What Can You Do with an MBA?

Key Takeaways: 

• An MBA builds in-demand leadership, strategy, and tech-ready skills—helping graduates boost salaries, move into management, or pivot careers across industries
• Top MBA paths include consulting, finance, tech, entrepreneurship, and leadership roles, with major employers actively recruiting graduates worldwide
• Business schools support career success through networking, alumni access, recruiters, and dedicated career teams offering mentoring, interviews, and job-search guidance

An MBA can open the door to a new world of career opportunities.

It is one of the most sought-after degrees in the world, capable of changing the trajectory of your career and even helping you move into an entirely new industry.

Because it is so highly valued by employers, MBA graduates tend to occupy senior and management positions in some of the world's best-known firms. Amazon, Microsoft, Google, and McKinsey are all recruiters of MBA talent at top global business schools each year.

In this article, we're going to look at what an MBA gives you, and what you can do with it. We'll cover:

• Why an MBA is so valued by employers

• The key career benefits of an MBA

• The most popular MBA career paths

• How business schools support your job search

Let's take a look.

Why do Employers Value MBA Degrees?

Although an MBA is nominally a business and management degree, the skills it teaches you go far beyond that.

MBA students study the key business fundamentals like marketing, management, and accounting. But you will also study concepts such as: 

• Strategic thinking

• Communication

• Negotiation

• Adaptability

• Leadership

All of these skills are highly in-demand from employers. They can of course vary depending on the industry you're looking to work in and the size of your company. In the AI-driven workplace, where the technology is increasingly creating new demands for technical skills, there is equally a growing consensus among employers that these more humanistic skills (sometimes known as ‘soft skills’), will become more important. Strategic thinking, for example, was listed as one of the top three skills for the next five years among recruiters participating in our 2025 Corporate Recruiters Survey. 

When you combine these skills with the professional network and opportunities for personal growth an MBA provides you with, it's easy to see why it is such a sought-after qualification. But what can all of this do for you and your career?

Not sure where to begin your MBA journey?

We've curated a list of MBA programs to help you get started through Advancery. Start free to assess your strengths, get matched with the right programs, and compare options so you can take your next steps with confidence.

What are the Key Career Benefits of an MBA? 

Boost Your Salary

The MBA degree is well positioned to increase your earning power. More so than all other business master's degrees—the median salary for MBA graduates in the US is $125,000, according to our 2025 Corporate Recruiters Survey, higher than other leading degree types such as the Master in Data Analytics and Master in Marketing, which average at $100,000. 

Of course, MBA salaries vary across regions and schools, but graduates from many of the top-ranking business schools frequently see their salaries rise significantly between pre and post-studies, with many schools reporting average increases above 100% and some even exceeding 200%.

Interactive Tool: Estimate Your Post-MBA Salary

How much could an MBA increase your salary? Use our MBA salary calculator to estimate your post-MBA salary based on real data from alumni and top employers.

Move into Management and Leadership Roles

Armed with a holistic understanding of business and having gained training in key soft skill areas, an MBA also helps graduates advance into more senior roles within an organization. While a promotion may come with a higher salary, it's also a chance to have greater responsibility and autonomy over your work. By progressing to management positions, you can make use of the managerial and leadership skills you'll pick up from your MBA.

Change Career Path

Many MBA students are career switchers, looking to use their MBA to pivot into a new industry or role, or start a career in a new country. Some go on to make wholesale career changes—a total of 14% of the Class of 2025 at INSEAD, a top-ranking business school with campuses in France and Singapore, achieved the so-called MBA “Triple Jump”, changing industry, job function, and location all at the same time.

Launch Your Own Business

Do you need an MBA to become an entrepreneur? No, but it can certainly help. Many schools have significant reputations for promoting entrepreneurial thinking and track records for helping students become founders. For example, as many as 16% of the most recent class of Stanford Graduate School of Business MBA graduates went on to launch their own companies. 

Most MBA programs offer electives in entrepreneurship, which give students the tools and knowledge they need to start a business. Many also provide access to business school accelerators and incubators, which can provide expertise, funding, and office space for early-stage startups. At MIT Sloan School of Management, MBA students can undertake a specialist entrepreneurship and innovation track within the school’s world renowned Martin Trust Center for Entrepreneurship.

Build Your Network

In your MBA class you'll meet a group of likeminded, driven individuals from across the world. Beyond your immediate cohort, you also enter into a vast global network of alumni who can give you help or advice when you need it. Alongside that, during your studies you’ll get opportunities to interact with expert professors, industry insiders, and corporate recruiters. 

What are the top Career Paths After an MBA? 

There are career opportunities and jobs for MBA graduates in almost every industry. You'll find MBA graduates in areas ranging from healthcare to consumer goods to real estate; in corporations, startups, and SMEs.

That being said, there are certainly some areas that MBA graduates favor over others.

Consulting

According to our Prospective Student Survey 2025, consulting remains the most popular industry of choice for all business school graduates, with half of respondents to the survey saying they were planning to move into consulting after graduating.

Given the varied curriculum of MBA programs, it's no wonder why so many MBAs are drawn to consulting. Management consultants require a broad overview of how the different parts of a business work, and more importantly, how they all fit together.

An MBA consultant salary at one of the Big Three consulting firms today is around US$190,000, with performance and signing bonuses adding up to US$60,000 or more on top of that.

“MBA programs are a tremendous source for talented, ambitious people. The skills you develop and the time to reflect on your professional goals during the program have consistently provided tremendously talented people for Bain & Company,” notes Keith Bevans, global head of consultant recruitment at Bain.

Finance

Alongside consulting, our Prospective Student Survey also reveals finance is a highly desirable industry, with 41% of respondents identifying the industry as the target for their post-business school career. 

Mergers and acquisitions (M&A), asset management, investment banking, venture capital, and private equity are all popular finance jobs for MBAs.

Top MBA employers in finance include JP Morgan and Goldman Sachs. These organizations demand graduates with strong leadership and analytical skills combined with financial knowledge. There's also demand for MBAs at alternative finance firms or within divisions focused on fintech or in climate finance.

The highest-paying finance jobs include:

• Chief Financial Officer (CFO)

• VP of Finance

• Financial controller

• Accounting manager

• Financial analyst

Tech

The technology sector has been beset by changes in recent years, with mass layoffs common and large scale changes taking place amid developments in AI. However, despite this, Tech remains a viable option for MBA grads looking to wield their skills — 85% of tech employers participating in our Corporate Recruiters Survey said they had plans to hire MBAs in 2025. 

Big tech firms regularly hire MBAs in managerial or leadership positions. This goes all the way to the top: Google CEO Sundar Pichai, Amazon CEO Andy Jassy, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, Apple CEO Tim Cook, and Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg all have MBAs. 

Jobs in tech are a good fit for MBA students. Amazon has a set of leadership principles—including thinking big, taking ownership of your work, learning and being curious—which align well with the soft skills you're taught during an MBA.

How Does MBA Recruiting Work at Business School?

When you start your MBA, you may have clear goals and ideas of what you want to achieve, or you may need a little more guidance before focusing on a specific role or industry.

Business schools offer you plenty of assistance and advice on your job search, with dedicated MBA careers teams whose function is to facilitate connections with employers and strengthen your chances in job applications.

Networking and careers events form a significant part of this. Business schools invite MBA recruiters to deliver presentations and meet with you at careers fairs. They may also bring in alumni in certain industries to help give you advice targeting a specific job or company, to help you understand what you can do with an MBA.

MBA careers teams also deliver personalized career mentoring. This involves mock interviews, self-assessments, and resume advice. They'll also help you align your goals and ambitions to the right sort of jobs and roles for you.

In short, career centers at business schools can unlock career opportunities that simply wouldn't be available normally.

Considering making a career change? Take our quick quiz to find out if now is the right moment to make your next move.