10 reasons why you should get your Haskayne Accelerated MBA

1. Get ahead in your career faster

Your Haskayne Accelerated MBA will give you business and leadership skills that you can immediately apply to your job, which increases your chances of being considered for promotions and help you move up the corporate ladder. Plus, earning your MBA shows employers that you’re serious about investing in yourself and your career.

2. Gain new technical skills, while building your soft skills

The Haskayne Accelerated MBA gives you the opportunity to build your technical business knowledge, with classes covering topics like entrepreneurship and innovation, management, and organizational behaviour. Dig deeper into the topics that appeal most to you by choosing from eight degree specializations, including Business Intelligence and Data Analytics, Marketing, Finance, Management Analytics, and Global Energy and Sustainable Development.

Not only will your Accelerated MBA help you build technical skills, but you’ll also build soft skills, which are vital for success in the workplace. Your MBA will help improve your interpersonal skills like communication, teamwork, critical thinking, leadership and work ethic.

3. Save a lot of time…

Because you’re coming into the program with an existing business education, the Haskayne Accelerated MBA makes you eligible for nine course exemptions. This brings your total MBA course requirements down from 20 to just 11 courses, allowing you to finish your MBA in as little as 12 months.

4. … And save a lot of money

Your course exemptions don’t only mean you’ll be saving time on your MBA. They also mean you’ll be saving money. The Accelerated MBA costs about 45 per cent less than an Evening or Daytime MBA.

5. Expand your network

Through your Haskayne Accelerated MBA, you’ll gain a diverse and connected network of mid-career professionals from various backgrounds, industries, and companies. Plus, you’ll have access to mentors and leaders in the business community through the Haskayne Career Development Centre, the Haskayne alumni network, and other programing exclusive to Haskayne.

Haskayne’s in-person learning allowed me to build lasting relationships with my classmates.

– Tyler Spring, MBA’20, Director, Growth at Shaw Mobile

6. Make a career pivot

Feeling stuck? Your MBA gives you the opportunity to make a career pivot, whether it be to a new industry or to a different business function. Tyler Spring, MBA’20 used his Haskayne Accelerated MBA as a catalyst to pivot out of his technology development role at Shaw and transition into new customer acquisition. "After being at the same company for nearly nine years, I was looking to complement the knowledge I gained in the telecommunications industry with diverse perspectives on business and disruptive ways of thinking, which I knew an MBA could help kickstart," says Tyler.

7. Stand out to employers

Your MBA can help bring your résumé to the top of an application pile. It can increase both the quality and quantity of job offers. Employers know that your MBA is an investment into yourself and your career. It’s more than just three letters – it demonstrates all of the valuable knowledge you’ve learned, the experiences you’ve had, and the soft skills you’ve actively developed.

8. Get involved in Calgary’s rapidly growing tech sector

The Haskayne School of Business is proud to be home to Creative Destruction Lab - Rockies (CDL-Rockies), which brings together science and technology-based startups with experienced entrepreneurs, leading scientists and investors to help startups reach their full commercial potential. Haskayne MBA students have the opportunity to work with these startups and learn from the industry leaders through Haskayne’s partnership with CDL-Rockies.

For Danielle Gifford, MBA’20, the opportunity to work with CDL-Rockies was a big part of why she chose to move to Calgary and enroll in her Accelerated MBA at Haskayne. “Through CDL-Rockies, I was able to work hands-on with a startup,” says Danielle. “It was real, tangible experience that you just can’t get anywhere else.”

After completing her Accelerated MBA, Danielle went on to lead operations in developing artificial intelligence at AltaML, before moving into her current position as Executive Director of Movement51, which provides early-stage investing programs to female and gender-diverse investors.

If you want to work in tech, the time is now. The Haskayne MBA is the perfect entrance into the tech ecosystem. It will connect you directly with early-stage tech startups and mentors, allowing you to get first-hand experience.

– Danielle Gifford, MBA’20, Executive Director at Movement51

9. Build your leadership skills

Haskayne’s Centre for Advanced Leadership in Business gives MBA students the opportunity to develop their leadership skills through programming like the BMO Mentorship Program, the Learning with Leaders series, and a range of guest speakers from the business community. Haskayne Accelerated MBA students can also build their leadership skills through the Rocky Mountain Wilderness Retreat. This six-day elective retreat is an unconventional learning experience that combines outdoor activities, personal growth challenges, team building, self-reflection, and cross-cultural learning.

10. Increase your earning potential

Our graduates tend to see an increase in their earning potential as a result of earning their MBA. In our 2020 graduate survey, Haskayne MBA alumni reported an average increase of 16% in the short time since graduating. The average salary for recent Haskayne MBA grads was $97,465 and salaries were as high as $250,000 annually.

My Haskayne MBA gave me the confidence to apply for a bigger role and to negotiate a significant salary increase. As a result, I was promoted to Global Marketing Communications Manager and making nearly $20,000 more.

– Paige Greenhough, MBA’20, Global Communications Manager at Hatch