Gone are the days when you needed an MBA degree to get high packages like 10-20 Lakhs. The job landscape has completely changed in the last few years. I personally know someone in Product Management who’s making 13 Lakhs, a Designer who’s making 12 Lakhs, a Growth Manager making 15 Lakhs and a Data Analyst making 6.5 Lakhs. Do you know what’s common among all of them? Nobody has an MBA degree and their average experience is 1-3 years. Now I am not saying that MBAs don’t have value anymore, they are still valuable but lately, the ROIs have been going down significantly. So I decided to collate a list of top careers tracks that don't require an MBA degree. Let’s go.
Product Management
Having an MBA does help but people are breaking into product management without MBA degrees. With good work experience and in-depth training courses, the barrier to entry has gone down. The career tracks within product management are as follows:
A. Product Analyst: Freshers can start their careers as PA
B. Associate Product Manager: People with 1-2 years of experience and go for APM roles in high growth start-ups.
C. Product Manager: This is a little difficult crack but with 2-3 years of solid management experience, one can crack the PM roles in start-ups
Design
The field of design has evolved a lot in the last few years. People often this a career in design means being a graphic designer which is further from the truth. The design consists of interactions, user experience, customer journeys and much more. Good designers are making in the range of 10-30 lakhs in good tech start-ups. The career tracks within the design are as follows:
A. Graphic Designer: This is an entry-level role and because it’s entry-level don’t expect really high salaries. But to break into design this is one of the most common entry roles you can start from.
B. UX/UI Designer: After gaining some experience and doing UI/UX projects you can apply for this role.
C. Product Designer: This is a pretty advanced role and thus high paying as well. Here you work directly with product managers helping them design a better product. Remember the higher you go in design the less it gets about designing and more about strategizing.
Marketing
It was very difficult to break into marketing earlier, but now it has become a little easier. One thing you should know is that marketing roles are too few as compared to sales roles. That’s why the majority of students get sales roles right out of college. That being said, here are the career tracks within marketing:
A. Marketing Associate: This is an entry-level role to get your foot in the door which is open for freshers.
B. Marketing Manager: This role does require some level of experience and skills. MBAs do often get preference for this role.
C. Social Media Manager: This is an emerging role and here one’s skills to understand trends & consumer behaviour matters the most. This is also a starting role so open for freshers.
D. Digital Marketing Roles: There are multiple roles within digital marketing like SEO, Growth, Email Marketing, Performance Marketing etc. I have just clubbed them together for now. This is the easiest to break into if you have skills and some experience.
Data
Most of you would have heard the statement “Data is the new oil”. Businesses are producing tons of data every day. That data has to be collected, managed and analysed for business insights. Thus the demand for data professionals is on the rise. Here are some career tracks:
A. Data Analyst: This is an entry-level role. If you have 3 main skills (Excel, SQL and Analytical Thinking) then this role is easier to crack. Plus now there are tons of courses on Data Analysis one can choose from.
B. Business Intelligence Analyst: This is similar to being a data analyst but the focus is to use business intelligence to find business insights that can help to grow the business.
C. Data Scientist: This is a slightly advanced role and suited for people experienced in data analysis.
How To Crack These Top Careers?
Now the main question comes, how to crack these careers? Here are some pointers to help you:
- Online Courses: There are so many good Ed-tech platforms building advanced courses on marketing, product, data analytics etc. These platforms not only teach you the in-demand skills but also offer some level of placement assistance. Here are some top platforms: AltUni by InsideIIM, UpGrad, Great Learning, Kraftshala, Growth School etc.
- Internships: Apart from online courses the best way to learn any skill is on the job. You can get internships and learn directly from the top professionals. Plus many internships now offer Pre-Placement Opportunities, if they like your work they directly hire you.
Suggested Online Courses by AltUni By InsideIIM
In case you’re planning to take up online courses, here are some suggestions:
- Data Analytics with Power BI
- Certificate Program in Digital Marketing – In association with Hindustan Unilever
Bonus Tips
To help you further here are a few more detailed guides:
- What to do if you didn’t get a good CAT score? | 3 Alternatives
- How to plan your CAT drop year effectively? | Top 4 Hacks
Conclusion
I hope this article gave you some direction around top careers you can explore within doing an MBA. If you liked the article do drop a like and share your thoughts/suggestions in the comment section below. If you want to connect, you can reach out to me on LinkedIn.
All the best!