We know what you’re thinking: it’s hard enough to find job candidates at all these days. Do we start getting picky? While not every hiring manager has the luxury of being highly selective in who they hire, the fact remains that MBAs, especially recent graduates, is a valuable find.
Even if it means paying a little more than you usually would for a new hire, it’s usually worth it to nab an MBA graduate. This article looks at a few of the many benefits they bring to the table.
What jobs can MBAs do?
The career paths for MBAs are many. They can come in at the entry-level (perhaps commanding a slightly elevated salary) or slip into a managerial position with relative ease, thanks to their comprehensive educational background.
One of the main reasons people value MBAs is because they have skills that can be applied to most business scenarios.
Moneyball
Hiring a recent graduate can get a great bang for your buck. People fresh out of grad school do indeed command higher salaries than their undergraduate degree-holding counterparts.
However, they are still more affordable than they would be ten years down the line after they’ve accumulated experience. It’s a Moneyball proposition: how can you get the highest level of skill and competency for the least amount of money?
Of course, it’s not about gouging the new hire. You simply get a highly qualified candidate at a starter salary. What could be better?
Fresh perspective
Recent MBAs have a very fresh outlook on the world of business. In addition to being only recently out of the classroom and therefore more likely to have a vivid recollection of their studies, they’ve also simply learned about the most current business practices.
This means they probably have a better understanding of data implementation and technology — skills any business can and should seize upon to advance its goals.
MBAs tend to stick around
It’s a statistical fact that MBAs tend to stick around at a company for longer than undergraduates. This is important for a few reasons. For one thing, it means you don’t have to go through the constant expense of finding and training a new employee.
High retention rates are also directly associated with the overall morale of your workplace. In general, businesses with high employee turnover are likely to find that the problem only advances over time.
Why? For one thing, staff that sticks around has to work harder to pick up the slack produced by position vacancies. People are also likely to feel rootless in a business lacking decent retention. Even loyal staff members will eventually opt for a more stable work environment as time goes on.
Hiring MBAs reduces your chances of experiencing high turnover, adding important stability to the workplace.
They know how to think
It’s been said that college is less about teaching facts and more about helping people learn how to think. How to examine a problem and come up with a bespoke solution? MBAs are uniquely qualified to think their way through workplace issues and develop unique, intelligent solutions.
They have the facts and understanding, but they’ve also been trained to think their way through issues with logic and clarity.
You can delegate to them
If you are looking for someone to receive the delegation, few are better or more qualified than the MBA. They understand what should be done and have a background that shows their willingness to follow instructions and carry out tasks competently.
It’s hard to delegate, of course, but the benefits are enormous when you can do it with the right people. Not only are you freed up to focus on big picture things, but your staff becomes more skilled thanks to their increased responsibility.
The big picture
Down the line, MBAs are also great people to keep in mind for the promotion track. Many businesses pay their existing employees to get an MBA for this precise reason: they want to be able to promote from within sometime down the line.
Internal promotions are good for workplace morale and can help save a bundle on training and onboarding expenses. By filling your team with MBAs, you increase your candidate pool of highly qualified individuals who might one day be suited for bigger and better things.
They are good at what they do
The simplest reason to hire an MBA is that they are good at what they do. You can chalk this up partially to their education. They know more and are better positioned to do better work. The true value of an MBA extends beyond this simple factor.
You know the person is willing to learn and work hard because they’ve already done it. They opted to go the extra mile in their education, and most will dependably do the same in their place of work. Of course, everyone is an individual, and there are no guarantees with a new hire.
However, opting for an MBA takes some uncertainty out of the equation. They’ve accomplished something significant already. If given the right direction, they’ll continue doing it.
The competition doesn’t want you to
Your competitors will be completely stoked if it turns out you’re a business owner with a weirdly specific “anti-hiring MBAs” agenda. For one thing, they won’t have to work nearly as hard to attract great new hires.
It also means that they can dependably expect to outperform you based on the strength of their staff. This heading is a little cheeky, but the point itself is valid. Whatever your business may be, your business is operating in a competitive, probably crowded, marketplace. Why wouldn’t you pursue every possible advantage? MBAs are valuable assets to any place of business. Take advantage of their skills, or someone else will.
