5 mistakes that you should not commit while selecting online MBA course
While there seems to be an unanimous view that over the years MBA course has lost its charm, its attractive quotient hasn’t completely diminished among the masses. After all, MBA course is still widely considered as the ultimate holy grail to secure a highly lucrative career. However, my maiden post on Medium is strictly about online MBA degree and blunders you shouldn’t be committing while taking a plunge in this sought after management course.
I specifically chose the topic of ‘online MBA’ because it is currently riding high on edtech or online education boom. Edtech’s surging popularity has obviously been enforced by the Covid era, which has almost made online education a conventional norm.
I owe my knowledge about MBA admission to my vast experience in India’s burgeoning education industry. During my decade long stint as a career counsellor, i'v given invaluable career advice to students seeking admissions in MBA as well as distance MBA learning courses.
Now without wasting much time on my humble autobiography, i’d like to straight away dwell into the main topic of this blog post.
1) Not verifying the reputation of university:
Many gullible students are so desperate for a lucrative corporate career that they rarely think of doing necessary due diligence. Not doing due diligence carries the risk of taking admission in a low-profile university that may not enjoy any standing either in the education industry or the job market. Taking admission in such a university is akin to hijacking your own career. No student, of course, would like such a ignominious fate and therefore it is critical to carry out the due diligence process properly. Irrespective of whether you choose to take admission for online MBA via deemed university, open university or third party institute, you ought to check its credibility. Checking credibility implies that you got to know whether the university evokes any strong sense of trust among student and general masses. Only those universities are considered trustworthy that have made genuine contribution to the education field. This usually pertains to its role in resurrecting the career of students and thereby enhancing its reputation in the education industry.
2) Blindly trusting exaggerated campus placement claims:
Almost all MBA students, whether they are pursuing MBA via online or offline medium, are bonded by the common pursuit of finding a dream job. This pursuit is so intense that its makes most students vulnerable, vulnerable enough to fall prey to exaggerated claims that many universities and colleges blatantly use to entice students. Most of these half-truth and naked lies swirl around campus placement jobs as it is the main selling proposition for attracting admission during the peak season. And more often than not many students blindly fall prey to courses that come with the enticing promise of job guarantee. This is obviously a risky thing as students are putting their entire career at stake.
Students need to be more than vigilant when they come across such claims. They need to be able to distinguish between ‘genuine claim’ and ‘marketing gimmick.’ I personally suggest these following steps: demand proper documents (including appointment letters of ex-students) to ensure that the institute has a good standing in the corporate world, personally speak to ex-students and do a quick online research about the institutes.
3) Staying oblivious about technology infrastructure:
We all know that online MBA is a technology intensive medium and therefore having a robust technology is certainly a critical prerequisite. But in the case of online MBA the definition of ‘technology infrastructure’ goes beyond the customary ‘online classes.’ The perception that there is nothing more to online MBA than online classes is actually a fallacy. A successful online MBA course needs host of technical stuffs including digital library, a dedicated student app, a online student forum to address their grievances so and so forth.
If the university that you’re planning to enroll doesn’t provide these necessary technical infrastructure then you certainly need to rethink about your plan.
4) Lack of knowledge about Teaching faculty:
Although online education lays great emphasis on technology, it hasn’t diminish the importance of efficient teachers and professors. Ultimately, students have to depend on teachers and not technology for receiving knowledge. In other words, If you are not aware about who is going to teach you then you’re probably risking your career.
You got to know about teaching faculty’s total experience, qualification and even their reputation among the ex-students.
5) Ignorance of Management is equally risky:
No university and college can function properly if its management isn’t cut out for the task. Simply put, a poor management invariably takes adverse toll on the university, which in-turn reflects poorly on students performance. While management has to be efficient and productive, students need to equally make sure that they must be student friendly in their approach. They need to be more than forthcoming about resolving all the critical queries about students and need to be transparent about all their important policies.
