Networking – How to make the most of your online MBA program

The importance of networking in today’s competitive landscape cannot be stressed enough. A simple yet powerful term that implies the potential of interacting with other peers or seniors in your specific industry with a view of gaining something potent in return. Networking is helpful in both academic and professional arenas as it is a simple act of mingling with other experts in your field with the idea of expanding your knowledge base, enhancing your skill sets, or simply establishing connections. These connections can then be used in the future for some valuable academic or professional gain in your favor. Networking is a crucial element of career growth. Its importance is best felt in the case of an online MBA program, where remote learning is the general norm and the need to interact with like-minded professionals for better growth opportunities is realized more than ever.

This blog discusses the significance of networking in an online MBA program and how to make the most of the course to realize this objective. 

You may also like: How our graduates are leveraging online learning for professional networking  

What is Networking?  

Let us begin with a simple definition of the term. Networking refers to the simple act of engaging or interacting with other people with the general purpose of exchanging knowledge or information with one another. It also intends to help establish contacts in an academic, professional, or social setup. 

However, the network in each of these settings widely differs. While personal networking is another name for socializing or engaging with other people to form personal relationships, professional networking enables employees or professionals in an industry to form contacts with other like-minded professionals, either in the same or another industry to look out for better career growth prospects. 

Academic networking, on the other hand, generally takes place between students, scholars, or academicians who get into the act with the intent to advance in their respective academic journeys.

Despite the different objectives and settings it prevails in, networking is fast becoming popular, both in the online and offline worlds. Where conventional networking took place at libraries, study clubs, job agencies, companies, industries, and business organizations (all in the offline mode), the evolution of technology has made this possible online as well. Social media platforms and other online portals such as chat forums or discussion boards all allow ample scope for networking with humans sharing similar academic, professional, or personal interests, without necessarily seeing or meeting each other physically.

Importance of Networking     

Now that we understand the exact meaning of the term ‘networking’, let us now move on to the significance that this simple concept holds in a professional setup:

1. Helps build professional contacts: Building and maintaining relationships with peers and other industry experts is a very helpful exercise in your professional journey. It is a guarantee for career success in the long term. Keeping in touch with all the contacts that you made as part of your career span over the years can help you land promising job roles and rewarding pay packages. 

2. Facilitates career progression: Effective networking has the potential to unlock potential career and mentorship opportunities for advanced career growth. Additionally, by networking with peers and industry experts, you can gain access to valuable insights that can significantly boost career growth.

3. Enables access to resources and knowledge: It is important to keep yourself relevant to the industry to continue staying in demand in the job market. Professional networking creates opportunities for students to access learning resources for enhancing skills, find job leads, stay updated with industry news and insights, and share knowledge with peers and other like-minded professionals. All of this is crucial to stay ahead in a competitive job market.

How to Network While Pursuing an Online MBA

We discussed the importance of networking in the section above. Let us now learn how exactly to network to our advantage and gain a competitive edge in the market. Detailed below is the importance of networking with an MBA program and how the course enables you to effectively network professionally.

• Participate in online discussions and webinars: The best part about pursuing an MBA program online is that it provides ample scope for online class discussions, webinars, and virtual events for students to interact and engage in, and build a community for knowledge exchange and support. Make sure that you actively participate in all of these activities and events as they are a brilliant way to build professional connections. Additionally, they help you gain visibility among your peers and other industry professionals, which is important too.

• Work together in group projects and form study groups: This not only helps combat loneliness and boredom during online learning in online MBA but also helps build strong professional relationships among batchmates or peers. Collaborating with them on group projects and in study groups is a great way to build contacts, share knowledge, exchange views, opinions, and ideas, and make yourself seen and heard. 

• Leverage online platforms: Make good use of social media platforms such as LinkedIn, alumni networks, and professional discussion forums and boards, such as Quora or Reddit, to connect with classmates, the faculty, and other industry leaders. You are also sure to find a whole lot of other like-minded people on these platforms, which in turn helps expand your network.

Scope of Different Specializations and Networking Opportunities

The online MBA degree allows you to specialize in a study area of your choice. Students are offered a range of subject choices and they can prefer to pursue advanced studies in either of them, depending on their academic background, interests, and professional aspirations. Depending on the specialization chosen, you may explore different networking opportunities through your online MBA program. For instance, students opting for the Finance specialization get the opportunity to connect with related professionals in the industry, such as investment bankers. Similarly, choosing to specialize in IT Management may create potential networking contacts with tech industry experts.

Additionally, the specific area that you choose to specialize in as part of your online MBA program creates different career prospects for you. Here too, there is plenty of scope for networking during an MBA degree, which plays a significant role in securing high-paying job roles in varied industries and sectors. Listed below are some of the potential job opportunities associated with each specialization (elective pursued during the online MBA degree) and the average pay scales for each.

Prospective Job Role	Average Annual Pay (Approx)
Operations Lead (Elective – Operations Management)	INR 21.9 lakh per annum
Finance Manager (Elective – Finance)	INR 17 lakh per annum
Supply Chain Manager (Elective – Supply Chain Management)	INR 14.4 lakh per annum
Project Manager (Elective – Project Management)	INR 8.3 lakh per annum
Digital Marketer (Elective – Marketing)	INR 7.5 lakh per annum
Territory Manager (Elective – International Business)	INR 7.3 lakh per annum
Quality Controller	INR 4.4 lakh per annum
HR Associate	INR 4.1 lakh per annum

Also read: Navigating career growth with Manipal University Jaipur’s online MBA program 

Take your career forward with Online Manipal

If you’re ready to take the next big step in your career journey, sign up for the online MBA program with Manipal University Jaipur (MUJ). Offered on the Online Manipal platform in 100% remote learning mode, the course ideally blends convenience with industry-relevant skills, providing students with a perfect work-life balance. This is what makes the course a top preference among working executives. Students are offered a choice of 10 electives, each focused on various work domains, to ensure that they can chart out a successful career trajectory for themselves in a domain of their choice. 

The 10 electives offered as part of the MBA program on Online Manipal include:

1. Finance
2. Operations
3. Analytics & Data Science
4. Human Resources
5. Marketing
6. International Business
7. IT & FinTech
8. Project Management
9. Supply Chain Management
10. Information System Management

Conclusion

Deciding to pursue an MBA degree online can have a ton of advantages, as discussed above. However, it becomes doubly important to network throughout the entire duration of your program. This is because choosing to study online in remote mode may sometimes leave you isolated and out of touch with the industry. And, as discussed in this blog, keeping yourself relevant and up to date with the latest in-demand skills in the job market is the first step to career advancement and success.

While skill upgrade and relevancy can be achieved through online MBA programs, some effort needs to be put in to ensure professional networking, which is equally crucial to climb the corporate ladder. It enables easy access to a host of learning resources online, all of which help develop the right skills needed in the industry, as well as facilitates building contacts with like-minded professionals and industry experts to get ahead in your career.
Manipal University’s online MBA program offers ample scope for students to engage in networking activities throughout the course duration, ensuring long-term career success and advancement opportunities for them.