Why do Prominent Business Schools Ask for Prior Work Experience?

Many prominent business schools require candidates to have some work experience. Generally, students should have work experience of two to five years in relevant disciplines. Now, the question arises, as to why leading business schools require prior work experience.

MBA and PGDM are among the popular postgraduate management degrees offered by business schools. Graduates learn the fundamentals of business management, good communication skills, leadership and managerial skills, and job-specific skills such as problem-solving and decision-making.

“Is having prior work experience essential to apply for an MBA” is a debate that has become increasingly popular in recent years due to the recession. Those in favour of the argument agree that having work experience is important before applying for an MBA as it gives them a competitive edge. However, others may argue that an MBA provides a good platform for experiential learning by including internships and project work in the course curriculum.

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This Story also Contains

1. Why do Top B-schools accept students with prior experience?
2. Benefits of having prior work experience
3. Conclusion

How much work experience is required?

There is no fixed criterion as to how much experience is required for enrollment in an MBA. Many business schools do not even require prior experience. Some of the top B-schools offer admission to their postgraduate programmes based on entrance exam scores and work experience, such as IIM Ahmedabad requires 4 years of work experience for their PGPX programme. Similarly, IIM Udaipur requires 3 years of work experience for an MBA in Global Supply Chain Management and IIM Calcutta accept students with 5 years of experience for the MBA Ex course.

Why do Top B-schools accept students with prior experience?

Apart from the candidates, many business schools also benefit from candidates having prior work experience. While graduates having work experience gain a competitive edge over other applicants, business schools also benefit by enrolling qualified candidates.

• An MBA graduate having prior work experience is more likely to get a chance to directly apply for senior-level positions after graduation which contributes to the placement statistics of the institute.
• Working in a corporate environment, allows the candidates to learn many crucial skills such as decision-making, problem-solving, managerial skills, and time management.
• Business schools may also benefit from having qualified students with work experience due to their knowledge.
• Working in a corporation is one of the best ways to network. It will allow the candidates to make the best use of these connections to land their dream job.

Benefits of having prior work experience

Candidates also benefit from having prior work experience. Students gain various practical skills that are highly desired by employers due to their real-life work experience. Listed below are some of the benefits of having prior work experience before an MBA:

• Experienced candidates can directly apply for senior-level job roles and earn handsome salary packages.
• Students having relevant experience and practical knowledge will be able to apply theoretical concepts learned in lectures.
• Students can save the money to pay for the tuition fees.
• Having some work experience also helps the candidates in deciding the area of study and job profile to apply for.

Read further: For further information on MBA, students can read the articles mentioned below:

• Is an MBA Essential to Succeed in Business?
• MCom vs MBA
• CFA Vs MBA

Conclusion

Many candidates may have this question in their minds, “is prior work experience a necessary criterion for an MBA?”, the answer is no. When discussing an MBA, work experience does play a crucial role, however, many B-schools do not require work experience. That does not mean that it is an ideal approach. One cannot deny the fact that prior work experience plays a significant role in management education.