Hi there

First and foremost, congratulations to you on your graduation!

I would like to share my 2cents, being in the industry myself (not selling anything here though, don't worry!) Many MBA prospects have asked the same question you're asking, why does an MBA require a certain number of work experience? So let me share what I have observed around.

1. Most reputable MBA (and almost all European MBA), requires this. If you check from the FT Global MBA ranking, go through some of the university's requirement, you can see that work experience is part of it. So there must be a valid reason for this. Better still, check on triple accredited business schools, and compare the requirements with non accredited business schools, you will learn the difference.

2. Studying for an MBA is totally a different experience from your undergraduate level. It requires you to be able to match the theory you learnt to the practical aspect in your career. Therefore having some managerial experience is essential for you to relate to what is being taught.

3. You'll be going through a number of case studies based on real situations. Having past experience in such situation will benefit you (and your group members) more.

4. All of the students in reputable MBA programmes has at least 3 years managerial work experience, it doesn't make any sense to have someone without any work experience in the group as this person may not be able to contribute to the discussions and assignments. You can't be riding on the others without sharing some experience of your own.

Here's some articles you can read, related to your question:
http://www.find-mba.com/mba-blog/2009/10/3...ork_experience/
https://whichmba.wordpress.com/2008/01/07/a...ork-experience/

And personally, I have been at the stage where you are right now, recently graduated and eager to learn something. I did my research on the MBA programmes available and finally decided that I will wait for few more years before embarking into one. When you have the plan for an MBA, don't do it for the title. You might as well make sure that it is worth investing. Make sure that the quality is assured.

I believe you will be a very good candidate for an MBA programme when the time comes

Cheers & happy Malaysia day!

P/S: you don't need to quit your work for a year to study for an MBA. There are plenty of part time MBA programmes around that you can check, some offer weekend classes, others are weekdays. Again, make sure that it is globally recognized (having triple accreditation is most preferred) and world ranked (at least listed in FT Global MBA ranking).

Regards, Edahani 
Strathclyde MBA Malaysia

Since you quote the MBA, indicating you have an interest in venturing into management / business, can look at the following:

http://www.nottingham.edu.my/Study/Postgra...siness-MSc.aspx

Intake is in September, so call today and they might be able to slot you in.

The whole programme should be at least 60% if not more of what you would learn theoretically in the MBA. Of course, minus the experience and higher-level networking; more academic.

Hi there

It has been my pleasure!

Well it depends on what kind of knowledge you would like to acquire for now. Do you want to do something related to your field or do you want to learn something else. There are few short courses around that you can find, depending on which area interests you.

If you don't want to spend much on learning, you may also check the online courses available on this website:
https://www.futurelearn.com

They provide various courses in different fields and the courses are conducted by different UK universities (mostly), including University of Strathclyde.

When I was in your situation before, I spent some time thinking on what is it that I am passionate about. And I found it - i love to bake! lol.. So I started a small home baking business and took some short courses on cake decorating

Cheers!

Edahani
Strathclyde MBA Malaysia

Its the correct decision to postpone your ambitions to do a MBA now. What Edahani said is 100% correct. But I need to point out to you that its not just 'working experience' which counts. Its gotta be the right working experience preferably in managerial positions in order to benefit and contribute to the MBA course.

As ive mentioned previously, before doing a MBA you need to first ask yourself why do you want to do an MBA and what do you hope to achieve / get out of the MBA. Don't just do a MBA just because everybody else is doing it. Most ppl with MBA's here in Malaysia have not benefitted from it at all (except for personal development) simply because they didn't have a career strategy in the first place. If your career path doesn't require you to do an MBA then don't do it. A MBA is not an automatic pass to career progression. Its got to be in line with your career path / strategy. The organisation you work for needs to support and recognise the importance in the MBA course for your own career which is why most MBA's require a sign off from the company. Don’t just do a MBA for the sake of getting a piece of paper. The working world doesn’t just recognise a piece of paper (unless it’s from one of those top business schools). The recognition from the working world has to go hand in hand with you as an individual.

Also keep in mind that MBA's are usually for those between 25-30 with about 8 yrs experience. Beyond that, an MBA may not be suitable as the modules are catered for those seeking to move horizontally e.g changing industries, career paths, etc. For those with more than 10 yrs experience, going down the path of an Executive MBA is more suited as it gears you to move up the ladder into senior management roles.

The biggest draw for any MBA program is actually the alumni network. In fact, if you speak to any of the alumni from the top business schools, ull see that they will rank alumni networking as their No 1 take away from the program.

Personally in Malaysia, i have yet to come across any big companies giving high regard to Malaysian MBA degree holders. It can be used for personal development but i have yet to see someone actually progressing up the ladder cuz of a MBA. I work for a big MNC and MBA's here arent highly regarded which is why i have not pursued one myself.

I would strongly recommend you to try and attend the INSEAD MBA preview which is held quite often here in Malaysia. For your info INSEAD is ranked 4th in the world ahead of MIT and Cambridge. This will give you a very good insight of how an Ivy League MBA program looks like and entails. Then ull understand why you need to have quality working experience to enrol in the programme. Without it you will be left out of most discussions and you will have no way of following the terminology.

Just to give you perspective, the top MBA programs in the world cost approx RM450K. So if ure targetting a RM20K MBA, you can imagine the difference in standard and recognition. Not saying u need to do a 500K MBA to progress in your career, but it does give you some perspective.

Take your time and do proper research before embarking on an MBA program. Its a big commitment and its not easy. It will be very frustrating for you to 'suffer' for 12-14 months to get a MBA and then find out its a useless piece of paper

Some of the key factors i would consider before embarking on the MBA route would be:

1) Purpose - you need to know what you intend to gain from the MBA and whr ure heading to
2) MBA specialisations - corporate str, economics, finance, internation business, entrepreneurship, general mgmt, etc
3) Quality of student enrolment - more students with upper mgmt / senior positions as compared to lower positions
4) Class diversity - interation with students from varied industries will enrich your learning experience.
5) Ranking of the business school - if the industry doesnt know your business school, career progression options might be limited
6) Accredition - not important for Ivy League business schools, but an added advantage for the others especially if yor career path leads you to large MNC's. Again the key word here is 'recognition'.
7) Strength of the alumni - a stong diversed alumni association is a key factor in your career progression post MBA
8) Cost - if factors 1-7 above are clear, then cost should be secondary. ROI of the top MBA programs will ensure you get back your investment within a few years.