B-School can be the best investment you can make. A business school gives an unequaled platform for launching a professional career. This is why examinations like the CAT and GMAT are highly sought after by candidates from various educational backgrounds.
However, management education is at a crossroads right now.
The MBA, which began as a generalist program in 1908 at Harvard University in the United States, has had to undergo significant upgrades. In 1908, the MBA was designed to fulfill the needs of the post-industrial revolution world.
Suddenly, there was a demand for a middle layer of specialists (below executives and above labor/staff) who could translate business objectives into concrete results. This required' managers' to grasp business administration as a whole, including finance, operations, human resource management, sales, marketing, and, in the future, information technology.
As the industry grew, expectations shifted, and while a horizontal awareness of the various business operations was required, so was a vertical depth in at least one of them. This was referred to as an MBA specialization.
Broadly, 4/5 specializations emerged, with finance, marketing, and human resources being the most well-known, followed by information technology and operations.
Choosing a specialization is an important responsibility for any prospective B school student because, in most programs, one-half of the curriculum is determined by the specialization that you choose. Thus, selecting the right specialization is vital.
Here's a three-step process to determine which specialization may be ideal for you:
- Identify and list the inherent characteristics and skills required for each specialization.
- Next, make a list of your skills, talents, and preferences. Now, reject at least two of them based on your awareness of whether you meet the prerequisites for professions in that specialization.
- For the remaining two or three specializations, try to identify objective metrics for careers in each that you can rate—career growth prospects, work-life balance, or any other factor that is essential to you.
Let's look at marketing versus finance. Assume these are the two specializations you are left with after eliminating the others.
Let’s list down some objective parameters of careers in each of them:
- Finance: Most careers are cost center roles (other than IB). Has set processes. Has good career prospects and defined career growth
- Marketing: It is a revenue-centered role, and your career growth will be directly proportional to the success of your brand or company. If it performs well, you will advance swiftly in this field.
Based on this, an aspiring student may choose marketing as their focus, but it is important to understand the nuances involved.
Marketing is not just making ads, doing door-to-door sales, or just going viral on social media platforms.Marketing is creating and communicating value for your product to its customers and getting value (revenue) in return for it.
Many high-growth and in-demand occupations are tied to marketing, including brand management, product management, eCommerce, media management, founders' offices, strategy roles, and so on.
Of late, even the above-mentioned relevance of specializations has shifted recently, as most jobs have become closely linked to digital. Thus, whether you work in technology, FMCG, services, or some other field, having a certain skill area and becoming a specialist in it is another method to earn top bucks.
This is where roles like growth strategy, performance marketing, and strategy ops roles have come up and have become some of the hottest jobs.Thus, having clarity on the kind of roles you want post-B school should be the most essential factor in deciding on your specialization.
The Altera Institute's PGP in Applied Marketing
Exciting news for aspirants interested in marketing specialization: the Altera Institute offers a one-of-a-kind, industry-backed postgraduate program in applied marketing.
The curriculum of this program is designed by professionals from top companies like HUL, Amazon, Bain & Co., Goldman Sachs, GSK, Group M, and many others. This ensures that students learn leading concepts and frameworks relevant to the current industry standards.
The institute believes that business is best learned through application and not theory. So, the program leverages an application-first pedagogy where students learn through live projects, assessments, and hands-on experiences.
The classes at Altera are 100% taught by professionals in the industry, acting as mentors. This provides depth and expertise to pedagogy while adding to the credibility of the program.
Invest in your future and learn more about the program by visiting our official website.
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