What Can You Do with an MBA in Today’s Market?
BY Elmhurst MBA | 6 MIN READ
Nobody likes unpredictability and uncertainty — especially if you’re planning your professional future. Those two dynamics drive today’s job market and overall economy. Accelerating technology advancements like AI, ever-shifting global dynamics and oft-changing governmental priorities, to name a few, can derail the best-laid career plans. How can you offset these forces and future-proof your career? With an MBA.
An MBA equips you with the skills and worldview to thrive amid change — adaptability, critical thinking, leadership acumen and so many more. Think of an MBA as a skeleton key that can unlock the door to a career in nearly any industry. It accelerates your professional advancement and can even build the foundation for your own entrepreneurial endeavor. It’s a strategic investment in your future, putting you on the path to diverse and rewarding MBA career paths.
The Global MBA Job Outlook
Unlike eras past, simply having a degree nowadays is often not enough to produce the quality—and quantity— of career opportunities for many professionals. More and more employees covet individuals with not only specialized knowledge and hard skills but also transferable soft skills that demonstrate an ability to perform in diverse roles and work environments. In fact, the Graduate Management Admission Council’s 2024 Corporate Recruiters Survey found that over 50% of global employees placed the most importance on the same top three skills:
- Problem-solving
- Communication
- Strategic thinking
This is where an MBA excels.
The benefits of getting an MBA extend beyond a piece of paper. It can transform your professional potential. Particularly in our interconnected and interdependent global economy, the MBA job outlook is strong. The percent of companies hiring MBA grads grew from 76% in 2019 to 92% in 2024, according to a January 2025 report from Validated Insights, a marketing firm in higher education. It’s proof that demand for the skilled leaders and strategic thinkers that MBAs produce continues to grow. This increase in MBA career opportunities is happening alongside the blurring of borders associated with e-commerce and international trade, placing a premium on professionals with a global business perspective, a cornerstone of many MBA programs.
The Benefits of Getting an MBA
While improving your job prospects and advancing your career are two primary benefits of getting an MBA, the degree instills many skills that fuel personal and professional growth.
Expand Your Career Opportunities
The beauty of an MBA is in its versatility. Although they are most closely associated with business, finance and consulting, MBAs prepare you to thrive in various industries and roles.
These hot jobs for MBA graduates from U.S. News & World Report are representative of the diverse MBA career opportunities out there:
- Computer systems analyst
- Human resources manager
- Information technology (IT) manager
- Management analyst
- Operations research analyst
- Personal financial advisor
Many of those positions and others like them are in demand across industries, underscoring the positive MBA job outlook.
Consider the rapidly evolving tech sector, where MBAs excel in roles such as product manager, using strategic vision to guide product development, or business analytics manager, transforming data into actionable insights. Tech consulting also is an option, with MBAs often advising companies on digital transformation and operational efficiency.
In health care, the need for strong leadership is high. MBA graduates can fill roles in administration to optimize hospital operations; human resources to build skilled teams amid a health care talent shortage; or in pharmaceutical management to bring life-changing innovations to market.
For those who think more creatively and strategically, marketing is a possibility. MBA grads make ideal brand managers, creating an organization’s public-facing identity and market presence, or digital marketing strategists, building a company’s tactics for attracting business.
Grow Your Personal and Professional Skills
What you learn in an MBA program pays off throughout your life and career.
- Leadership: You’ll learn to navigate complex challenges as a leader. MBA programs will develop your skills in team management and motivation, teaching you how to inspire and guide diverse groups toward shared goals.
- Communications: Effective professionals must be proficient in verbal and written communications alike. You’ll need these skills to articulate your vision persuasively and forge strong partnerships, ensuring everyone works together successfully.
- Strategic thinking: An MBA fosters strategic thinking and advanced problem-solving, empowering students to assess situations from multiple perspectives and develop innovative solutions to reach business goals, clear obstacles and overcome challenges.
- Problem solving: Many MBA programs, including Elmhurst University’s, give students the chance to solve the real-world problems of local businesses. This allows students to put classroom theory into practice for valuable firsthand experience.
- Networking: Not only will you work alongside professionals in the classroom and in your community, you’ll learn from faculty members who are successes in their industry. Upon graduation, you’ll join your program’s alumni and build connections with fellow MBA grads.
Earn an MBA Your Way at Elmhurst University
What can you do with an MBA? Almost anything you set your mind to. The benefits of getting an MBA are undeniable and invaluable, from nurturing successful leadership skills and expanding your global business perspective to unlocking a range of rewarding MBA career opportunities.
At Elmhurst University, the MBA program meets you where you are in your career development. You can learn on campus or online, full time or part time. No matter which method you choose, you’ll study under faculty members with a depth and breadth of experience who are industry leaders — and successes. They’ll help guide you through the program and be there as mentors after you earn your MBA. Elmhurst MBA students can also choose from a variety of specializations to tailor their education to their career goals.
For high-achieving students, Elmhurst’s innovative 4+1 Business Administration B.S. to MBA Program is an accelerated route, allowing students to earn a bachelor’s in business administration and an MBA within five years. Completing both degrees in five years offers time and cost savings. This option is part of our commitment to enabling students to earn their MBA their way.
Explore the full suite of MBA options at Elmhurst University and learn how an Elmhurst graduate education can help set you up for long-lasting future success.
