When searching for the right candidates for important positions, it’s tough to narrow down the field. There are so many resumes that hit your desk, that whittling them down to just a few for interview is a real challenge in itself.
One possibility is to shortlist applicants on the basis of certain criteria like previous experience (people who’ve worked in the same position before) or those holding preferential qualifications like an MBA or another relevant subject matter.
In this article, we consider whether it’s worth giving priority to applicants with an MBA.
Benefits of Prioritizing MBA Candidates
It depends on the position to be filled, but if you need an employee in a senior position who’ll oversee financial aspects, manage important teams, devise marketing plans and see them through to fruition, or manage the cybersecurity department, then a candidate with a Master’s in Business Administration is perfect.
Most MBA degrees cover different aspects of business operations, management of key personnel, finance or accounting, and technology. The skillset is fairly broad and goes deep enough into each area to provide oversight and expertise sufficient to manage an important department successfully.
Not Every MBA is the Same Now
While there’s a belief that an MBA from any college around the world is essentially the same, that’s not entirely true. Yes, the standard of education and the value that employee can bring to your business will likely be similar, yet the topics they’ve studied will vary.
For instance, some of these degrees have been updated to include electives, or selectable concentrations in artificial intelligence or cybersecurity, which wasn’t offered a few years ago. Similarly, global business or managing multi-national teams is covered in some MBA courses that have a more international flavor.
Due to the above factors, it’s worth looking deeper into the type of course that was completed to appreciate what electives and specializations have been studied and completed.
Develop Staff from within the Organization
It’s important to also consider the long-term development of staff within the organization. Without proving growth opportunities, the company will have a higher staff turnover than is preferable, and this hurts the bottom-line.
For example, some colleges now offer no GMAT online MBA degrees. These courses do not require the Graduate Management Admission Test which skips a time-consuming step for employees who would have passed the test with flying colors anyway. The no GMAT online MBA is one that can be completed in 12-18 months by staff who focus enough time on it.
Helping to develop the careers of people showing promise within the organization through training – either short courses or longer academic study opportunities – creates the next tranche of leaders for the business. Rather than always reaching outside the company with recruitment, promoting from within helps to keep morale higher.
Prioritizing certain MBA job candidates is a sensible approach to process a huge list of job applicants down to a manageable few. That doesn’t mean that other applicants won’t be suitable, but it does make identifying early favorites a bit easier.