If you had to describe your entire skill set in one letter, what would it be?

According to Jim Spoher and other researchers in the field, your answer should be T. T-shaped professionals combine deep knowledge in a primary field with a broad range of skills that complement their main area of expertise.

For example, someone with a degree in engineering or computer science may have a very successful early career focusing on his or her technical skill sets alone. However, to transition into a management or leadership role, a solid understanding of project management, budgeting, marketing, finance, new product development and human resources is probably necessary. These skills provide the tools to drive innovation and bring new products and services to market on time and on budget. The combination of a strong technical background and a broad understanding of complementary business concepts allows capable young professionals to take on new responsibilities and add value to existing or emerging organizations.

If your skills are deep but not broad, earning an MBA can help. An MBA is designed to provide a holistic view of business. Students take courses in many subjects, including accounting, marketing, finance, operations, human resources and project management, as well as leadership and ethics. In addition, most MBA programs place a great emphasis on teamwork, leadership and managerial skills. At Oregon State for example, students in the commercialization track of our MBA program work with entrepreneurs and scientists to transform early-stage inventions into viable businesses. Students work with inventors to develop a market-ready business plan covering all aspects of the new venture, including product positioning, an understanding of the competitive landscape, marketing strategies, funding needs and the milestones that indicate progress toward the creation of a successful startup. Students in commercialization develop a broad set of skills equally applicable in a startup or a Fortune 100 company.

If you would like to learn more about earning your MBA, let me know. You may find the degree fits your career aspirations to a T.

Brian Precious is the MBA Program Director at Oregon State University. He can be reached at osumba@oregonstate.edu.

For Oregon State MBA student Yuan-Feng (Betty) Chao, launching a career in the United States after graduation is a lofty, yet worthwhile goal. A native of Taiwan, Betty loves travel, enjoys meeting new people and exploring different cultures. Betty has enjoyed her time at Oregon State and plans to continue her journey in the US after graduation. Her goal is to work in Management Consulting; an industry where she can leverage her sales and customer service background to the benefit of her clients.

Betty acknowledges the cultural, language and communication hurdles faced by international students looking to work in the US.  However, she’s taken an innovative and disciplined approach to her career strategy. As graduation approaches, her hard work is starting to pay off.  Below are some of her top tips for international job-seekers:

1. Start your career search early

Though the academic demands placed on MBA students often cause them to postpone their job search until just before graduation, Betty took a different approach. She realized the importance of starting her career search early, and has dedicated several hours each week to this vital task. She used this time to identify companies and industries in which she would like to work, attended company information sessions (even if they were looking for different majors or stated they are only hiring domestic students), and built her professional network (see below).

2. Network, network, network

Networking has been a huge part of Betty’s success. As a non-native English speaker, it wasn’t always easy for her to approach alumni, recruiters and fellow students. However, the more she did it, the easier it became to strike up a conversation. Some of Betty’s best leads are from the Business Roundtable, a luncheon and speaker series hosted by the College of Business and the OSU Alumni Association. Attending Business Roundtable provided Betty the opportunity to interact with executives from Nike, Boeing, Intel, Adidas, Daimler and other leading and emerging organizations.

3. Take advantage of available resources

In addition to networking events like Business Roundtable, Betty utilized the Career Success Center to facilitate her job search. In addition to connecting talented Oregon State students with career opportunities, the Career Success Center also offers resume reviews, mock interviews and professional development workshops on topics including resume development, networking, professional communication and job search strategies. Betty has taken advantage of all of these resources and keeps in frequent contact with her career advisor, Brandi Fuhrman.

With Betty’s dedication and strategic approach to the job search and her MBA degree, she has the skills and a growing network that will facilitate her goal of working in the US after she graduates with an Oregon State MBA.

If you have picked up a newspaper, logged onto Twitter or watched the news in the last week, chances are you have heard the term “big data” at least once. While this buzzword has tremendous implications for organizations spanning the globe, it also represents a great opportunity for those looking for an exciting career path. So, why is big data such a big deal?

A Universal Need 

The ability to harness insights from large data sets is needed across industries, functions and geographies. From the smallest nonprofit to Fortune 100 companies and governmental agencies, a better understanding of the customer through business analytics drives profitability, innovation and customer service. Synthesizing big data helps nonprofits communicate impact to stakeholders, retail organizations identify their most profitable customers and products, and governments understand the impact of policies at the macro and micro levels.

According to a recent VentureBeat article, organizations in many industries are leveraging big data in innovative ways, including: predicting customer needs, getting customers excited about their own data, improving customer service, identifying customer pain points, and reducing health care costs And big data is merely in its infancy. The global research organization Markets and Markets believes the rapidly expanding big data market will be worth $46 billion by 2018.

Shortage of Talent 

Despite the huge demand for them, there’s a dearth of data-savvy managers and executives. According to a recent McKinsey Global Institute report, the U.S. alone faces a shortage of 140,000 to 190,000 individuals with deep business-analytics skills and an additional shortfall of 1.5 million managers with the knowledge and training to lead data-aware organizations.

The College of Business at Oregon State is committed to equipping a new generation of managers with the combination of general business acumen and data analysis skills required to lead in this new frontier. The recently launched MBA in Business Analytics is an intensive program taught by top faculty with a combination of academic and professional expertise in the field of data analysis. The program can be completed by full-time students with a business background in as little as nine months. Students do coursework in data analysis, exploration, mining, visualization and advanced information systems, in addition to taking a core sequence of business courses.

Drop me a line to talk more about careers in this growing field.

Brian Precious is the MBA Program Director at Oregon State University. He can be reached at: OSUMBA@OregonState.edu.

Opinions on the benefits of an MBA education are kind of like those on coffee, alcohol and kale – they cover the full spectrum and are often packed with a combination of data and conjecture.

Some feel the opportunity cost of earning an MBA is too great to justify the time and expense. They feel taking online courses, enrolling in corporate training programs or placing additional time and effort in to their current role will accelerate their career trajectory more rapidly than going back to school.

Others talk about MBA education in quantitative terms: ranking, return on investment and average starting salary. The sentiment seems to be that attending a “top-ranked” school (although few who opine on this topic will tell you which rankings to believe, or why the major rankings are often inconsistent) is the only way to benefit from an MBA.

Both schools of thought miss the mark. An MBA can be so much more than a series of classes or a ticket to a higher-paying job. Earning an MBA can be a truly transformative experience, opening doors to new people, opportunities, experiences and careers.

Ten years ago, I returned to my alma mater, the University of Illinois, to earn my MBA. My thinking at the time was the degree would lead to a higher-paying job in a new field. In orientation the first day, our dean told us we only have 621 days together and we should use the time to not only learn new skills but to also learn about ourselves and each other.

In the ensuing days I had the opportunity to travel to China, Australia and New Zealand, start a company, work at a startup, and lead a major philanthropic effort. I also made friendships which span the globe and withstand the test of time.

The MBA experience gave me the perspective, confidence and opportunities needed to chart a new course for my career and my life. Now I have the opportunity to pay it forward. In my role as MBA Program Director at Oregon State, I enjoy working with prospective and current students to realize the true power of an MBA education.

Brian Precious is the MBA Program Director at Oregon State University. He can be reached at osumba@oregonstate.edu.