Simon Fraser University Beedie School of Business

MBA, Full Time (1 year)

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MBA Requirement: Professional Experience

In addition to a first academic degree (such as a bachelor's or diploma), professional experience is one of the most important prerequisites that applicants must meet to be admitted to an MBA course.

There are also MBA courses that you can take right after your first university degree; However, the majority of the MBA offer is aimed at the so-called “young professionals”, i.e. young people with an academic education who are already working in a profession. This is also reflected in the minimum age of MBA students starting in Germany, which is over 30 years in Germany.

While many business schools and universities (especially in the USA) were often even more flexible in terms of work experience in the past, it has now become an integral part of the admission regulations. There are two main reasons for this:

• On the one hand, many MBA courses build partly on the experience and knowledge learned in everyday working life. In addition, they aim for a lively exchange between the participants so that they can mutually benefit from their experiences.
• On the other hand, the providers also hope that their graduates will be able to return to work as quickly as possible after graduation - which will then have a positive effect on the reputation of the universities.

How much work experience is required?

How much professional experience you have to bring with you always depends on the individual provider. As a rule, at least one to two years are required, but it can also be significantly more. An Executive MBA is sometimes compulsory for at least five years.

There can also be differences when it comes to the recognition of professional experience that was achieved before the first degree (e.g. Bachelor, Diploma). While some providers recognize this (at least partially), others only accept professional achievements that were achieved after the first degree and have a direct technical connection to it.

In fact, there are quite a few universities and business schools that offer a certain amount of leeway in terms of work experience or recognize alternative services as admission qualifications. For example, there is a chance that a very good final grade of the first degree or a good personal reason can compensate for a lack of professional experience. The other way round, the professional experience at some institutes can even be so highly valued that in some cases it can replace the first university degree and thus also allow applicants without academic training to access an MBA degree.

Not sure? Just ask!

Are you unsure whether your professional qualifications are sufficient for a position in the Master of Business Administration of your choice? Then you should first contact the student advisory service of the respective provider. They can tell you which previous achievements are recognized or not. You can also find out here whether an application with an alternative qualification is also worthwhile.

Special case Executive MBA (EMBA)

As indicated above, the EMBA courses represent a special case. The so-called “Executive Master of Business Administration” is aimed specifically at those who have many years of management and leadership experience and would like to qualify for senior positions.

In this case , the providers usually require at least five years of professional experience ; depending on the degree program, it may also be possible that the applicant must already have practical experience in management or a comparable leading position.