strategy up to integrated subjects where you analyse for example cases frrom a marketing and startegy perspective.

      There are, however, serious differences that we outlined in our article about Differences between MBA and Master in Management.

      One of the most important: The students' profiles are different. For an MBA you need professional experience, at least three years (even though some schools make exceptions and may accept you with less experience). If you want to study in general management directly AFTER YOUR BACHELOR you'd better take a Master in Management at a good business school (please read our article about Finding the right Master in Management program).

      If you first start a professional career and gain some years of work experience, however, the MBA might be the better option. But please take into accout that there are more differences between Master in Management and MBA programs than the sudents' profile, for instance the price, the reputation, and also the content.

      I hope I could help you.

      Best wishes
      Thomas

      • Posted by - rahulnair - on 22 January 2011 - 7:46am

        Hi Thomas,

        I had a question.

        Now as you have mentioned the MBA program requires a minimum of 3 years of professional experience. Inspite of this the average experience at most of the top institutes is in the range of 5-7 years. I want to pursue a career in management. I have an experience of 1 year now and I am planning to apply for an MiM in 2012. By then I will be having more than 2 years of experience. So the problem is I fall in the middle. Do you feel it is a good option to apply for an MiM after 2 years of experience. Are there schools that will accept my applications for their MiM programs? Would I be having more experience than what is required for the MiM program?

        Could you please help me with these doubts?

        Thanks,
        Rahul.

        • Posted by - Thomas Graf - on 23 January 2011 - 1:36am

          Hi Rahul,

          thank you for your question. I would say you have both options for most schools - with a slight preference for a Master in Management.

          MBA:

          • 3 years of professional experience in general is sufficient, of course depending on the kind of experience.
          • My intuition is that some schools may accept you also with only 2 years of work experience - again depending on your work experience and task responsibility that you had.

          MIM:

          • Here you are equally eligible as having a first academic degree is the most important formal academic requirement.
          • As you will not have much work experience, in my opinion you will fit a bit better to the MIM than to the MBA.

          I would proceed as follows:

          1) School Aspect

          • Make a list of 3 to 5 schools of your interest
          • Contact them (admissions office) and ask them which program (MIM or MBA) they recommend you
          • Depending on their answers (friendliness, your gut feeling) you may either keep that list or reduce it a bit
          • Visit that three schools you like the most
          • and talk to current students of the respective program that the admissions office recommended you, also talk to admissions people, and professors
          • ask the admissions office for contacts to alumni and talk to them too
          • How is your gut feeling? Where do you want to spend 12 months of your life? Do you still have 3 or 5 schools on your list?

          2) Career Aspect

          • think about where you want to work in 3 years (after the program)
          • and ask the employer (the recruiting department) or its competitors directly how they value the MBA as compared to the MIM

          3) Personal resources Aspect

          • keep in mind that MBAs ususally are more expensive than MIMs; if you are tight on money you may feel better doing a cheaper program.

          All the best
          Thomas