Get an MBA Degree to Make it in a Marketing Career

You can look on line and find websites just for MBA's who are out of work. You can look at statistics and see that with the proliferation of on line degrees, there are more MBA's than ever in today's job market. Does that mean an MBA is even more of a necessity for those who wish to compete in today's business world? Or does it make you "just another MBA?" One Kelley School of Business MBA graduate says without his MBA, opportunities would have been denied him, and income potential would have decreased.

Grad parlays MBA into Proctor & Gamble job.

Darren Klein values his experience as an MBA student at Kelley. He feels his degree got him in the door at Proctor & Gamble where his marketing career began. Klein worked for five years in the P&G consumer market knowledge group on such successful projects as the Old Spice Body Wash launch, revitalization of the Ivory brand and others.

Darren's group also orchestrated the launch of one of P&G's biggest cosmetic pushes: The Cover Girl Lash Exact product, which is a prototype of marketing savvy and success. Lash Exact took off as a result of a multifaceted program including consumer research, public relations, and advertising in both traditional and emerging media. (Read "internet.") Darren believes his MBA studies at Kelley taught him to "approach problems through a 'big-picture' approach."

Next step in this MBA's career.

Klein had always loved higher education, and his MBA made him eligible and equipped to move from the corporate world into leadership of the Kelley Direct MBA program at Indiana University that began in 1999. Kelley Direct is the on line arm of the highly respected Kelley School of Business. Darren teaches MBA students to use the tools he developed from his own marketing and strategy classes. In fact, the KD program has increased from 1100 students to 1500, just in the time Darren has been working on it. Greg Kitzmiller, Kelley Faculty member and MBA, reports that "Direct graduates come out armed with a degree that represents in-depth business knowledge and leadership qualities to potential employers."

Bringing MBA savvy to the nonprofit sector.

In 2009, Klein was able to develop a plan for his church to identify and implement mission and ministry priorities, using his MBA tools and skills. Membership profiles, relevance of Christianity to modern day life, and contemporary outreach approaches were identified. The resulting plan helped utilize the talents of a team of hardworking people who are now incorporating those new priorities in life-changing ministries at this growing church.

Churches are not the only nonprofits recognizing the value of MBA savvy. Catherine Gill, director of the Nonprofit Finance Fund in New England, says "MBA's bring hard skills like financial know-how to (nonprofits), but that's not all." She comments, "They also bring a really sharp understanding of teams and how to access resources that aren't always obvious. The MBA degree is incredibly broad and teaches people how to approach problems from different angles."

MBA a necessity to Klein.

Darren attests to the fact that his MBA gained him entry into exciting marketing opportunities in the corporate world. Without the MBA, becoming an instructor and leader in on line MBA programs would not have been possible either. His degree, and his real world experience, make him more valuable to the market, the students, and even the nonprofit concerns that are important to him.

Sources:

Greg Kitzmiller, Faculty, Kelley School of Business, Indiana University

Darren Klein, MBA, Kelley School of Business, Indiana University

Catherine Gill, quoted in "The Case for MBA's in the Nonprofit Sector"