Long gone are the days when the MBA was the first step towards getting a career in Management. Post the emergence of the Masters in Management degree, or the MiM, the number of Management related job openings and the demand for the MiM has increased. Reasons ranging from the lack of a work experience requirement, to the cheaper costs of pursuing the Masters in Management as compared to the MBA have led to the increase in the demand of the MiM degree.

The MiM degree does open up a slew of opportunities to fresh graduates who want to pursue a Masters in Management career, but do not want to wait and accumulate years of experience in another field before embarking on a career in Management. Students can get into a whole range of different industries ranging from Finance, to Data Analytics. Getting into the top B-Schools is one challenge, embarking on a career in management after the degree, however, is another. Moreover, a Masters in Management Career follows a slightly different path as compared to their MBA Counterparts.

After thoroughly researching the state of students post the MiM Degree, we have come up with a comprehensive article to show how the career of a typical MiM student progresses.

Job Prospects

If you observe the demographic of a MiM classroom, the first thing you will notice is that an average MiM student has very little work experience. This is no coincidence, as the Masters in Management is targeted at students with 0-2 years of work experience, looking to START a career in the field of Management. This is the primary difference between the aim of the MiM and the MBA degree, as one joins the MBA to shift careers, aiming to enter the field of management after gaining experience in other industries.

As the average MiM student has very little work experience, they are primed to bag entry level roles. Due to these differences in age and work experience between an MBA and MiM graduate, along with the disparity in the curriculum between both the degrees, employers tend to treat MiM and MBA students as distinct markets.

In fact, the MiM graduates find jobs easier to come by due to the larger number of entry level roles as compared to specialist roles. They get more job opportunities and are even sometimes hired in bulk. Hiring of MBA graduates are more individual, catering only to fill a specific need. However, due to the similarity in nature between the MBA and the MiM degree, MiM graduates face minor competition from MBA graduates for the same jobs.

Similar to almost any other degree, job prospects, however, vary greatly with the country’s immigration policy and the quality of the school chosen. Choosing a reputed B-School will greatly enhance your job opportunities, while staying in a country with lenient immigration policies cements your chances of getting a work permit and staying in the country. Several other factors also come into play, such as your nationality, your proficiency of the local language and your age among many others.

Hence, one can never be sure about the job prospects, but one thing is certain. MiM degrees are a popular alternative to the well-known MBAs among students and employers alike. Employers look for young and insightful recruits since they can be moulded into an asset for the company more easily. Young employees tend to be much more energetic, and eager to apply their knowledge in a business construct. They also learn fast, are more adaptive, and less hesitant to take risks. Seeing these qualities combined with a passion in business, companies are more likely to invest in them and hire them.

Job Profiles and Industries

There is a high level of flexibility when it comes to choosing a MiM degree. You can choose to specialize in Marketing, Finance, Strategy, Entrepreneurship, Accounting, among many others. The job opportunities though, are roughly the same for each specialization, as the fundamental portion of the curriculum is same for all degrees.

Exposure to the workplace starts even before the completion of the program. Many programs integrate internship opportunities into the curriculum, which gives them a chance to get an overview into different industries and build up their profile. You can then experiment and find out your true interests.

For students with a bachelor’s degree in Engineering or Physical Sciences, the MiM degree is very valuable and increases the value of your profile immensely. Companies also value the integration of technical or scientific knowledge with business constructs more than students who have had a similar academic background throughout their lives. Top companies tend to be eager to offer internships to such students, which is invaluable to them, as it gives insights into how their acquired theoretical knowledge can be applied practically. This improves the value of their profile even further, making them attractive prospects in the job market.

A Masters in Management Career can start off with you as a Management Trainee, Financial Services Analyst, Graduate research analyst, etc. in mainly Consulting, Finance/Accounting, Sales/Marketing, Operations/Logistics in that order. MiM graduates mostly enter the Consumer Goods, Consulting or Financial Services/Banking Industry. In fact, 70% of MiM Graduates from IE’s 2012 Batch entered one of these 3 industries.

Supervisory positions are also being filled by MiM Graduates. The fundamental principles of most disciples of management are taught in the program, which makes the student an ideal fit for such a role, as he/she can easily relate. For example, the program teaches managers how to resolve team conflicts, improve team work, and how to participate in ethical processes.

MiM Graduates also tend to work with people from different cultures, ethnicities and backgrounds. This helps them adapt to situations better and can enable them to think from multiple perspectives, valuable qualities to have while working in a Multi-National Corporation.

If you enter the top 10 schools, the placement success rate is also very high. IE had 93% of its student employed within 3 months of graduation. Some colleges even boast a 100% success rate. The salaries received are also high, averaging between $68000 and $98000 per year. The MiM is growing in popularity in the US and Canada as well. The average salary of MiM Graduates from US colleges is $61000. In conclusion, the MiM is a secure, offering medium to high starting salaries.

Career Development

A Masters in Management Career starts immediately after the completion of the degree at an average age of 24-25. As they enter important roles at such a young age, they have a lot of time to learn and improve their skillset, enhancing the potential value they can bring to an organization.

Top MiM Graduates also good jobs in big companies such as Morgan Stanley, BNP Paribas, A.T Kearney, among others, which would provide them with a platform to learn, grow and impact the organization. The sky’s the limit for MiM Graduates – one can even grow to become the CEO of a company without the need to do an MBA or a PhD. This shows that the MiM degree is valuable and self-sufficient.

With experience, one can become the Development Manager, Advertising Manager, Sales Managers, Managing Director, and higher positions. This is mainly due to the curriculum and method of teaching, with a perfect mix of classroom training and case studies giving students a theoretical foundation of business along with the tools to relate concepts to its practical applications and implement them. The MiM curriculum is newly developed, and focusses on leadership and team skills, which allows students to apply the knowledge learnt in the workplace. This fundamental perk of the MiM degree helps students achieve skills, which can even propel them to become the President or CEO of the company.

Consider the average MiM Graduate who wants to enter into Consulting. You then start off with an entry level role and be an entry-level analyst, getting an average of $60-70K base salary at the age of 24-25. After 3 years, you can expect to work as an associate analyst and by the time you’re 30, you can be a senior analyst, earning around $90-130K per year, with a 10% bonus in a good year.

Masters in Management Career

The MBA graduate however, would be around 28 years old (considering 5 years of work experience) and bag a mid-level role, such as an associate analyst. Similarly, after 3 years, you can expect to work as a senior analyst.

This shows that both MBA graduates and MiM graduates go head on head when it comes to salary benefits. In fact, both MiM and MBA graduates can even get opportunities to enter the Executive level after years of experience and growing into their roles, working as an FP&A manager or the Treasurer and report to the CFO.

The MiM has also grown in popularity in the US. According to a study done by GMAC in 2017, the median cumulative base salary 3 years after graduating from the top 50 B-Schools is a little less than $200,000, which jumps to a little more than $400,000 5 years after graduation and around $650,000 10 years after graduation.

Entrepreneurship and Family Business

A little-known fact about the MiM degree is that unlike other degrees, it focuses on a curriculum which valued entrepreneurship and self-dependency more than ever. An exercise part of the WHU MiM curriculum asks students at the start of their program to come up with ideas for new businesses, which would need to be presented after making an implementation plan for the same. This increases their confidence and creativity.

Furthermore, due to the recession in Europe, entrepreneurship emerged as a viable Masters in Management Career option, especially among the younger students. This shift towards Entrepreneurialism develops the MiM graduates even further, as it encourages them to be more risk-taking, independent and knowledgeable about business.

More and more students are hence motivated to start their own business, either immediately after their graduation, or after accumulating a few years of work experience. Fresh graduates are attracted by the freedom and the ability to pursue their passions.

Timo Steitz is a good example of this. An ESADE MiM Graduate, he encountered a problem with shoe sizes and created shoesize.me with 4 other students. His app has helped many customers and companies save money by providing them with an easy way to measure feet.

Many MiM graduates also choose to return to their family business. Having gained insights into business through the degree, they feel they are primed to lead the development of their family business and hence return to the same.

Many reasons have contributed to the emergence of the MiM degree, which has given students a lot of career options. You can even start your career in prestigious companies such as McKinsey, Deloitte and Goldman Sachs. Rest assured, your career trajectory seems to be in good hands if you embark on a Masters in Management Career.