Working in a full-time job while pursuing EMBA simultaneously is a grind and aspirants are exposed to odd circumstances that hinder their work-life-study balance. The course is nothing less than a rollercoaster ride for aspirants where they juggle between family, job, aging, studies, and other responsibilities. Despite the challenges, an EMBA program is the key to maintaining your career curve without giving up your job for at least 2 years.
We’ve highlighted some important tips that can help you pull EMBA off without collapsing.
Pursuing an EMBA in mid-career can help you broaden your horizons, polish your skills and can be the catalyst for a career transformation. Now, considering the challenges, you have to prepare your mind to get loaded with responsibilities for a limited period.
To enrich exposure-based learning, EMBA programs come with additional options, including schedules and formats, stretched campuses, diversified student base, global opportunities, multiple end-to-end collaborations, etc., which eventually welcome entrepreneurs to step ahead for funding. Applicants can pursue these programs beyond their vicinity by opting for spread-out schedules for on-campus lessons.
Like anything else, the EMBA Program Carries its own Pros and Cons
Pros are:
- Students can implement their learning immediately to evaluate the learning outcomes.
- Students are exposed to a valuable environment where they grow into senior-level professionalism.
- With a degree that proves their excellence, they can improve the chances of promotions and appraisals to take on general management roles.
- The degree would add to their reliability, thus increasing their chances of desirable employment and building their worth in the eyes of customers, employers, partners and peers.
Cons of EMBA Programs are:
- If you are out of the school loop for a long time, learning can be complicated and demanding, plus you have a family and job to handle.
- It only adds to your knowledge and it doesn’t support any formal position or recruitment.
- Enrolling in these programs can be an expensive venture to explore, so invest only if you know about the benefits and value it may impart to your career.
Stage1 – Planning
You Require Plan and Support
Professional life- Personal life- Study life- all the three are interlinked and these junctures are our life majors and we can’t miss any of them. And an EMBA student is supposed to tick mark all, i.e., complete university assignments on time, think about the company’s growth prospects, spend quality time with family, and give them to himself for rejuvenation. Settling all this without support is hardly possible; your employer’s support, your spouse’s support, and your body support is a must. All this can’t work without plan and support. Sorting is the first step to planning, so start by sorting tasks.
Procure Time Management Skills
Priority tasks need to be dealt with at once. Scheduling your day in such a way that you can manage every task including priority tasks without losing quality is a way to create a win-win situation. Make use of professional time management tools, set reminders to not to miss deadlines, and perform result-oriented actions. Get hold of multitasking to organize the workflow and set KPIs to determine your success and failures. Lay out your daily, weekly and monthly routine – assignments, tests, work commitments, planning is an inexorable part of your routine. Use Google Calendar, Trello, Todoist, Microsoft To-Do to set your timelines.
Get Ready For Risk-Taking
You must be following note-taking, it’s time to be a risk-taker. Since you have this idea of enrolling in EMBA in your mind, you must be ready for challenges you might face. And so you have demonstrated your spirit as a risk-taker. To begin with the journey of adventure and opportunities, you need to stretch your limits and boundaries. Indulge more often, join clubs, activity groups, sports teams, get into an intellectual talk with professors, and meet new people to get yourself absorbed in a learning environment. Push away your boundaries to grow intellectually, academically, socially, etc. Step out of your comfort zone to make a change in your life.
Prefer Balance over Perfection
You are already struggling with a lot of things and seeking perfection would take it to the next level. You have the potency to perform better, but then accomplishing it at the front is of higher importance. It’s not about counting your achievements or competing with your academic rivals, It’s about empowering yourself with skills that will get you a quality job and a shining career. Set timelines and goals to fulfill them and look for methods of self-improvement. If you see tasks piling up, grab them one by one as per the priority list to accomplish. Delegate tasks to your team to reduce the workload. Try maintaining mental and physical balance and keep everything of secondary importance.
Focus on One Thing at a Time
You have your reasons for getting admission in this course, realize them and their necessity. Remind yourself that hard work pays off and this degree can gauge your talent, it can help you live your life, and earn you a better living. Analyze your purpose and intent towards the course and perceive your own role evolving.
Stage2 – Brainstorming
While taking admission in an EMBA course, here are some quick tips you should follow.
Create Your Schedule
This course is designed for students who work full-time and offer different class schedules so that students can adapt to it as per their requirement. Pick a schedule that works for you – weekends, alternative days, full-time or part-time, once or twice a month, online classes, etc. Since you are already at the mid-management level, you must be heaving great responsibilities towards your work and any kind of hindrance will affect your performance. Make sure your EMBA program does not intervene with other chores. Also, break your long-term goals into short-term goals. Discuss about it with your employer, family and other people.
Learn About the Admission Process
Every time you go for an MBA course, taking admission can be a grind. Most EMBA Course requires Executive MBA test to start off with the admission process. However, different institutions have different admission processes – some conduct their own tests, some follow standardized tests, and so inquire about it beforehand to not miss the opportunity. Though it may sound unimportant, but the time invested during the process can be of great value to you.
Location Can Be a Concern
When we talk about a B-school, location matters a lot. Choosing a regional location can be the priority of many students. Location matters while choosing a program as it draws in the distance issues and makes it easy for you to commute. However, renowned B-schools may not be near your place and in such conditions, you can also prefer remote learning to avoid travelling. Remote learning in a renowned university or college can help you frame a global perspective and acknowledge smart business practices. Some EMBA programs are elaborate and include classes, company visits, online exposure, and other aspects that may improve your conditioning as a manager.
Consider that EMBA Will Fulfill Your Goals
B-schools nurture their students for different aspects. While some B-school focuses on preparing their candidates for different emerging sectors, others focus on building entrepreneurial spirit in their candidates. Inquire for questions like:
Are they held during the day or at night?
Are the classes held in-person or remote?
This is where their strengths differ; keep your goal in mind and specify the school to narrow down your list. The best way to ensure the forte of the B-school is by visiting their website, evaluating the specialization of their professors and comparing them to similar level schools. Reach out to your colleagues who have already been in a similar program for better and first-hand ideas.
Stage3 – Execution
Now that you have determined your goals and the type of B-school you are looking for, it’s time to get into the admission process. Learn how you can strengthen your strategy going forward. You know the road is tough and you may need to set aside a few hobbies, frequent parties that you attend, and many of your routine chores. Visit their website to learn more about the admission procedure, collect documents and get started.
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