How can pursuing Executive MBA from IIM help you improve your Career?

Management education has become an inherent part of our professional lives in the recent times. Most business organizations now want their employees to hold MBA degrees from reputed management institutions. At present the situation is such that many middle and senior level executives are also planning to pursue MBA degrees. In order to help them update their knowledge, various management institutes have come up with Executive MBA courses. 

Of late, Executive MBA from IIM has become extremely popular. All the major branches of Indian Institute of Management offer Executive MBA courses. Pursuing Executive MBA in India will not only help you in getting a salary hike but deserving candidates will also be able to get a promotion. Many people even get jobs at the management and administrative level after successfully completing the executive MBA course. 

Whether you plan to pursue Executive MBA from IIM or from some other institute, you will have to meet certain basic eligibility criteria. These include the following:

·         The applicants should be presently employed in an organization or self employed.

·         The applicants should be able to show around 5 years of work experience.

·         The applicants should be proficient in English as it will be the language of instruction.

·         The applicants should also have ample knowledge of Mathematics.

·         The applicants should have completed their graduation or post graduation from a reputed institute which has been accredited by UGC/AICTE.

Even after you meet the above mentioned eligibility criteria, you will still have to sit for a written test which will test your English and Mathematical skills. Apart from this, it will also test your logic as well as general knowledge. Once you successfully complete the written examination, you will have to sit for a personal interview. 

When you are looking for executive MBA in India, you will find that IIMs will offer different types of specialization. You will be able to choose the specialization as per your discretion. Some of the major courses on offer include the following: 

Executive Program for Young Professionals (EPYP): This program is mainly designed to provide young people with the perspective as well as knowledge of skill in management. This course will equip them with the required inputs so that they will be able to perform better in specialized functional areas. Pursuing this course will help them perform better in their existing jobs. It focuses on imparting managerial skills which will play a great role in helping the students deal with present day business crisis. The course duration is of 42-45 weeks. If you are pursuing a regular course, then you might have to go for sabbatical from your job and complete the course. Some of the major sections of the course content include core business functions like marketing, finance and control, supply chain management, operations and HR.  The course will give the students an idea about the role and tasks of a manager along with the key managerial skills required to complete the job. The applicants will have to select one major and minor area from the fields like Sales and Marketing, Finance and control as well as Operations and supply chain management. The classes are made interesting with the use of technology, case studies, interactive sessions, etc. 

Executive Program in Global Business Management (EPGBM): If you want to carve a niche for yourself in the global business market, then you will have to know how the global business world works. This program is offered by IIM Calcutta along with its service provider Hughes Global Education. After pursuing this course, the students will be able to contribute to the global management development in a business organization. The applicants will be able to know about various management theory and tools along with practical knowledge. Apart from this, they will also get new insights depending upon reality based case studies. Apart from this, the students will be able to indulge in peer interactions which will help them know about various decision making techniques. Pursuing these courses is helpful because the applicants will be able to interact with a number of experienced people. 

Executive Program in Business Management (EPBM): In the present times, managers face different types of problems in managing a business unit due to changes in the global market, technological advancements, etc. In such a situation pursuing the EPBM course will help them update their knowledge so that they will be able to better handle their employees during these tough times. Pursuing this course will help the managers and the professionals to get an overview of various tools, techniques and key concepts which will play a great role in managing a business and associated fields. They will also get an idea about the cross-functionality within any organization. 

Apart from the 3 major courses mentioned above, there are various other courses of Executive MBA in India which you can pursue. You can contact the administrative offices of IIMs or check out the online educational website to know more about them. 

After pursuing an Executive MBA course, you must want to get a lump-sum hike in your salary. However, before you make any expectation, you should check out the salary trend in the recent times. A recent study has noticed that the salary expectation has gone down in all regions expect for Western Europe. In Western Europe, there has been a nominal increase in the salary of the MBA candidates. However, even after saying that, it should be noted that the average global figure is still quite high - US$113,000. Again, it should also be taken into consideration that management consulting salaries stand at US$89,150 along with a bonus of US$15,050. This takes the actual salary to US$104,200. All these things will generally make you feel that salary is quite high for MBA candidates. But again, it should also be noted that MBA salary will also be influenced by the local job market. 

Also, it should be noted here that the importance of pursuing an MBA degree should not only be judged by the salary that you are getting. You should also give importance to the tools and techniques that you learn, acquire new skills and knowledge, etc. Thus, though there is a gap between the exact salary and the expected salary, there are other benefits of pursuing this course. You should also give importance to all those other benefits.