Distance learning as a mode of study is becoming more popular, particularly among MBA candidates. But does an MBA received via distance learning impact on your chances of employment?

Distance learning is a good choice for those who seek out to enhance their careers or those who want particular training. Managers often could not give the time required to pursue a full-time MBA degree. Distance learning can offer them disclosure to latest information and theories. These are a few additional latent rewards Distance education programs need less time dedication on the whole than other types. They offer additional geographic suppleness. They offer disclosure to a different no of students. They offer approach to teaching staff in many diverse locations. Class work may be planned about private and professional commitments.

The value of a graduate from a distance learning MBA who had achieved the same results as a graduate from an equivalent on-campus program more favorably in light of the greater commitment required from the student to achieve this result. If the point of an MBA is improved career prospects, there are three main areas that potential candidates will focus on when choosing their distance learning MBA: the skills they will learn, the career networking opportunities and the qualification itself.
The desire to study for high quality, internationally recognized program is growing at an almost exponential rate all over the world. These programs enable students to seek qualifications offered by top business schools and delivered locally. The way in which these academic programs operate varies from country to country and business school to business school.

Skills training
MBA after your name does not open doors to an incredibly new and distinct career. Rather, it provides you with an education that enables you to become a better manager, and therefore get career progression. Many of these theoretical skills can be taught remotely, especially with the rise of communication technology.

A common way of providing these opportunities will be through the provision of a significant face-to-face element to the programs, for example, book weeks, residential schools or face-to-face tutorials. When looking at a distance learning MBA, it is important that the courses offer face-to-face activity or group work. Group work is fundamental to organizational life; so losing that as a part of your education can be very significant. There’s no group interaction, no debate, no networking - that’s difficult. There’s no learning in practice, no rehearsal, no chance to try things out.

There are learning opportunities, some of which are flexible and allow people to read and reflect online and offline in their own time.

Advantages
One advantage of Online MBA is that candidates can continue to work in their own job, and therefore can see practical applications to what they are learning. It help us with career continuity as students typically continue to work in their existing career throughout their study in contrast to campus based program where students must take the risk of giving up work for the duration of their study. Companies are beginning to recognize this strength of combining career and training and are using MBAs as part of their training package, which also helps to retain their staff.

Employer Perspective
The distance learning MBA does rely on one skill - even more than the on-campus MBA the ability to push and motivate our self. Anyone who believes that distance learning is the poor relation of a face-to-face program has clearly never done our distance learning MBA. It’s not. In fact, since you can argue that distance learning gives you a lot more time to apply what you are doing, and reflect where you are going, it could be seen as a much richer experience. He finds that some distance learning MBA students struggle near the end of their course. This is because they are victims of their own success. They are struggling not because they cannot cope, but because they are being promoted within their company and are using their new skills to take on more responsibility. Enlightened, informed employers see the distance MBA as being of at least equal value. In some cases, I’ve noticed an added appeal for employers they know that they are employing a highly resilient and motivated employee with all the MBA skills. It’s not every day that such focused and determined people bubble up in the applications process.

My impression of employers’ views is that they have changed significantly over the last 10 years or so. There was previously a perception that a distance learning program was the poor relation, but I believe this has changed to a view that students who succeed on a distance learning program have many of the very qualities that employers value, such as organizational ability, time management, team work, both virtual and face-to-face, being able to apply management theory to practice, self-motivation and dedication.

Tags: distance learning, employment, job, master degree, mba, online mba, students

This entry was posted on Wednesday, December 16th, 2009 at 2:34 am and is filed under mba. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.