Earn your MBA when you fly away

One universal truth is that life often takes us to places unexpected. It could be the allure of travel, the promise of a lucrative career, or a whirlwind romance.

Your chosen life direction needn’t have an impact on your studies; and your studies shouldn’t prevent you from seizing all that life has to offer.

Take the programme less travelled

The campus lifestyle isn’t for everyone. For some, travel is a rite of passage, and the call of the open road must be heeded. A rather old-fashioned perspective puts travelling down as a career-killer, believing that you can have one, but not the other.

In fact, many workplaces need the kind of skills that independent travel will foster (such as leadership and decision making) and those who study abroad typically earn around £75,000 (about 5%) more over the course of their career. There’s no reason you can’t combine your unique life experience with on-the-road study, such as our MA Finance and Investment or Dual MA and MSc Finance and Investment - for one thing, this will further highlight your initiative. You might not travel first-class, but you can earn a first-class degree.

Commute on the skills train

So your work-life may be leading you in a direction you never previously considered, and you now have a shot at a promising career – if you have the qualifications to match. A global survey indicated 46% of managers between the ages of 18 and 67 work more than 40 hours per week. When you’re working full-time, it can be difficult to fit further study around your family life and other demands.

Campus lectures are scheduled for particular times, which will often conflict with the busy workloads, long commutes, and home responsibilities of mid-level professionals. The option to study online allows for more flexible study time, so you can put in the required hours over the weekend, in the evenings, or even on the daily commute. So should you get caught in traffic, or need to work late, your Global MBA won’t suffer.

Full-time parent, part-time student

Whether you’re a new parent or a veteran of the crèche, you’ll surely understand the complexities of combining your parental responsibilities with work, or studies. Although the well-being of your family is all-important, it doesn’t help to neglect your own personal and professional development if you intend to return to the workplace. According to some international figures, only 33% of student-parents complete their degree within a six-year period.

If you’re planning to return to work now or in the future, or even start your own business from home, keeping your skills up to par may be necessary. But in addition to the logistical difficulties, parenting is expensive; unless you’re affluent, this will rule out the idea of paying to relocate for study, and may also run up the childminding costs. Studying programmes such as our Dual MA and MSc Strategic Marketing is more cost effective, and flexible with regards to time and location.

If once you needed to decide between career or family, and formal education versus cultural wisdom, those days are in staunch decline. If you have a portable device and a Wi-Fi connection, you can study when and where you like – so you can keep your career growth in line with your personal growth.