Deciding to pursue a master’s degree can be a tough decision for some — balancing work and life can already be tough before adding school into the mix. Once you’ve made the decision that it’s time for you to pursue a graduate degree for yourself, the next step is knowing what degree is right for you.
The right degree path depends on what you want for your career and your interests. You may be caught between what is right for you — an MBA or a degree in marketing communications. Let’s take a look at some of the key differences and which degree could be right for your career.
To start, both fields of study develop critical skills for successful career paths like leadership, tailored skill sets and management skills. Both enhance your job opportunities, but they also have distinct differences.
MBA
An MBA program is a great fit for marketing professionals who want to enhance their overall business skills and knowledge. An MBA program includes foundation and business core courses that equip students to develop an advanced conceptual framework for analyzing and solving business problems.
An MBA has an emphasis on leadership in general business functions, and it teaches a lot of theory as it relates to solving business problems and managing people. Rather than a practitioner focus, MBA programs lean toward theory and critical thinking skills.
This degree is a good option for people who want to expand their leadership skills in a general business environment, and degree programs tend to focus on business in general rather than more specialized practice areas of business departments.
Marketing Communications
A master's in marketing communications is better suited to professionals who want to focus on a marketing career, including marketing leadership and executive level positions, or those who want to transition to a marketing career from another profession.
Rather than emphasizing marketing as a single area of business that works in tandem with other departments, a marketing communications degree focuses on teaching the skills, technology, creative strategy and innovation needed to be on the cutting edge of an evolving marketing landscape.
A marketing communications degree teaches students about a particular practice area of business, and it lends itself toward a practitioner-focused education which gives students skills they can immediately apply to their day-to-day lives and careers.
A marketing communications degree places an emphasis on both creative and strategic thinking, and it tends to offer more opportunities for a personalized and tailored degree track. For example, an individual can choose electives and specialty courses which align with their interests and career goals. From video production to public relations to data-driven analysis, a student can build a unique and personalized path to graduation.
Which one is right for you?
At the end of the day, which degree is right for you really comes down to what you want with your career. Whether you’re focused on general business leadership or expertise in a particular practice area, you should take some time to figure out what you want out of your graduate education and where you want to go with your career.
No matter your decision, you should make sure that you are doing something for you and your goals. If what’s right for you is a degree in marketing communications, we would love to help you begin the process toward your dream job!
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Request More InformationMeet the Author
Emma Magruder
Marketing and Events Graduate Service Assistant
Emma is a marketing and events graduate assistant in the Marketing Communications Online Programs through the Reed School of Media and Communications at West Virginia University. She is a graduate student at WVU and involved in PRSSA and AWSM. She could always talk about what she made in her kitchen for this week and her favorite sports! Bitten by the travel bug, she loves to travel whenever she has a few days to take an adventure.
Marcom Today
Marketing Communications Today is a collection of resources for marketing communications professionals filled with industry research, marketing trends, and career information about integrated marketing and data-driven communications. Learn industry insights through the Marketing Communications Today blog, podcast, as well as Integrate Online.
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