Everyone knows what an MBA is, but if you’re living outside Europe, the MiM, or Master’s in Management, may have passed under your radar. Nonetheless, whether you’re looking to change your career or kick-start it, a Master’s program is worth looking into, and in the world of business, the MBA and the MiM are the top contenders.
So which one is right for you?
The first step is to be honest with yourself. Unlike most other Master’s programs, the Masters’ in Business Administration and in Management are not mainly academic, but rather a ticket into a “members only” club with equally ambitious and accomplished individuals that can help make or break your career. It is hence extremely important that you pick the right club for yourself.
Length and goals
The MiM can more or less be considered a mini-version of the MBA. The duration of MiM programs averages out at less than a year, while MBAs will take anywhere between 1 and 2 years, which will allow enough time for an internship in case you are looking to experiment with different roles. More importantly, the MiM caters to recent graduates who either haven’t entered the workforce yet or have worked less than a certain period. As a result, the MiM is obviously less specialised and more theoretical than the MBA, where there is usually a minimum experience requirement, giving you the opportunity to share experiences and insights with people more advanced in their respective careers and apply what you already know to cases and real-life scenarios. That said, the MiM does bear the added benefit of allowing those without business-related backgrounds, i.e. athletes, arts majors, scientists, etc. to break into more “business-oriented” roles by offering a well-rounded foundation of basic concepts and theories to help you get started.
With this in mind and before you go any further, stop and ask yourself: where am I in my career? Would you qualify for an MBA? More specifically, would you contribute and benefit more from building a foundation of business concepts, or from being thrown straight into the water to discuss them?
Outcomes
Being a shorter and more recently introduced program, the MiM almost always costs less than an MBA within the same school. As a natural result, it will often be the case that an MBA grad will be compensated much more generously for their subsequent role. Similarly, MiMs will usually have an entry level or graduate role after they graduate, rather than a managerial role as the name of the program might imply.
Where to do it?
Going back to our first point – that is, MBAs and MiMs are more social than academic – it goes without saying that the choice of business school to attend is much more crucial than the program you decide to enrol in. You might find that you qualify for MBAs at hundreds of good schools, but only a MiM at the top-ranked one you want, and the best decision for your professional future might be to go for the less senior program at the more prestigious school. A lot of the importance and status of your degree will come from getting into a top school rather than what you did there, so the name of the university will make all the difference in the world. Your degree will represent a stamp of approval on your CV, increasing your employability and potential salary. The bigger the school, the bigger the stamp.
However, this isn’t the only reason it’s important to put a lot of thought into the school you attend. Effectively, both of the programs we are discussing are more about the people than anything else, and the choice of school is the choice of people to spend the next one to two years with, to refer and be referred by, to be inspired by, to start ventures with, and even to go sailing with, which means it will have a greater impact on the kind of experience you will have. Whether you decide on a MiM or an MBA, you will have access to the same student body at the same time, and to the same network of alumni later, so similarly to our previous point, you might have gotten into two top schools, but you might want to go for the school with a slightly lower ranking, but a reputation for a great culture which will increase the odds of your time there being enjoyable and of being a beneficial investment in the long run.
It is then clear that there are a lot of factors to consider before making a decision; Do you have the necessary work experience? Can you afford it? Will the name of the school help you progress faster and get more interviews when you start looking for a job? The list goes on, but the best way to help yourself decide is to figure out your strategy. Where do you want to go? Will a business-related master’s degree be helpful at all in getting you there? Which one would get you closer? And keep in mind that, yes, these programs are intended to help you change your career or progress more quickly, but there is more out there and if they are not perfect for you, there are countless more or less technical programs to choose from, and which will only make you stand out more.
Sarah Yakzan is a Master’s in Management candidate at London Business School. Before moving to London, she got a BA in English Literature from the American University of Beirut, and worked for a year as Marketing and PR manager, External Relations Coordinator, and Blogger. She will start her next role at Facebook in August.
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