How an MBA in Finance Can Put You on Track to the C-Suite

MBAs are popular degrees for people who want to advance their careers and move into management and C-suite positions. While a general MBA can be an excellent tool for someone who hasn’t nailed down exactly what their end-goal is, specialized MBAs can give you the edge you need to achieve specific career goals.

For those who are interested in being a Chief Financial Officer, an MBA with a concentration in finance from Montclair State University will teach you the skills you need to be part of the C-suite and how to apply those skills in the context of making high-level financial decisions for a business.

An MBA in Finance sets you apart

One of the most significant selling points of an MBA is that it signifies that its holders understand a broad spectrum of business administration skills. So, someone who only has sales or marketing experience can get an MBA and learn about the aspects of a business that they don’t have experience with, like accounting, management, analytics, etc. 

An MBA makes someone with one specialized type of experience suitable for management positions because it teaches them about how to make decisions and solve problems in many different areas.

Once you get to the C-suite of a business, the requirements for success are a bit different, especially when it comes to a position as Chief Financial Officer (CFO). A CFO needs to understand management, operations, sales, and marketing. But they also need to understand the financials of those departments and how they all interact with the bottom line in a way that middle managers—and even senior management—don’t.

Getting an MBA with a concentration in finance will teach you all of the skills that someone in a general MBA learns, while also preparing you to step into a role where you’re using those skills to provide oversight of and make decisions about a business’ finances.

An MBA can improve your career outlook

It’s a well-known fact that an MBA will up your earning potential. The early career median pay for someone with an MBA in Finance is $125,000. In addition to higher pay, an MBA has several other valuable benefits.

One of the most valuable parts of earning an MBA is the opportunity to meet and network with your fellow MBA students. Networking can help you find jobs at any level, but it’s especially important in the C-suite. Executive teams are more likely to bring on someone known to them rather than to hire someone through a job board, mainly because turnover in executive positions can cause unnecessary turbulence for a business. 

While you’re earning your MBA in Finance, you’ll have the chance to build a network of other financial professionals that will come in handy when you’re looking for references, facing unique problems, or hiring someone for your team.

Another benefit of an MBA in Finance is that it prepares you to approach problems in a more holistic way than someone with just a finance or accounting degree. Instead of only understanding one facet of business management, you’ll understand how all of them are interconnected and how they affect the financial health of a business. Having a broad understanding of how business works is a highly prized skill among upper management and C-suite executives.

Fast Track Your Career at Montclair State University

At Montclair State University, we have designed an MBA program for professionals who want to take advantage of higher education while still working and honoring all of the other commitments they have. Our MBA program will give you the tools you need to move your career forward in leaps and bounds instead of small steps. You’ll learn all of the standard MBA skills, like organizational behavior, market analysis, data analytics, and negotiations, in addition to finance-specific skills and knowledge like short-term financial management, currency fundamentals, and cross-border investing and financing.

You’ll graduate from our program prepared to meet the demands of a high-level position and find solutions for the financial challenges facing members of the C-suite in today’s business world.

If you’re ready to get started, visit our program page today, and take the first step toward making your career goals a reality.