Thinking of doing an MBA? Good news: you don’t need a background in business

In movies and TV shows, MBAs are often depicted as businessmen, wearing suits and seeming important. But that stereotype doesn’t stand up in the modern age, with the degrees now appealing to a wider variety of students than ever before.

Standing for a master of business administration, an MBA is a postgraduate qualification that is highly sought after by working professionals.

Often perceived as a way to broaden an employee’s skillset in a sector-flexible way, it is a route to a promotion, higher salary, building your professional reputation and even managing your own business.

But you don’t need to have a background in business to be eligible for the course, according to Eimear Nolan, director of the flexible executive MBA at Trinity College Dublin.

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“An MBA can provide individuals from non-business backgrounds with a comprehensive understanding of the business world, valuable networking opportunities, and the skills and knowledge needed to succeed in a variety of industries and career paths,” she said.

“Anyone can benefit from doing an MBA. Doing an MBA can be beneficial for those coming from a variety of industries, including finance, consulting, technology, healthcare.”

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Michael Bulman, president of the MBA Association of Ireland, said they are an ideal pathway for “individuals who are working in a management role and looking to go into a more senior position”.

“We have people in pharma, finance, the gardaí, Defence Forces, technology. A whole range of sectors,” he added.

There are, like any university degree, some entry requirements. Mr Bulman said most universities require a primary degree to be eligible for a place on an MBA course. Many also stipulate that you must have earned a 2.1 in that degree.

However, he added that they “often allow work experience in lieu of an undergraduate degree”.

“If you’re someone who has been working in management for a long period of time, and maybe you don’t have a university degree, often you would still be accepted on to a programme.”

Some universities require a certain number of years of work, normally three, for eligibility for their MBA, but most participants tend to have experience in excess of that, averaging at about 10 years.

The programme is open to “pretty much everybody”, Mr Bulman said, adding that it is quite a general degree.

“There are full-time options which are generally chosen by people going straight from another course into an MBA, and then the part-time option is generally chosen by those who have been working,” he said.

According to Ms Nolan, while there are no specific personality traits or characteristics that are best suited for an MBA, there are certain elements that are helpful for those pursuing the degree.

These include a passion for continuous learning and knowledge creation; self-motivation and discipline; and strong work ethics with the ability to multitask and handle stress.

Mr Bulman said another requirement for the course is having the time to invest into it. Participants should go into the MBA with their eyes open because it has an impact on every part of a student’s life, he said, and often results in having to sacrifice extracurricular activities for the two years.

“You should prepare your family in advance about how much of a commitment it will be over the two years, or one year if that’s the course you choose. It’s a tough couple of years. It is a big investment of time and money,” he added.

Ms Nolan agreed: “I would encourage anyone thinking about undertaking an MBA to ensure that doing one aligns with their own personal and career goals to ensure they get the most out of the experience.”