SPECIALIZED MASTER PROGRAMS

In the recent past, there has been an upsurge in the demand for specialized master programs among graduate students and young professionals. The degree has fuelled interest in thousands of students across the globe but with limited information spread about it. Students eagerly want to take up specialized masters courses but have no idea about its future prospects.

Specialized master programs are tailor-made for students who want to specialize in a particular niche in order to meet the growing needs and demands of the market.

The specialized master program has a lot of advantages on the plate to offer. Students have a wide range of options to choose from, given that the number of programs is also increasing with demand.

The time period for a specialized master program is less than that required for an MBA. It takes around 6-24 months to complete it full time or part-time. Additionally, there are also numerous options with respect to online specialized master courses offered by many universities.

Who is it for:

Specialized master programs are ideal for recent graduates and young professionals who want to build expertise in a particular field, in a less period of time, by investing less amount of money and, targeting a good paying job in return.

As the coursework is centered on a particular field of study, students can build expertise over the same. The only drawback, however, is that this course is not as broad as MBA since it specializes in one area. But hey, isn’t it better to be master in one, rather than being a jack of all trades.

Job prospects:

A specialized master degree can help students land up with salary packages much higher than people who simply have an undergraduate degree. With specializations like Masters in Finance, you also have the opportunity to earn even more than MBA graduates.

Nearly 97% students get employed within 3 months of graduation. The average salary of students placed across different sectors like banking, consulting, finance, media or audit comes up to around €50000 per year.

Here’s a list of some top schools offering specialized master programs:

• Master in Applied Economics
• Master in Engineering Management
• Master in Entrepreneurship
• Master in Finance
• Master in Health Administration
• Master in Human Resource Management
• Master in Information Technology
• Master in International Business
• Master in Marketing
• Master in Supply Chain Management
• Master in Public Health

Now let’s delve a little deeper into some high-on-demand specialized master degrees:

MSc Finance

Dreaming of getting into investment banking? No clue about what it takes to reach there? The answer is staring you right in the face.

The degree provides a vast curriculum including subjects like financial market analysis, risk management, corporate finance, business strategies, investments etc.

The duration of the degree spans somewhere between 10-18 months with some top notch B-Schools offering double degrees and overseas internship opportunities too.

Who is it for

Masters in Finance (MFin) is targeted towards graduate students who are interested in building a career in the world of finance by working in top sectors like banking, consulting, insurance or risk management.

Those students who have goals in the financial sector but do not have prior background can also apply to this programme.

Job prospects and salary

The MFin program has been gaining much momentum in the recent past with Investment banks, financial institutions and consultancies eagerly waiting to hire MFin graduates.

Rather than hiring an MBA graduate, these job sectors prefer students having a specialized master degree as they have broad knowledge about the sector in general.

So it is evident that the scope and job prospects for graduates in MSc Finance are pretty high. MFin graduates generally land up with 2-3 job options in hand within 3 months of graduation.

Flaunting an employment rate of around 98%, graduates are spread all over the world with an average salary of 67000 EUROS.

According to the QS rankings 2017, following are the top 10 schools for MSc in Finance:

1.London Business School, UK
2.MIT Sloan School of Management, USA
3.HEC Paris, France
4.The University of Oxford Said Business School, UK
5.UC Berkeley Haas School of Business, USA
6.ESADE Business school, Spain
7.ESSEC Business School, France

MSc in Marketing

For those who want to take a leap in their marketing careers or simply want to start from scratch in this field, the MSc in marketing is the ideal choice. This course will make interested candidates ready for a successful career in marketing.

The MSc in marketing is a dynamic field of studies imparting useful lessons on consumer behavior and marketing strategies upon the students.

Who is it for

With many new dimensions like digital marketing and social media marketing coming up, this MSc degree has been in high demand among students and young professionals.

The degree focuses on helping students adapt to the changing market scenario, business and financial strategies and numerous other marketing theories. The duration of the course is around 10 months-2 years.

Job prospects

Top companies like Google, eBay, Microsoft, and Apple are keen on recruiting MSc in Marketing students to work as a market analyst, market consultant, digital marketing specialist, sales manager or media associate. The recruiters target marketing students over normal MBA graduates as the students specializing in marketing have deep knowledge of the field.

Students will find numerous job options knocking on their doors upon their graduation. Along with the amazing job prospects, the salary offered is lucrative too, the average salary being around 60000-90000 EUROS.

Here are some of the top schools for MSc in Marketing:

1.ESADE Business School, Spain
2.Copenhagen Business School, Denmark
3.ESSEC Business School, France
4.ESCP Europe, France
5.HEC Paris, France
6.Manchester Business School, UK
7.Neoma Business School, France

MSc Engineering management

The MSc Engineering degree aims at combining technical skills with business acumen in order to meet the ever-increasing challenges of companies on many fronts. Companies target individuals who have an advanced understanding of key concepts like engineering theories, management skills, business management, etc.

A simple engineering degree is not enough. Additionally doing an MBA wouldn’t help much either, as anyone from a technical to non-technical background can enroll for an MBA. So what recruiters are looking for these days are students who have improved understanding and knowledge regarding engineering studies, who are a step ahead than their undergraduate peers.

Who is it for

The Msc Engineering management is a specially designed course for engineering graduates, hence as the name suggests, it is a prerequisite that in order to do a MEM, one must have a bachelor degree in engineering.

The degree has been gaining huge popularity among engineers who want to gain more knowledge in their field and do not want to go through the old school approach of doing an MBA.

It not only adds value to the degree but also gives an increased sense of engineering management, technological skills, and leadership abilities.

Job prospects

Companies are facing many problems on the global level these days which can only be solved by someone who has a perfect blend of engineering and management skills.

Upon graduation, students can work as a business analyst, associate engineer, marketing manager, business strategist or client service officer.

Consultant and tech giants like Accenture, Delloite, Google, Microsoft, Apple and; financial institutions like Citibank, Goldman Sachs, HSBC, etc. are among the top recruiters for MEM graduates. Now, do I even need to mention the salary packages? Well, the average salaries of top school MEM graduates are around $90,000 per annum.

Some of the top universities offering MEM are as follows:

1.McGill University, Canada
2.University of Waterloo, Canada
3.National University of Singapore, Singapore
4.RWTH Business School, Germany
5.University College London, UK
6.Stanford University, USA
7.Cornell University, USA

MSc in Entrepreneurship

Are you an innovative thinker? Or do you know someone with lots of creative ideas about business setups but no proper knowledge as such? The Msc in Entrepreneurship is tailor-made for such people.

The demand for this degree is rocketing every single day. Due to the cut-throat competition, getting through top schools for earning this degree is becoming difficult.

The degree enables students to have hands-on experience in solving on-field problems, employing innovative thinking in finding solutions and building strong business networks.

Who is it for

The Msc in Entrepreneurship degree is designed for students who are inquisitive about business concepts and keen on establishing their own business empire. Nonetheless, it also targets students who want to polish their managerial skills and be capable enough to run big business enterprises and lead people.

Graduates from any discipline can apply for this course, the duration of which stretches from 12 months to 2 years.

Job prospects

Students have wide opportunities to work in the financial, audit and banking sectors as business analysts, sales manager, management trainee, research and development officer, etc.

If one is enthusiastic enough to start investing in self-business ideas right after graduation, the experience and skills learned from the degree will prove to be of humongous help to the person.

For people who want to work in companies, the placement records are quite impressive, with 98% students finding jobs within 3 months of graduation.

The average salary for graduates of Masters in Entrepreneurship is $39,000 which increases up to $86,000 with experience of a few years.

The top schools for MSc in Entrepreneurship are as follows:

1.UCL School of Management, UK
2.ESADE Business School, Spain
3.University of Edinburgh, Scotland
4.University of Manchester, UK
5.MIT Sloan, USA
6.Grenoble Ecole de Management, France
7.National Taiwan University, Japan

Hey, are you still wondering whether to take up a specialized master program or not? I’m pretty sure all your lingering doubts about the ‘whats’ and ‘hows’ of this degree must have been solved by now. With so many benefits like low tuition fees, less time period of course, enhanced curriculum, better job prospects and lucrative salary packages, it makes recent graduates and young professionals desperately yearn for this degree. So, what’s stopping you? Go grab your specialized master degree today!