Business is one of the most popular career fields. Each year, nearly 20 percent of all undergraduate students choose to earn a bachelor’s degree in business. And more than 53,000 people take business education to new heights each year by applying to an MBA program. Earning a business degree of any kind can be incredibly rewarding – but getting an MBA can do wonders for your salary, success in seeking job opportunities, and career potential.
Earning your MBA can actually have a serious positive impact on your income. Both male and female MBA graduates report that getting this graduate degree more than doubled their earnings. So why earn less with a basic business degree when you could make double the salary?
An MBA can be a smart educational and career investment. If you’re wondering whether an MBA might benefit you, check out five high-paying jobs that only MBA graduates can hold.
1. Financial Manager
Potential Salary: Approximately $142,000 annually.
A financial manager handles the actual day-to-day and long-term financial business for a company. In this role, you’ll prepare financial statements and create forecasts for a company’s finances, supervise employees who handle financial reporting, and review financial reports. You may offer guidance to upper-level managers before they make financial decisions, or you may work to find ways to eliminate expenses or lower costs. A financial manager will spend each day delving deep into a company’s finances, from budgeting to spending to investments.
2. Vice President of Finance
Potential Salary: About $160,000 a year.
It’s no secret that reaching the highest level of management in any industry requires both an advanced degree and a wealth of knowledge and experience. And with an MBA, you’d be qualified to become a vice president of finance, or a finance VP. In this role, you’d work directly with the C-level executives including the company’s CFO, CEO, and president. >Day to day, a finance VP manages an organization’s finances, overseeing accountants, participating in audits and bookkeeping, and preparing financial documents and strategies for strategic investors, the board of advisers, and more.
3. Senior Marketing Manager
Potential Salary: Approximately $133,000 per year.
A senior marketing manager is so much more than someone who simply works in marketing. As a middle-management position in many companies, the senior marketing manager oversees a number of different marketing projects and aspects. The job can include marketing planning, product development, and working with individual brands. You might offer feedback to other departments like sales or product teams, develop marketing strategies, or research target markets. You can delve into many different areas of marketing as a senior marketing manager.
4. Consultant
Potential Salary: Management consultants make between $78,000 and $166,000 annually, while business consultants make approximately $90,000 a year.
Consultants are valuable in any industry and any line of business. And while plenty of individuals can find work as consultants without an MBA, those with an MBA can command a higher pay rate and have more specialized experience. Consulting is a very popular job choice for MBA graduates – there’s >no other field that attracts more MBA graduates each year. Consultants can work in many different capacities, such as a management consultant, business consultant, financial consultant, or project management consultant. In any kind of consulting role, you’ll work at different companies, offering advice, leading projects, and helping them better their workflow.
5. Senior Product Manager
Potential Salary: Between $98,000 and $159,000 per year.
A senior product manager is someone who has their hands in the actual ideation, creation, and production of different products. If you’re a creative thinker who likes a challenge, you might love the role’s responsibilities which include leading teams from different departments, incorporating customer feedback, and even conducting market research. Senior product managers work to not only think up new products, but also see those ideas to fruition. This job involves creating product roadmaps, handling product releases, and creatively finding ways to attract new customers and expand a product’s market share.
Earn an MBA to Increase Your Potential Earnings
Are you ready to start earning more money? With an MBA on your resume, you can apply for entirely new positions and try out new career opportunities. But above all else, an MBA can open up the possibility of higher income.
If you’re interested in potentially doubling your current salary, an MBA can be a versatile way to achieve your goals. But in order to earn an MBA, you’ll need to apply to different MBA programs. Today, there are plenty of MBA programs available that suit students with different career experience, different learning styles, and different career interests. You can even find online MBA programs in addition to traditional, on-campus programs.
The key is to search for MBA programs, compare what they offer, look into specializations, and find the right fit for you. If you compare these programs, you can learn more about what an MBA program can teach you and how you may be able to fit an MBA into your career.