Why You Should Pursue a Master’s in Management Degree

What can a Master’s in Management degree do for you? Launch you into a well-paid professional job? Swell your salary? Help you discover what you love to do, and access an invaluable network? Most likely, all of the above.

The Master’s in Management —or MiM—is a broad business management degree that teaches the bread-and-butter leadership and technical skills — strategy, accounting et al — that are valued greatly by the world’s top employers. 

Those abilities are similar to what you’ll hone on an MBA, the flagship business school degree for more experienced managers, but at a fraction of the cost (usually)and time. MiMs are for those with little or no work experience, and that’s a big advantage to pursuing the degree. 

“In reality, you do not need work experience to apply, but to have the best chance of being selected, we want students who will be able to complete 40 weeks of internships by graduation, which means it is easier if candidates already have some experience [as it will count towards the 40 weeks],” says Joe Miemczyk, an academic director of the MiM course at ESCP Europe, a business school with campuses in Paris, Berlin, London, Madrid, Turin and Warsaw. 
 
“We require students to study in at least two of our six campuses in Europe and to speak three languages, which means they are very employable in the international market,” Miemczyk says.

“Some 96% of our students find work within three months of graduating.”

After an MiM: Beyond corporate careers

It is not just corporate careers that Master’s in Management courses prepare their participants for; post-MiM careers in entrepreneurship are on the rise. Just ask Quentin Le Gall, a Neoma Business School MiM student who founded, six months into his degree at the French school, a company that turns restaurants into working spaces during off-peak hours. The startup, called Mustard, is already in 60 locations in France, across 19 cities, and it plans to expand into Europe in the New Year. 

“The MiM courses were valuable, but the best thing I got from the degree was working in groups and expanding my network,” Le Gall says. In one group project, he was taught how to create a business plan, which he entered into — and won — a Neoma startup competition. “We won €6,000 and in 2019, we will raise more funds, and I’ll use all of what I’ve learned on the MiM program [to do that],” says Le Gall. 

The employability of MiM graduates means their return on investment is generally very high indeed. At Madrid’s IE Business School, for instance, 91 percent of those who graduated from the 10-month MiM in 2017, were employed within three months of donning their caps and gowns — in the consulting, consumer goods, finance, technology and other sectors. The average annual salary was €40,800, meaning that, based on the current MiM tuition fees, they can pay back their fees in about 11 months. 

What’s more, many business schools offer generous financial aid packages to attract the brightest students, and those with the greatest financial need. At Neoma France last year, more than 150 MiM students received scholarships that collectively amounted to over €450,000. 

“The choice of an apprenticeship scheme — [on which students spend] one week at school, three weeks in company — is also a good option to get rid of all the tuition fees, totally paid [for] by the host company,” says Sylvie Jean, director of Neoma’s MiM course. “More than 700 MiM students have chosen this scheme and are thus exempt from tuition fees, [and they are] receiving a salary.” 

How an internship during an MiM can help students land jobs

Internships and apprenticeships form a key part of many MiM curriculums, and they can launch students into fulfilling jobs in a wide variety of industries and functions. On the CEMS Master’s in International Management program, for example, students spend two academic terms in different countries, at different business schools, and can complete an internship in a third country of their choice. 

“The best way to achieve an understanding of international management it to experience other cultures,” says Roland Seigers, executive director of CEMS. “With additional options we create, by the time students graduate, they can have accumulated credits and learning experiences in up to six different countries, on five continents,” he adds. 

Exchange programs are also plentiful at the University of St. Gallen in Switzerland, whose MiM students can flock to some 200 educational partners for term-long exchanges all over the world. There is also an array of double-degree options for them to pick from, if they so choose, for example with schools in Singapore or Costa Rica. 

The value of an MiM specialization

Although the MiM is a general management degree, many business schools enable students to specialize in certain fields, via double-degrees or elective modules, which can make them more employable, for instance in finance or marketing. Omid Aschari, managing director of St. Gallen’s MiM, says: “A specialization can then be reinforced by the choice of the mandatory internship students are required to accomplish during their study time.” 

Such global experiences provide MiM students with an enviable network. “The network is key,” says Aschari. “St. Gallen has an active network of some 25,000 alumni spread across the globe and organized in chapters. 

“The program also runs an exclusive network of some 700 community members globally and that is a key asset. Students find their internships, jobs and business partners via the network. They initiate new friendships and sustain existing ones via various channels, both online and offline, [for example via] a regular community event in Switzerland.” 

The business schools themselves have careers departments with extensive resources for Master in Management students. Neoma, for one, has a “Talent & Careers” unit that gives students the knowledge and skills they need to quickly access internships, full-time jobs, and ensure employability throughout their careers. 

Jean says: “The T&C teams provide our students with more than 20,000 job offers and internships each year, while preparing them for the key stages of recruitment through dedicated modules: CV, cover letter, video interviews [and more].” 

CEMS, meanwhile, holds an international careers fair each year that involves its corporate partners and MiM students. “Our 70 corporate partners are also active in developing our curriculum [and they] give the CEMS MiM a distinct ‘real life’ feel,” says Seigers. “Over half of CEMS graduates will have worked with a corporate partner.” 

He adds: “Wherever they travel or work in the world, “CEMSies” know they can reach out to like-minded colleagues.”