Emerging Fields for New MBAs in Canada

There used to be a saying in financial markets, "MBA – leads the way." The question today is where that MBA is leading to. The times are changing and traditions are changing with the times. A student who put in long, hard years of study to earn a respectable MBA degree can still look forward to a rewarding career. But where will that career be?

Banking, long a natural employer of skilled, financial and business minds, has begun to offer new opportunities. The relative strength of Canada's banks has allowed them to expand internationally. This translates into ripe opportunities for MBA's with international experience, or those seeking to gain experience.

With more and more Canadian companies seeking outside, professional advice to help examine and assess their operations, in light of the effects of the recession, consulting jobs are providing prime employment for bright MBA students, especially those with knowledge of those industries that are going through tremendous change, like media, wireless broadband, and health-care.

For many other graduates, the time has come to think outside the box and forge ahead into uncharted territory. Public service is now seeking more MBA students that ever before. For example, the government's stimulus funding for infrastructure projects has created many jobs and projects. These need the right people to administer and oversee these massive projects.

Growth in the non-profit sector has outpaced the economy. As the need for professionals has grown greatly in the "third sector" of non-profits and NGO's, job opportunities for appropriately trained MBA students are continually available.

MBA students, with their fingers on the pulse, are also preparing themselves for careers in other budding sectors, such as sustainability and technology. A good deal of investment dollars is heading to these fields and many companies are seeking top, business minds to help them emerge on top not only financially, but ecologically and socially as well – the top business priorities of the 21st century.

There is one thing that an MBA student will not learn in school. When opportunity knocks – open the door. However, sometimes you have to search for the handle.

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Career Path for an MBA in Canada

It's best to begin with the good news. Overall, on the global level, the Canadian economy is in much stronger shape than the American economy. That having been stated, life is still rather difficult at a grass roots' level, especially if you are a recent graduate of a fine university, clutching the license to a successful career – your MBA.

This is not to say that an MBA degree is unimportant. Just the contrary! It is a degree well worth pursuing, especially if your career vision is targeted in the business or financial sectors. Unfortunately, though, the current employment market is not the most promising for new MBA's. In the finance sector, traditionally the major MBA employment sector, career centres for MBA graduates report a decline in finance jobs ranging from 6% - 16%. In addition, graduate schools have reported a drop of on-campus recruitment of at least 10%. Furthermore, graduates seeking internships have encountered a serious reduction in available placements. Back to the good news, the dip in salaries in Canada was slight, compared to the major drop in 2002. Estimates are that salaries will return to the pre-recession level by late 2010 or 2011. However, if you can't secure a position, the salary is irrelevant.

Recruitment has been on the rise in some sectors, though. More positions requiring MBA's have become available in government, health care, non-profit, and energy. While these sectors comprise a relatively small percentage of all available jobs, it may cause new graduates to begin thinking in different career directions, away from the traditional employment sectors. Also, a growing number of recent grads have turned to entrepreneurial endeavours, as have many Canadians who have been unable to find employment.

Some graduates have begun looking for foreign employment, although the prospects abroad are also not very encouraging. For most, though, they will weather the storm in Canada, hoping for better times down the road because, when all is said and done, there's no place like home.

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