At Booth, we believe that choice has to do with your key motivations for pursuing a rigorous MBA and the school’s ability to help you meet your specific goals.
In this blog, we will discuss benefits associated with pursuing an Executive MBA Program in hopes of helping you decide if an EMBA is the right fit for you.
Everyone knows that an MBA is a considerable investment of time and money—and we want to make sure you are making the best possible decision when you embark on one. Asking yourself “Should I get an Executive MBA” is a question that requires assessing your career to date, evaluating your goals for the future, and doing a little bit of soul searching. It’s not a quick answer for most people, but for those who decide the opportunity is right, it can be a life- and career-changing experience.
First, think about your career and your future goals. Are you focused on attaining a leadership role in your company? Are you interested in expanding your professional network beyond the bounds of your current connections? Do you want to unlock doors to new opportunities outside of your current role or function? Are you thinking about starting your own company?
If you found yourself nodding yes to any of these questions, then a Sokolov Executive MBA from Chicago Booth could be the right next step for you. Most Sokolov EMBA students are senior, working professionals who are further along in their careers with an average of 10 to 15 years of experience. Rather than leave their jobs for two years for a Full-Time MBA Program, these students continue to work while pursuing an MBA.
You need a lot of motivation to take on an Executive MBA Program. You’ll be juggling work, personal/family life, and a rigorous course of study. What is your primary reason for doing it all? Let’s do a simple exercise. Below are some common motivations for pursuing an MBA. While all may resonate with you, pick the one that aligns the best.
Now let’s compare your answer with the data (this is Booth, after all). When we surveyed recently admitted students on this question, here’s what they said:
Advance in Career
24%
Develop Business Skills and Expertise
20%
Network
18%
Develop Leadership Skills
15%We know that many Booth students pursue an Executive MBA degree to develop a broader professional network, build and enhance their leadership skills, and discover new career options, either within their current companies or in different functions and industries. Here’s how the Chicago Booth Sokolov Executive MBA Program delivers on those criteria:
Incoming students understand that a strong network is a lifelong, invaluable tool for career growth and success. At Chicago Booth, you gain access to 58,000+ alumni worldwide, including 15,000 alumni in c-suite roles from every industry around the globe who share a commitment toward the success of each Booth graduate. Within the Sokolov Executive MBA Program, you have the opportunity to form close bonds with your local cohort in either Chicago, London, or Hong Kong, as well as with global classmates from all three campuses during your international sessions. With that in mind, no matter which of our global campuses you choose as your home base, during those five international weeks (Kick-Off week in Chicago, one week in London and Hong Kong, and two weeks for electives), you’ll have the opportunity to connect with students from all three locations.
Our students continue to report that the time, duration, and intensity of the program led them to an incredibly tight-knit network of lifelong friends. The return on this experience is a truly global network of colleagues who form a collaborative and inspiring community that will champion your successes and offer support throughout your career.
Chicago Booth has Career and Leadership resources in place to help each student tap into their full potential. Resources like LEAD (an executive-level, experiential learning course) teaches you frameworks centered around enhancing your executive leadership and career management skills. In addition, you’d have access to curated industry roundtables, panel discussions, and small-group workshops with experts from different fields that will expose you to the latest thinking in the marketplace and identify opportunities to impact change. Lastly, you’d have access to one-on-one touchpoints with Booth Career Coaches to help build self-awareness, define your professional goals, and develop a concrete plan to attain them.
At Booth, we teach you how to think, not what to think. To help guide your thinking, we equip you with analytical frameworks rooted in the fundamental disciplines at the heart of business—economics, accounting, psychology, sociology, and statistics. You start to see how markets work, how businesses function, and how people make decisions. From there, you have the opportunity to apply that evidence-based approach you learn to your career in whatever capacity is needed. At Booth, we call this the Chicago Approach.
From gaining access to a global network to being surrounded by some of the brightest minds in the world in an intellectually challenging classroom setting, there are many reasons why we believe you should consider pursuing your EMBA at Chicago Booth. After reading, we hope you have a better understanding of how Booth’s Executive MBA can help accelerate your career to the next level.
If you believe Booth is the right fit for you, we encourage you to start your application today.
If you’re still considering if Chicago Booth’s EMBA is right for you, we encourage you to request a CV or resume review from our Admissions team as you consider your next steps.