Career Impact

The St. Ambrose University MBA emphasizes not just the degree, but also the principles and practices that will sustain your career as the marketplace changes. Dick Eisenlauer, now CEO of Harrington Signal, an electronics firm in the Quad Cities, returned to Ambrose for his MBA to get an advantage in the corporate world. He attributes much of his success to classes based on "real life business experiences"-essential for a small-business owner in a competitive market.

Your key takeaways

• Develop core skills, from teamwork to communication and presentation skills, and technological expertise.
• Fine-tune your ethical judgment in an environment that integrates ideas and practices with integrity and social responsibility.
• Access the library's online tools to enhance professional research and job searches even after you graduate.
• Create a network, from faculty mentors to fellow students and accomplished alumni, whom you can tap as resources and colleagues for years to come.
• Earn a degree that is the "gold standard" in many industries.

Taking it to the next level

Michael Cooke found that even just taking classes for his MBA made him all the more marketable. "I was working as an engineer, then promoted into another area. The human resources management course was a good learning experience for the next level of management. We examined real-life, real-time problems that arose in our workplaces, like conflict management, and used them as case studies. I then took what I learned in class and applied it the next day at the office. I'm not just learning for the sake of learning; I'm learning to push my career forward."