5 Fundamentals MBA Students Master

For those that have completed their undergraduate studies, there are a few options. You can either go into the working world or start to pursue your masters. For those in business administration, the natural next step is to pursue an MBA, which can be a daunting task. Before you consider making that leap, there are some things that you should already know by heart. Here are five of the fundamentals that each MBA student should have mastered.

5. Know How to Use a Financial Calculator

To the average person, simply looking at a financial calculator may be extremely overwhelming. For an MBA student, though, it’s something that should be used on a daily basis. Forget all of the algebra or graphing calculators, it’s a financial calculator that you should know inside and out. Thankfully, you don’t even have to drop hundreds of dollars on a physical calculator (though you probably should just to be safe) as there are many resources online to help guide you.

4. Learn the Stocks

You don’t have to be the best day trader in the world or lead an online revolution where you get everyone to invest in stocks of a certain used video game company, but you should at least know the basics on how the stock market works. MBA programs tend to not spend much time talking about the stock market, but having an entry level knowledge of its workings will set you up for both professional and personal success down the road. Think of it as an extracurricular activity that some feel should be required.

3. Get Advanced in MS Office

So you know the basics of Microsoft Word and Excel, which is great, but you better get very familiar with these tools (and the other Microsoft Office products) if you’re thinking about taking on an MBA. These are products that you’re going to use every single hour that you’re studying and eventually working in the professional field. Excel especially is perhaps the most complicated in MS Office, and you’ll be using it so much that you should know how to do nearly every single thing it’s capable of.

2. Time Management is Key

It should go without saying that you need to learn how to manage your time effectively. This is even more paramount for someone going through an MBA program. Unlike many other programs, you might find yourself with much less free time than a lot of your college peers. Because of this, always set a schedule well ahead of time, even if it means planning things out over a month in advance. It might not seem like fun now, but you’ll be thanking yourself later when you’ve mastered this skill.

1. Network and Talk with Alumni

For many, especially those that are introverted, it might be difficult to start talking to people about your MBA program. After all, it’s not something that you tend to bring up in a random conversation. Networking is key for MBA students, though, as it leads you down a lot of beneficial roads. Career opportunities will start popping up when you speak with alumni, and you can also get some tips on how to complete your program. The big takeaway is that your network will never be large enough.