Looking to make a bigger impact in your current engineering role? Do you want to marry your technical capabilities with wider business skills? Are you ready to explore other career opportunities? If you find yourself answering yes to any of these questions, studying an MBA could hold the key to your next career move.
Dr. Michele O' Dwyer, Associate Dean of the UL MBA, explains why an increasing number of engineering professionals are pursuing the MBA programme to reinvigorate their careers.
Develop wider business skills
To assume a senior management or board level role, a wide spectrum of business skills is required. You will be liaising with stakeholders across multiple disciplines, internally and externally. You will therefore need an understanding of the fundamentals of areas such as finance, corporate strategy, operations right through to HR and people management. An MBA equips specialist professionals, such as engineers, to marry their technical expertise with wider business knowledge, empowering them to collaborate and communicate effectively at a senior level.
Change industry or career direction
Specific technical or sector knowledge can keep engineers tied to a career path, which they may want to branch out from. Studying an MBA programme equips people with universal business skills, opening the door to a complete change of career; whether its the move from the pharmaceutical sector to food production or a more radical change, such as from a specialist engineering function to a more commercial such in an area such as new product development.
Undertaking an MBA programme can also provide engineering professionals with the skills and knowledge required to pursue self-employed opportunities, perhaps in engineering consultancy or setting up a new business in an entirely different field.
Gain new perspectives
After several years working in the same industry or engineering role, the potential to further strengthen knowledge and skills can begin to plateau and career progression can flat line. Undertaking an MBA can re-invigorate engineering professionals and re-ignite careers. Through bringing together a diverse mix of professionals from different backgrounds, sectors and levels, it can spark new ideas and different perspectives, giving people a fresh, renewed enthusiasm and passion in their roles.
In addition, the knowledge gained of other disciplines though the course material (finance, strategy, operations etc.), helps engineers to see work scenarios through the eyes of other stakeholders, such as a CFO, a business analyst or a marketing manager, equipping them with a more rounded view of business operations.
About the UL MBA
The UL MBA is the only MBA in Ireland which offers specialist engineering electives alongside core business modules. Students of the UL MBA can study specialist electives such as Lean Tools and Techniques, Supply Chain Management and Operations Management as well as core business subjects such as Corporate Finance and Strategic Leadership.
The UL MBA programme provides an understanding of the intersection between the field of engineering and that of business. Ultimately, it aims to equip students with the business skills, competencies and technical expertise necessary to advance their career in the fast-paced world of engineering management.
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