If we choose an MBA from a Business School at random and enter a classroom, it is very likely that a high percentage of the people there will be Engineers.
In the past, the union between Engineering and business administration did not seem to make sense. However, today, the scenario has changed and many companies are led by Engineers.
In fact, it makes a lot of sense for Engineers to increasingly opt for an MBA. Once they have completed their university degree in Engineering and have sufficient technical knowledge in this area, it is logical that they decide to move towards acquiring business skills. By combining technical knowledge in Engineering and business, they will be able to put their ideas into practice and materialize them.
Being an Engineer is not just about mastering scientific tools and disciplines to apply them to the development of products and technology. On many occasions, they also face decision making, managing multidisciplinary teams, and project management. Faced with these tasks, an MBA training can be very fruitful.
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Is an MBA easy for an Engineer?
Engineering is one of the most complicated groups of academic disciplines. Even so, many Engineers have doubts when deciding to pursue an MBA.
At first glance, it may seem that it is necessary to have a degree in economics, business, commerce, or business administration and management to do it. However, the truth is that it is not an essential requirement.
In general, scientific studies graduates adapt very well to the MBA curriculum. This type of master is perfectly affordable for an Engineer for the following reasons:
- At a certain age, economic concepts are easier to understand. At 18, the age at which many young people usually begin college, some concepts related to economics may be too abstract. However, as we grow and begin to have greater awareness and interest in the environment that surrounds us, as well as greater life and professional experience, the study of economic subjects becomes much easier.
- In most Engineering degrees there is some subject related to economics, finance, or business management. Even if graduates believe that they do not know these terms well enough, these basic approaches will help them a lot when facing the subjects of an MBA.
- At a mathematical level, Engineers are people who easily master calculus and algebra operations. This skill will be of great help to them in many subjects and they will have no problems when it comes to solving problems.
- In general, a Master of Business Administration focuses on developing students’ leadership and resolution skills. These skills can be developed by anyone and do not have so much to do with previous training, but with personality, talent, and the desire to grow.
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The most searched profile: Engineer with MBA
If an Engineering degree is almost a sure value in the labor market, its complementation with an MBA increases the opportunities exponentially.
If we focus on the more specific characteristics that companies demand, it stands out that, increasingly, large companies want people who have international business experience. Globalization is a fact that pervades all economic spheres, and it is logical that companies that are planning to expand want to have on their staff employees capable of functioning in diverse cultural environments.
With China emerging as a new great world power, professional experience in the Asian region, mastery of the Chinese language, and cultural and business relations in the area have become a strong point that every multinational company seeks.
It is evident that having an Engineering degree and an MBA makes for a very attractive resume, but what other advantages can the student obtain?
Another reason to study a Master’s in Business Administration and Management lies in the answer to this question. These studies not only increase professional opportunities but also personal ones.
Pursuing an MBA is not simply obtaining a degree that makes us more competitive. The majority of Engineers who complete these studies say that they have experienced great changes that have made them feel more confident, motivated and capable, at all levels.
The market for Engineers with MBA: increasing and growing
The report carried out by the European Center for the Development of Professional Vocations says that the demand for this type of profile will grow up to 14 percentage points throughout Europe by next years.
The conditions of expansion and change in sectors such as automotive, industrial, energy, and infrastructure will require Engineers in charge of companies and projects. To achieve this, it is essential that they have training in both fields, both economic management and the execution of Engineering works.
Now, imagine that you are an Engineer and you have a lot of ideas to make a product from scratch. Your business idea is great, but you don’t know how to start carrying it out. Many Engineers find themselves in this situation and that is why they decide to do an MBA.
If you have an Engineering degree, the reasons you can find to take this Masters are very broad. If your case is not the previous one, you surely agree that there are enormous expectations about the future of the Engineering + MBA profile. In fact, many recent graduates see these studies as almost mandatory upon completion of their degree.
The increase in Engineers on student lists is seen in all MBA formats, both Full-Time and Part-Time, Postgraduate and Executive MBA.
In the Executive MBA modality, we usually find people seeking promotion in companies. They are usually ambitious professionals who want to advance to management positions. In many cases, it is the company itself that invests in this training for its workers.
Another option is to study for a double Master’s Degree in Industrial Engineering and MBA. This program consists of two degrees and is completed in 2 years. It is focused on young people who have recently graduated since, on the one hand, the Master’s Degree in Industrial Engineering is a qualifying degree to carry out the profession of industrial Engineering. The MBA degree or the Master in Business Management qualifies you to perform the functions of business management and direction.
Will the MBA end up becoming a strictly necessary decision for Engineers? There are those who say that it is going to become as essential as knowledge of the English language. If this is true, people will have to make more and more efforts to develop their personal competitive factors and improve soft skills.
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What do Engineers look for in MBA?
Business schools that offer this approach point out four essential aspects that Engineers look at when choosing an MBA with these characteristics. Let’s see what they are and what they consist of:
- Leadership:
Engineers are not necessarily leaders. Their specialty does not require, at least in principle, a high capacity to influence their environment or promote changes in the people around them. Their role is more oriented to the design of useful solutions in specific contexts, which almost always involve the construction of works. However, if in addition to this knowledge, they add skills to gain a positive role in their environment, they will undoubtedly be able to command processes at all levels, hierarchies, and aspects.
- Negotiation:
Negotiating is a skill that not all people possess. Although it is a function that often falls to the Project Manager, an Engineer is also capable of developing it. By doing so, your view of the role you play will be much richer than before and you will have greater awareness of the process.
- Work team management:
The 21st-century Engineer must not only aspire to be a leader but also to manage work groups in the processes they command. Today teamwork is an essential condition of any project, especially in the business area. Knowing how to manage groups in a negotiation context helps an Engineer, for example, to improve the management of the resources he uses in his field and know how to guide the efforts of his collaborators.
- Entrepreneurship:
After accumulating some experience in their field, many Engineers on the adventure of starting their own business idea. However, not everyone is trained to do so. An MBA for Engineers provides them with the necessary resources and tools for this scenario and provides them with better knowledge, study, and analysis of the market to which they aspire. In fact, it is estimated that currently, 25% of students who enroll in programs of this type come from Engineering faculties or schools.
Some information about MBAs for Engineers
The number of Engineers who choose an MBA as a complementary training program is increasingly younger, which indicates that factors such as the promotion of business ideas, entrepreneurship, project management, and knowledge of the market, in general, have become work priorities.
The point seems clear: the sooner they learn the skills necessary to operate in business, the greater their chances of success in the short, medium, and long term. It is, in essence, an investment in the future.
In the United States, for example, almost all Engineers who decide to enroll in an MBA of this type come from fields such as mechanics, chemistry, biomedicine, electronics, computer science, and electrical approaches.
Dartmouth University, for example, has developed a more complete profile of MBA candidates for Engineers and has concluded that 29% of them are dedicated to Engineering as such, 26% to consulting, and another 19% to analysis. investment, financial solutions, and information technologies.
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What topics are covered in an MBA for Engineers?
Now, when it comes to the points to be addressed in these programs, Engineering subjects such as statistics, resource optimization, decision making, risk analysis, and technology evaluation stand out.
In the case of specific topics in the area of business and administration, emphasis is placed on some such as marketing and advertising, stock market operations, corporate finance, communication and presentation skills, accounting, teamwork, and leadership styles.
Now, if you want to do an MBA, we recommend that you review the offer that VERN and IBAS have, which offers Masters and MBAs in different categories.
Contact with IBAS: +201000498154