An MBA is a post graduate degree in business communication. MBA stands for Masters of Business Administration and is a very popular course for business students the world over. The MBA program is recognized worldwide and is considered as a major step towards a successful business management career.
An MBA degree is one of the most sought after degrees in the world because of its value to people in business and administration. Irrespective of the industry or profession that you are in, or regardless of the condition of the 
economy of your country, an MBA degree can benefit those in positions in business and management, especially those in executive and managerial positions.
Global Appeal of MBA
An MBA program strives to equip its students with all the necessary 
knowledge, theoretical as well as practical, which can benefit them tremendously in managerial and administrative jobs. This does not apply only to business, as is usually understood by most people, but can also benefit people to get into executive positions in the public sector and government jobs as well. This gives the MBA degree a global appeal and worldwide recognition.
MBA in the United States
The MBA program and degree was developed in the United States and was introduced in the early 1900s. Even today, an MBA degree from a leading institution in the US has great value throughout the world and thus there are thousands of students from various countries who come to the US for the sole purpose of pursuing an MBA degree even though their own country may offer several MBA programs. It is worth mentioning that over 3000 Nigerians travel to countries like United States, Canada, Europe etc for their MBA programs. This goes along way to ehancing their careers, increased welfare packages and occasional promotions.
An MBA program in the US typically is of two years duration as it is felt that such time is necessary to learn everything that there is to know about business and administration. But across Europe, where the MBA course was first introduced in the 1960s, the program is usually of 1 year duration and can sometimes be completed in as less as 10 months. So while not start making your plans now. Putting for an MBA programs in an internationaly recorgnise school or better still find a good local MBA program you can putting in for. MBA degrees has proven to be a major boost in ones professional careers
Evolution of the MBA Program
Since its inception in the early 1900s and especially in the last two decades, the MBA program has evolved tremendously and has witnessed the following trends:
Programs of shorter duration as a result of the highly competitive mature of the education industry and also in a bid to make the course less expensive, while at the same time not sacrificing on the quality of the course and the value of the MBA degree.
MBA courses had always been full time courses, but in the last few years there has been an introduction of many types of MBA programs based on their structure. So now there are part time MBA courses, modular programs, international programs, distance learning programs, and even online MBA programs.
Eligibility for MBA
While most schools and educational institutions that offer MBA programs have their respective criteria for getting into an MBA course, the two most significant factors that are common to most schools and MBA courses are:
Age and Experience: The average age of students applying for the MBA is about 26-30 years. Most schools require their applicants to have 4-5 years of prior work experience before joining an MBA course. Since experience is usually believed to come with age, those under 25 are generally not accepted for an MBA program as it is assumed that such students do not have the required work experience.
GMAT Score: Having a GMAT score in excess of 600 is essential if you wish to get into the A grade MBA schools. Although just a good GMAT score is not a guarantee for admission to an MBA program, it does better your chances tremendously.
Most degrees are obtained with the purpose of advancing your career prospects and job opportunities. The same is the case with an MBA degree; the only difference being that an MBA degree is considered as the most valuable post graduate degree in the world and has exciting career opportunities. People take the MBA program in order to further their careers in their current jobs or to get a better job on the basis of their MBA degree.
Even within your existing company and in your current job, you can notice the difference in your career prospects pre-MBA and post-MBA. With an MBA degree under their belt, employees have a whole new world opened up to them and are elevated to managerial positions on the strength of the additional abilities and knowledge gained through the MBA program. If you are looking for a change in careers, an MBA degree affords the following career opportunities:
Marketing: People who are in charge of marketing the goods or services of any organization need to be able to create effective marketing strategies and convey their message to people efficiently. An MBA program equips its students with theoretical knowledge as well as practical marketing skills, which can help in getting jobs in the marketing field. With the MBA degree, you can look to become no less than a product manager responsible for marketing.
Finance: Those in the field of finance need to be quick thinkers, have high energy levels to stay abreast of the financial markets, and most importantly, need to have patience to deal with clients and explain things to them. The finance courses in an MBA program are a great way to determine if you have what it takes to be a success in finance. If so, then there are a host of top jobs that you can get in this field.
Government Jobs: People often live with the misconception that an MBA degree is only good for business because of its very name. But it can be very useful for a career in a government agency. Such jobs usually require you to be a big thinker and to be a team player. All this and more is learned in an MBA program. Government agencies have since long had a reputation of giving reactive responses that do not much translate into action. To change this image, government agencies are increasingly on the lookout for people who are doers and not merely talkers. Thus, someone with an MBA degree could have many career prospects in a government job.
Personal Business: Those who have their own business are known to benefit tremendously from completing an MBA program. But what is even better is that an MBA degree can give you all the relevant skills and abilities needed to start your very own enterprise and become an entrepreneur, thus giving you tremendous career opportunities.
Non-profit Organizations: An MBA degree can open up many jobs for you in non-profit organizations. Most people with this degree or those who are still pursuing this degree, do not give much thought to jobs in the non-profit sector as it is regarded as a ‘waste’ of their skills and abilities. But on the contrary, this is one sector that could benefit a great deal from having more people with MBAs involved in non-profit. As for the MBA graduate, it can be very rewarding, both financially and emotionally, to see that your talents are making a positive difference in the lives of many people. You get the chance to work for a worthy cause, while at the same time furthering your own career.
This is just the tip of the iceberg as far as career opportunities for MBAs are concerned. Having an MBA degree gives you countless job opportunities, mostly in top level positions, and can help to further your career tremendously.
