How can you tailor your MBA to your career goals?

Each is oriented toward people with specific goals. For Aaron Fondal (pictured), a current Goizueta student, a passion for international relations and a desire to learn about business across different cultures meant he decided to study the Global MBA. He was attracted to the opportunity to learn in five cities across four countries, in just one year.

Ben Lewis, another current Goizueta student, opted for the Accelerated MBA, seeking to build his knowledge of AI and customer experience. Choosing the program meant he could tailor his electives to his interests and earn an MBA without spending too much time out of the workforce.

“A lot of people in my cohort are working parents,” says Aaron. “The benefit of a one-year program is that you get back into the workforce quicker w

hile also not feeling like you've sacrificed the core courses. It’s just really condensed.”

Be intentional with your electives

While MBAs are fundamentally generalist in nature, making use of available opportunities to specialize can help prepare students to take their next steps after graduation.

All one-year Goizueta MBA programs share the same core semester, from May to August, designed to build foundational knowledge across marketing, finance, accounting, and strategy. It is only once this period is complete that specialization begins; one-year students rejoin second year peers as they return from summer internships and both groups then gain opportunities to personalize their studies via electives.

The Goizueta Accelerated MBA allows students to choose from more than 26 concentrations and 90 electives. Students pursuing one of Goizueta’s specialized MBA programs meanwhile focus their electives on their chosen specialty. Healthcare MBA students, for example, focus healthcare policy and the business of healthcare including topics such as the evolving role of GLP-1s. Real Estate MBA students explore investment, development, and valuation topics among others as they deepen their understanding of a rapidly changing industry.

“Your electives become very much more specific to add a lot of depth in these areas after you have the core as your foundation,” says Brian Mitchell (pictured), associate dean of Full-Time MBA programs at Emory University.

“We really have a chance to get to know you during that core semester and talk to you about how to craft your elective semesters and tailor them for your career goals.”

Tailor your experience with societies and projects

Beyond the curriculum, studying an MBA can offer vital opportunities for career development via extracurriculars, group projects, and participation in societies.

Aaron stresses the value of being proactive and getting involved with such optional experiences. For example, the Goizueta Global MBA includes an immersion trip to Copenhagen where students explore how happiness is fundamental to Danish society as well as how business is done. He feels this opportunity will help him progress his non-profit, The Maria Fondal Hill of Hope Foundation, which he set up in memory of his late mother to focus on health, education, and economic opportunity in underserved communities.

Similarly, channeling his interest in customer experience, Ben is working to learn how to address gaps between what brands promise and deliver. He hopes the MBA will provide a foundation to help him better understand and appreciate clients’ operational and financial goals.

Both students have taken opportunities to participate in initiatives to help them progress in their respective careers. Ben has participated in numerous multidisciplinary projects and has set his sights on participating in the Goizueta student entrepreneurship community and impact investing club. Aaron meanwhile has been accepted into Goizueta’s Business & Society Institute as a Social Enterprise Fellow.

“I want to be around a community of like minds and professionals who I can learn from, build from, and really let iron sharpen iron,” he says.

Hone the skills needed for your career

As the workplace continues to evolve amid rapid technological change, an MBA can help students prepare for jobs that might not exist yet.

Brian emphasizes the Goizueta focus on developing skills that can be useful both in one month and 10 years after graduation, with “a toolkit that is timeless but also teaching people leadership skills that are flexible.”

Ben highlights the mindset shift he has undertaken so far during his MBA, driven by expert faculty members who have helped guide his thinking. “They have transformed the way I look at hard problems,” he explains. “Instead of being swept away by “what if” ideas, I can organize potential pathways and evaluate them with rigorous data and research,” he says.

The program has also taught Ben resilience. “It was hard and tested my limits,” he says. “I’ll remember this experience for the rest of my life.”

Aaron feels developing his technical skills in areas such as financial theory have had a significant impact on his professional development. Currently completing a semester abroad at HEC Paris, this is also helping to widen his perspective of business across the globe.

Aaron explains that being intentional about the questions he asks and taking initiative to learn new skills is helping him make the most of his MBA: “There’s so much infrastructure at Emory to support you in your goals, but you have to take the initiative.”