What to do with your new degree

Post-MBA, you'll be eager for a challenge. But what exactly?

You've put in all the hours, borrowed a substantial sum and finally got an MBA qualification. But then what do you do? Over half of MBA students take the course to improve their prospects with their current employer, according to research carried out by the Association of MBAs.

Among them is David Muir, who worked for the advertising agency Ogilvy & Mather before taking an MBA, financed by his employer at London Business School.

"I wanted to learn more about business in general, and the MBA allowed me to do that," he says. Mr Muir returned to the Ogilvy Group and has now been promoted to group development director. "I learned so much about other industries that can be applied to the advertising business," he says.

But for others, it's not always a positive return to work, as one recent MBA graduate explains: "My employer - a multinational - was very encouraging when I said I wanted to do an MBA and helped finance it. But now I'm back in the fold, they aren't interested in applying anything I learned, so it's extremely frustrating. I'm actively looking for another job," he says.

Many others do an MBA to help them change industry sectors or careers or increasingly, to set up their own businesses. The Association of MBAs says that last year 22 per cent of MBA graduates used their entrepreneurial skills to go it alone.

Lisa Astbury who studied for an MBA part time at Henley Management College, has set up her own online recruitment consultancy - www.changeworknow.com/

She says: "I spent 11 years in education, but decided I wanted some kind of management qualification to give me an overall view of business, and help me launch my own." The part-time course allowed Ms Astbury to run the business and study too, as she explains, "I could continue to work and apply everything that I was learning on a practical day-to-day level. I also did an elective in entrepreneurship which helped me explore funding for the business."

Whatever graduates decide to do with the qualification, there is no doubt that it does change people, says Paula Glason, marketing manager for the Association of MBAs. "The MBA remains a good long-term investment. The vast majority, 90 per cent, say that achieving an MBA has given them increased self-esteem and 82 per cent feel that their MBA has increased their confidence levels and allowed them to become more assertive."

'It has taught me to view problems holistically'

"I have to organise the movement of 16,000 athletes, 5,000 VIPs, 22,000 media people during the Olympics this summer," says Victoria Walton, an MBA graduate from Cranfield School of Management who works for the management consultancy Booz Allen Hamilton.

"It's a bit of a challenge," says Ms Walton with heavy understatement.

Her remit also includes: delivering the cultural change needed to run the Games and developing a staffing plan for the 14,500 people who will work in the Transport Directorate.

She must also design a depot for the bus and car fleets; ensure that all 26 venues for the Games have transport plans in place; and run risk management to ensure all eventualities are catered for.

Ms Walton says that her Cranfield MBA has really helped in her new role. "It has given me a really good base and taught me to look at problems holistically and systemically," she says.

The Cranfield MBA has also helped develop her team-working skills. "When I worked in the rail industry, it was within a dedicated team but the MBA was all about working in small dynamic, ever changing groups and that has been really helpful in the context of the Olympic Games," says Ms Walton.

She adds that working with other students from all over the world has also been very useful. "The MBA taught me to work with a wide range of people, from different nationalities and different abilities. It's been very helpful now I'm in Greece. The experience has been very enriching."

'It brought out my entrepreneurial skills'

Having done an MBA, things don't always go to plan, as Andy Williamson, who did an MBA at Lancaster University Management School, discovered.

"I worked in sales and business development for a number of large multinationals in the UK and Japan, but I worked on projects where my knowledge had to be more encompassing, so I decided to do an MBA," says Mr Williamson.

Having finished the course, Mr Williamson found that job opportunities had shrunk. "My graduation coincided with 11 September 2001, which was very difficult, so I decided to open a franchised landscape gardening business. It wasn't something I had initially intended to do, but was symptomatic of the times," he says.

But everything that Mr Williamson had learned on the course was useful. "The MBA brought out an entrepreneurial streak, and I felt I had the skills to meet the challenge - when you run your own business, you alone are accountable,'' he says.

Mr Williamson successfully sold the business and is now working for One North East, a regional development agency. "I'm using everything I learned in my MBA," he says. "It gives you a renewed attitude based on confidence - no matter what life throws at you," he says.