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Top 12 Highest Paying Freelance Jobs in USA : Astonishing

Top 12 Highest Paying Freelance Jobs in USA : Astonishing

Updated on 30 September, 2022

899.73K+ views

• 8 min read

Table of Contents

What are the career fields in which freelancers can choose to work?
The highest paying freelancing jobs in the USA
Upskill with upGrad
Conclusion

Freelancing has become the latest trend in the professional world. After all, who wouldn’t love to set their convenient work hours and deadlines while enjoying an excellent work-life balance! Freelancers don’t work for a particular company or organization; instead, they work for multiple clients simultaneously. Essentially, freelancers are their bosses. They can work remotely from anywhere across the globe and earn money on a job-by-job basis, charging hourly or daily rates for their services.

Freelancing job opportunities have many benefits over full-time jobs, such as:

Flexible working hours
Better work-life balance
Work from home convenience
There’s a high pay potential in some industries such as IT, software development, digital marketing, etc.

If you’re curious about freelancing jobs, we have come up with a list of the highest-paying freelancing jobs in the USA. Here we’ll explore some of the highest paying freelance posts for seekers to consider. Who knows, one of these jobs may be your ultimate calling!

What are the career fields in which freelancers can choose to work?

Freelancers work in many different sectors across various industries. Some of the popular fields for freelancers include education, IT, accounting & finance, law, real estate, digital marketing, advertising, customer service, communications, sales & marketing, and therapy. Freelancers in these industries can bag positions like teachers/education counsellors, IT developers/graphic designers, financial consultants, legal advisors, writers/editors, marketing/sales executives, social media strategists, and communications executives, to name a few.

Thanks to rapid digitization and globalization, freelancers can take up job opportunities globally. As a result, freelancing opportunities are booming, creating numerous job opportunities for professionals not looking to be bound within the 9-5 routine.

The highest paying freelancing jobs in the USA

We have curated a detailed list of all the current highest-paying jobs in the USA. If you wish to work as an independent employee, enjoy the benefits of remote working, and maintain a work-life balance, here are some of the most popular options for you:

1. Website designer and developer

Prevailing salary(average): $45,000 per annum.

Website designers prepare the overall design of websites. They cater to varying design and development needs, ranging from website updation, creating backup files, creating and editing website content, etc.

Main responsibilities:

Planning and designing the website layout
Creating and writing codes for planned websites
Preparing web pages and their display text, graphics, images, video, sound, etc.

2. Computer programmer

Prevailing salary(average): $47,700 per annum

Computer or software programmers mainly freelance on a contractual basis and work with many clients, just like writers and designers. Computer programmers write and test codes to power up various computer programs and applications. They also translate designs developed by software engineers and developers into functional code. Additionally, they expand or update existing code and test them for possible errors/bugs and fix them accordingly.

Main responsibilities:

They develop software for computers and web-based applications.
Design and test computer systems, operating systems, and database structures.
They also provide consultations to offer the best IT solutions to cater to clients’ requirements.

3. Graphic designers

Prevailing salary(average): $49,000 per annum

People working as graphic designers work with different customers to foster visual ideas utilizing actual drawings or software program development. Graphic designers use these visual ideas to make general plans and formats of various business applications, including notices, graphical reports, and magazines.

Main Responsibilities:

Create interactive visuals for mobile and web applications.
Use design software or hand-drawing images and layouts.
Test graphic designs across various media.

4. Tutor

Prevailing salary(average): $55,550 per annum

Teachers work with pupils of different ages from diverse cultural and economic backgrounds. Freelance faculty members help students learn fundamental concepts and achieve academic success. They use various teaching methodologies to explain different subjects, theories, and concepts best to learners.

Main Responsibilities:

Plan exercises and practice activities.
Evaluate students by taking regular mock tests.
Provide feedback to the students.

5. Marketing/Sales specialist

Prevailing salary(average): $58,362 per annum

Marketing and sales experts assist businesses with meeting their client’s demands effectively. To do this, they evaluate the market information that gives understanding into what clients buy, where they want to spend, the business’s sales objective, what kinds of goods sell most often, and how much customers ordinarily spend on a specific product. This information helps showcases what the customers need and what business contributions would be most appropriate for clients.

Main Responsibilities:

Conduct market research to identify target users and define the different buyer personas.
Understand the client’s demands and create unique strategies to cater to them.
Market and promote the product targeted towards the right audience.

6. Accountants

Prevailing salary(average): $55,697 per annum

Accountants interpret and engage in record keeping of a business’s financial transactions, processes, and documents company or firm. Accountants who choose to work as freelancers on a contractual basis must work with multiple clients, such as individuals, small startups, or companies. This helps prevent them from the hassle of being bound by non-compete clauses of full-time employment contracts and having multiple earning options.

Main Responsibilities:

Monitoring and tracking financial processes.
Auditing and analyzing financial performance
Offering actionable advice on boosting returns and reducing costs.

7. Virtual assistants

Prevailing salary(average): $57,860 per annum

A virtual assistant offers administrative services to all their clients remotely from their home office. They typically schedule appointments, take phone calls, make travel itineraries, and manage emails and other online activities for their clients. This job opportunity has picked up a lot of popularity in light of the pandemic and has become one of the best-paying freelancing jobs.

Main Responsibilities:

Remotely assisting people and solving their issues.
Schedule appointments and organize meetings.
Manage contact lists and calendars.

8. Editors

Prevailing salary(average): $58,000 per annum

Editors edit and correct written content and manuscripts prepared for publication. Freelance editors work on magazines, journals, newspapers, and even books. Contractual editors work in different content genres, including copy editing, script editing, or story editing. This is a very diverse and creative profile apart from having lucrative pay.

Main Responsibilities:

Proofread and align the content to meet and exceed client expectations.
Check the basic nitty-gritty of a content piece.
Adhere to established publication standards to churn out top-notch content.

9. Writers

Prevailing salary(average): $62,068 per annum

A freelance writer works with both individual and multiple clients on a contractual basis. They also work with various corporate giants and businesses to generate quality content for their applications or websites. Freelance writers write content for websites, social media, books, news articles, journals, product catalogues, magazines, or periodicals.

Main Responsibilities:

Creating quality and error-free content
Writing, editing, and proofreading content
Copywriting

10. Social media Managers

Prevailing salary(average): $65,259 per annum

The role of social media managers has become very popular in this digital world. They create and publish engaging content for their customers on their social media platforms such as Instagram, LinkedIn, Facebook, etc., for building the brand’s online presence and generating the brand’s following. A social media manager engages customers, monitors and measures different social media metrics, and oversees the different creative factors of keeping the social page updated.

Main Responsibilities:

Creating innovative content for social media platforms.
Juggling multiple social media accounts simultaneously.
Building brand awareness to boost customer engagement.

11. Business consultant

Prevailing salary(average): $73,215 per annum

A business consultant works on a contractual basis for providing management consulting to organizations. Their main job is to offer suggestions and foolproof techniques to improve the overall productivity, performance, and efficiency. A business consultant also analyses a company’s processes to identify possible solutions to take the brand closer to reaching its goals and vision.

Main Responsibilities:

Plan, arrange and manage different business projects.
Design detailed business strategies to enhance overall business performance.
Track and monitor KPIs to measure progress.

12. Human resources consultants

Prevailing salary(average): $76,576 per annum

A human resource advisor collaborates with the human resource team of companies and aid in providing solutions to help improve an employee’s professional relations. They help human resource directors or senior HR managers develop and oversee complaint resolution procedures, facilitate positive dispute resolution mechanisms, create effective and ethical recruiting practices, and integrate various employee benefits in company policies.

Main Responsibilities:

Advise senior management on improving recruiting strategies.
Negotiate the terms and conditions of employment with potential employees.
Train hiring managers on proper interview and evaluation techniques.

Upskill with upGrad

If you want to become the most eligible job seeker in the USA, opt for the Business Analytics Certification Program on upGrad. By pursuing this course, you can incorporate the development process and product design by innovating ideas for creating prototypes for market launch. This course is well developed to help you achieve an analytical mindset and gain expertise in problem-solving in a highly data-driven way.

This curriculum is designed in a way that you will develop the best and innovative methodologies to build a solid project portfolio. Plus, you enjoy the perks of networking with upGrad’s vast network of learners and professionals worldwide!

Conclusion

n a pandemic-ridden world where many faced arbitrary layoffs and sudden loss of jobs, freelancing opportunities came to their rescue to help them get back on track professionally. Also, with the growing popularity of remote working habits, freelance jobs work best for people who love to operate independently, commanding a high degree of flexibility from their profession.

We hope this article gives you enough lead on the most promising freelancing opportunities in the US!

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

1. How much does a freelancer earn in the USA?

As per a 2021 freelancer job report, most freelancers in the USA earn an average hourly rate of $25.

2. Which are the highest paying freelance sectors?

Several freelancers who work in the mobile or website development field, marketing, and sales sectors, legal firms, tax and accounting companies, and other such services can earn the highest wages, which is as much as $30-35/hour on average.

3. Can someone become a millionaire by working as a freelancer?

Yes, one can easily earn more money by freelancing due to greater accessibility to a diverse clientele. The only challenge is to hunt the clients wisely to build a secure and well-paying job network.

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Climbing the corporate ladder is the dream of many. However, to make progress in this journey, you need a suite of accomplishments, an MBA degree being one of them. Having an MBA degree can quickly boost your chances of getting senior roles in large organisations, become an industry leader, or even get into the C-suite. However, thanks to the plethora of MBA courses available today, it is pretty natural to feel overwhelmed by the range of choice. Another question that troubles most MBA aspirants is – when to pursue an MBA course? Granted that completing an MBA program will bring numerous opportunities before you, it’s crucial to time it right. Today, we’ll help you figure out the right time to pursue an MBA course. Not just that, we’ll also shed light on the various factors you should consider while opting for an MBA degree to get the optimal outcome. How to determine the right time to pursue an MBA? 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It means you must have worked in your industry for a certain number of years before you become eligible to enrol in an MBA course. If you already have a few years of experience, you can apply for an MBA course right away. On the other hand, if you’re a fresher with no experience, it would be best for you to spend a few years in your industry and gain work experience. Having some professional experience will help you in multiple ways. First, it will make you familiar with the ins and outs of the industry. Moreover, it will give you a solid foundation to learn the advanced concepts of business management and administration. 2. Developing soft skills Many MBA programs require students to have multiple soft skills. As a student, it can be quite challenging to develop and hone these skills. On top of that, it can be even harder to showcase these skills to recruiters and interviewers. Some of the standard industry soft skills include leadership skills, teamwork skills, communication and interpersonal skills, negotiation skills, time management skills, etc. Keep in mind that MBA programs prepare you for leadership roles in different industries. Hence, they require you to show leadership potential. You’ll need professional experience to develop and nurture your soft skills. As you’ll work with fellow professionals and solve business problems together, not only will you get to develop these skills, but you’ll also get to showcase them as much as possible. Top MBA programs prefer candidates having industry-relevant soft skills. This is where a few years of professional experience will come in handy. Also Read: Growth Statistics of MBA in each of its field 3. Your career aspirations MBA courses require a lot of dedication and commitment. This is because most MBA programs span for two years, covering a wide range of industry-specific subjects and specialisations. So, before you make such a commitment, it’s essential to figure out why you want an MBA. Is it because you want to get a promotion? Or do you want an MBA so you can switch industries? There can be many reasons to pursue an MBA, but it’s vital to determine your MBA goals. An MBA degree isn’t a requirement for many career profiles, so figuring out your MBA aspirations can help you realise if your chosen career requires an MBA or not. Suppose you’re a software engineer and want to get ahead in the tech domain. In that case, it might be better to get an AI and ML course rather than an MBA as it’s more industry-specific and prepares you for advanced roles in your sector. To determine when to do an MBA, you must clarify your career aspirations. You can start with the 5-4-3-2-1 method, where you chart out your goals in a sequence of five years, four months, three weeks, two days, and an hour. Think of your career goals and then figure out if your career goals require an MBA or not. 4. 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Now that you know how to figure out when to do MBA courses, you might wonder, “How do I get started?” In the current pandemic-ridden world, it would be best to join an online MBA course. You will remain safe within the confines of your home while enjoying a top-class learning experience delivered by trained mentors and industry experts. Moreover, as we discussed before, online MBA courses allow you to work while studying, so you don’t have to interrupt your professional life to start your learning journey. At upGrad, we offer multiple MBA courses, including: Master of Business Administration (MBA) with Liverpool Business School Global MBA with Deakin Business School All three of these courses are online and allow you to learn comfortably. You can pick any one of them depending on your career aspirations and requirements. Do check them out! 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How do you professionally introduce yourself to someone you’ve just met? When an interviewer asks you to describe yourself, what do you say? The answer lies in an MBA elevator pitch. If you are on a job hunt, pursuing career advancement opportunities, or simply networking, you will find yourself pitching to potential employers now and then, and that too, in less than a minute! And an effective self-introduction can help you create a memorable first impression and open up the right employment prospects for you. Your pitch is how you convey to others, who you are, your achievements, interests, and goals in life. The primary aim of such a pitch is to start a conversation and facilitate further professional relationships within the time it takes an elevator to cross a few floors, i.e., less than a minute. Hence, the name “elevator” pitch. It need not say everything about you, but just enough to let the other party display some interest in hiring you — an MBA elevator pitch is essentially the demonstration of your personal brand. Be it at any interview or cover letter, an elevator pitch is deemed very useful for business personnel, especially for potential candidates of an educational program. In the words of the brand-builder at Walt Disney, Curtis Johnson, “Your personal brand is what you represent, what you stand for, what people think of you when they see your name. What qualities, strengths, and values does your personal brand summon in the minds of others – particularly those in a position to evaluate your candidacy for the MBA program of your dreams?” Now comes the important question – how can you develop a stellar MBA elevator pitch? We’ll tell you how! Tips for Writing an MBA Elevator Pitch Understandably, it’s no child’s play to get your pitch working at one go. It should take you several days and quite a few hits-and-miss to refine and perfect a personal pitch. However, there are a few pointers you should include in your MBA elevator pitch to maximize your chances of success: 1. Who you are Before approaching someone with a pitch, a proper introduction to who you are is an absolute necessity. Introducing yourself using your full name can be how you begin as you lend out your hand to shake. Greetings and smiles are key to ensuring the effectiveness of an introduction speech that catches the attention of the listener. Remember that your pitch needs to be less than a minute, so you can’t go on explaining every little detail about yourself. Only the most relevant details that are likely to interest your listener are enough. 2. What you do Next, is a brief insight into your background that builds upon who you are – it paves the way for your principal motive. Mention only the most pertinent details like your education qualification, professional experience, and relevant strengths that set you apart from the crowd. There is a lot you could say at this point. But once again, you must resist the temptation to say more than what is necessary – only stick to the key points. Start with scribbling down all you can say about yourself. Once you have all of it jotted down, go ahead and scrap sections that aren’t relevant or necessary for the particular situation. 3. What you want This segment of the pitch focuses on what you’re pitching for — whether it is an education program, an internship, at a job interview, or simply for contact information. You must be very clear about what you can offer an organization through your skill sets, the quality of work you stand to bring, and how it is in your listener’s interest to consider you. Suppose you’re pitching for an education program, you should focus on setting yourself apart from the crowd — anything that shows that you are a more suitable candidate. If it is for a job opportunity, then reflect on why you are the best fit for the job — what it is that you can offer that will benefit their company. Even though it is your pitch, it should cater to the needs of your audience. He/she will never be interested in hiring you or working with you if they do not acknowledge your need in their institute or company. Also Read: Growth statistics of MBA in each of its field 4. Conclude The final step is as most important as any other step in delivering a successful pitch. This is where you actually take things into your hand and set the course of the conversation. Always end your pitch with what you want to do next. If it is at an interview, conclude with confirming that you’ve answered a question completely; or if you are looking for a mentorship opportunity, clearly address it. Being straightforward shows that you are confident and fit to handle complex business situations. Everything you have said up until that point rests on your conclusion. So, it’s a good idea to give the conversation some operational item rather than letting it hang off a cliff. But you must also remember that you’ve just met this person, so rather than asking the moon, keep it simple and to the point. Here is an example elevator pitch: “Hello! My name is Jane. It’s very nice to meet you! I am a business analytics professional with over ten years of experience in devising data-driven solutions for complicated business problems. I recently completed a global master’s certificate course in business analytics and have had success in strategically evaluating data analysis at the executive level. I understand you do similar work. I would love to know if there are any business analytics opportunities in your team.” Some more tips to help you ace that MBA elevator pitch 1. Be consistent – Since you’re trying to sell yourself as a brand, you should display consistency. Think of it as a story where all the plot points are connected, and one point leads to the other. So, your pitch should be supported by your background and achievements. Based on this, you can formulate what you want. 2. Customize – It is advantageous to keep a basic pitch ready to be used anytime and anywhere, even though there’s no guarantee that the same old wine will work every time. You have to customize your pitch to the needs of your audience, along with your objective – what you are hoping to take away from it. A resolute intention will bring out the best results. Remember that everyone values authenticity and uniqueness. These two are the most powerful weapons in your hand. 3. Maintain a balance between conversational and professional approach – You must practice your pitch until it comes naturally. You do not want it to be too professional so that it sounds rehearsed, but at the same time, you should also avoid an entirely conversational approach. Be creative and reframe your pitch in the particular context and situation, but most of all, deliver a professional presence. It is important what you say, but how you say it also matters. This is what actually draws the listener’s interest, thus enabling them to process what you’re saying. Final Thoughts An MBA elevator pitch is about making an impression, a positive one. Be careful at choosing what you say. A successful pitch is short, crisp, and leaves one curious to know more about your abilities and accomplishments. If you are a business owner, entrepreneur, or a working professional with up to 5 years of full-time work experience, you should consider acquiring a global Master of Business Administration (MBA) degree from a top university like Liverpool Business School, UK to advance in your career. An elevator pitch that highlights qualifications such as an MBA or MSc is more likely to catch the attention of your listen. An MBA can help you pitch leadership skills, digital business innovation abilities, risk management strategies, marketing strategies, project management abilities, etc., to potential employers. Since the course is 100% online, you can pursue the degree alongside business duties. What’s more, it will also teach you how to do an MBA elevator pitch effectively since communication is an important skill to learn as an MBA student. We hope this provides you with the necessary context for creating a successful MBA elevator pitch!

by Karan Raturi

04 May'21

5.35K+

How Does Completing an MBA Program Help Your Career?

MBA or Master of Business Administration is a highly sought-after degree among professionals and students who wish to advance their careers. However, there are more pertinent questions that need to be sorted before you opt for an MBA course: Will an MBA align with your career goals? Will an MBA degree transform your career? What can you expect from getting an MBA? If you feel that your career aspirations will materialise after obtaining an MBA education and if it will help you bag the job role you’ve been eyeing for so long, it is the right choice for you. After all, recruiters often prefer MBA graduates over their non-MBA counterparts, thanks to their extensive industry knowledge and versatile business management skills. An MBA can help you in multiple ways, particularly when you get one from a reputed institute. Not only will an MBA program introduce you to multiple specialisations in your chosen field, but it will also help in your overall personal and professional development. A few sentences wouldn’t do justice to explain how MBA helps your career. So, let’s deep dive into the matter to get a more comprehensive view of why you should get an MBA for your career. How Does MBA Help Advance Your Career? Earning an MBA degree will help you to: 1. Specialise in your field The curriculum of MBA programs generally covers various advanced concepts and subjects that help you learn more about the industry you choose. Most MBA programs offered by reputed institutes offer numerous specialisations to encourage students to acquire highly specialised skills and advance their careers accordingly. Having specialised knowledge of a field can help you in multiple ways. First, it will help you reinforce your position as a subject matter expert and make you a preferred candidate for job roles in that field. Specialised professionals earn more than generalists and are usually highly valued in their organisation. For instance, our Master of Business Administration program with Liverpool Business School offers six specialisations for you to choose from. These are: Marketing Finance Operations and Supply Chain Management Human Resources Business Strategy and Leadership Analytics So, you get a diversified choice. While you’ll gain general industry skills and knowledge, you can also choose to master a niche subject/field. 2. Become eligible for senior roles With an MBA, you can start applying for senior roles in different companies. You’d know various aspects of management, organisation, and leadership that would help you perform your duties in those roles with ease. Many MBA programs require you to have a few years of work experience as it helps you to understand real-world business challenges and management concepts better. For example, our MBA from Liverpool Business School requires you to have a bachelor’s degree with a minimum of 50% marks and at least three years of full-time relevant work experience. With several years of professional experience under your belt, you wouldn’t have difficulty applying for various senior roles in different organisations. MBA programs also consist of numerous assignments that help you showcase your talent and expertise. With an MBA degree, you’ll be eligible for leadership roles in management consulting, operations, business development, marketing, strategy, HR management, and finance. And if you can support the degree with a few years of industry experience, you can even get into the C-suite, which is a dream for many young aspirants and professionals alike. 3. Earn better pay Professionals with an MBA earn significantly more than those who don’t have an MBA. According to the National Association of Colleges and Employers, the average starting salary of MBA grads in the class of 2021 will be $87,966. It is 11.3% more than the average starting salary among 2020 grads. NACE projects that the pay for MBA graduates in 2021 will be $29,000 more than the projects for people who receive a bachelor’s degree in business this year. The standard income for management roles is usually higher than non-management jobs. Similarly, the Graduate Management Admission Council’s corporate recruiters survey found that the pay for 2020 MBA recipients would range from $105,000 to $115,000. You should keep in mind that the current statistics are of a pandemic-ridden world where both employers and employees face uncertainty. Hence, the pay for MBA graduates can increase substantially more in the coming years as the demand for management and finance professionals will rise. 4. Get networking opportunities Networking is vital for anyone who wants to climb the corporate ladder. Networking makes you noticeable in your industry and helps you advance your career. It also enables you to get more opportunities to meet the right client or the right person in a superior position. Students who enrol in an MBA program get plenty of networking opportunities. During the course, you can connect with mentors, industry leaders, and peers from across the world. Not just that, many MBA programs also allow learners to access an exclusive group of professionals to help hone their networking skills. By interacting and engaging with students and professionals from different backgrounds, you can also stay on top of the latest industry trends and capitalise on them. Networking will also help boost your self-confidence and open up new avenues before you. 5. Help you stand out It is a well-established fact that candidates with an MBA stand out from the crowd. Recruiters prefer MBA professionals as they have specialised knowledge of their field and are better equipped to handle business challenges. This means you can get ahead of your peers and bag high-paying roles pretty easily. Moreover, most MBA programs offer placement support to help you kickstart your career. upGrad’s MBA programs give you access to the Student Success Corner, where you will get dedicated career counselling and personalised resume feedback. You will also receive interview preparation support, where you will get one-on-one mock interviews with industry mentors to help with your preparation. Such preparation and qualifications ensure that you can easily bag your dream job and have an excellent career. Don’t forget that you will also work on multiple projects. They will enhance your resume further, making you a definite choice for potential recruiters. 6. Embark on entrepreneurial ventures Getting an MBA degree is one of the best pathways to becoming an entrepreneur. This is because you will have in-depth business knowledge – how it functions, how you can efficiently run a business, and how to tackle business challenges. An MBA teaches you vital concepts of business management. In the Global MBA program with Deakin Business School, you will learn: Business Growth Strategies Strategic Thinking and Planning Abilities Design Thinking Integrated Business Strategy Formulation International Business Change Management Financing Strategies When you’d have such knowledge of business, it becomes easier for you to start a company and build it into a successful venture. Since you’ll have a deep understanding of the nitty-gritty of running a business, you’ll be better equipped to manage your team, create actionable business plans, and communicate with stakeholders. Conclusion The above points clearly illustrated how MBA helps your career. And if you choose an online MBA program, you can study from the comfort of your home while maintaining your professional commitments. So, you need not uproot your life to chase your upskilling aspirations. All the MBA programs we mentioned in this article are online MBA courses delivered by the top mentors and industry experts through videos, live sessions, and one-on-one student-mentor interactions. Now that you know how beneficial an MBA degree can be for your career, don’t wait up – enrol in a global MBA program today!

by Karan Raturi

04 May'21

5.88K+

Top 7 Decision-Making Skills Every MBA Student Must Know

Decision making is a vital part of management. The decisions you make will have a significant impact on you, your profession, and your organisation. That’s why it’s important to know what decision-making skills you should possess and how you can develop them. As an MBA student, you have the advantage of time. You can develop your MBA skills early and practice them through application and effort. However, to do that, you must first know which skills you need to acquire. That’s why we have created the following list of the top decision-making skills every MBA student must know. Crucial Decision-Making Skills You Must Develop Having the right skills will help you climb the industry ladder and earn high-end salary packages. Here are the top decision-making skills you should develop as an MBA student: 1. Problem-solving Among the most critical MBA skills is problem-solving. Problem-solving skills help you tackle both large and small issues in your company. You should be able to factor in multiple viewpoints when facing a problem and consider the required variables to make a well-informed decision. As a professional, you’d need to make decisions while separating emotions from your discussions with other people as they would influence your outcome adversely. With strong problem-solving skills, you should be able to formulate decisions efficiently and effectively. You’d know how to research the issue and analyse the situation appropriately. 2. Time Management Time management is one of the most important decision-making skills because every decision has a specific deadline. You must have the ability to think on your feet and make decisions quickly. While quick-thinking has its advantages, time management enhances that skill further by helping you plan and structure things more efficiently. With proper time management, you can allocate sufficient time to different decision-making stages and complete the task efficiently. You can enhance your time management skills by applying them in your daily life. Prepare a schedule, test it out and optimise it according to your requirements. You can also plan out your different tasks and try to determine how much time they take. Such activities can greatly improve your time management skill. 3. Emotional Intelligence Emotional intelligence refers to your ability to stay aware of your emotions and their expression. When you’re aware of your emotions, you can make decisions more objectively and logically. Apart from identifying your own emotions, emotional intelligence helps you recognise and understand the emotions of other people. As a result, it helps you build relationships with your team and achieve goals accordingly. To improve your emotional intelligence, you should focus on staying aware and pay attention to your interactions with others. Observing how people use and react to different emotions can help you enhance your own emotional intelligence. You can also focus on observing your behaviour and how your body reacts to different emotions. For example, you might tend to avoid eye contact when you’re sad or feeling uncomfortable in a conversation. Being aware of such bodily cues will allow you to improvise your body language in a professional setting. 4. Teamwork Collaboration is key in decision making. No matter what role you pursue in management and leadership, you’ll have to collaborate with other professionals to solve issues and make plans. For example, you might have to work with the HR manager to determine the best way to retain talent and enhance your team’s productivity. However, teamwork skills depend heavily on multiple other skills, including reasoning, emotional intelligence, and leadership. In the example, we mentioned above, you’ll use your reasoning skills to figure out the optimal solution to enhance client retention. Afterwards, you can compare the possible KPIs (key performance indicators) that measure your team’s productivity. Your teamwork skills depend largely on the results you get and the people that get affected by your team’s decisions. 5. Intuition Many times in your daily professional routine, you’ll have to rely on your instincts to make decisions. Intuition refers to your ability to trust your instincts and take action accordingly. Unlike most of the decision-making skills we have discussed in this article, your intuition depends on your experience. The more knowledge you’ll gain as a professional, the stronger and more reliable your intuition will be. As an MBA student, you can develop a strong intuition by working on projects and applying what you’ve learnt in real-world scenarios. You learn lessons from every experience you have, and these lessons help you enhance your intuition. You should be able to associate your instinct with the actions you’ll take to see if your decision is practical and logical. Also Read: MBA Elevator Pitch 6. Reasoning Your reasoning ability is among the most important MBA skills. It ensures that you can make smart decisions with the highest chances of delivering positive outcomes. With solid reasoning skills, you’d review all the pros and cons of the decision you’re considering making. Strong reasoning skills will keep you grounded in reality, allowing you to make rational decisions. You must consider all the relevant points during the decision-making process and also consider the viewpoint of those involved in the process. You should keep your reasoning aligned with the people you work with and focus on achieving the goals of your team or organisation. 7. Leadership Leadership refers to the act of organising multiple employees in your organisation. A good leader would establish a consensus about a specific decision. They would work with people and evaluate the situation and the team. They focus on motivating their team and interact with them to achieve the goal through making a better-informed decision. As a good leader, you should first focus on building a mutually cordial and professional relationship with your subordinates. It would help you understand them while also allowing them to be more comfortable around you to freely speak their minds. You should stay personable as a leader so your team members can work cohesively with you and make contributions to the decision-making process. This will bring to the table different perspectives on a specific matter, enabling you to look at the issue at hand from all possible angles. How an MBA degree helps you acquire the right decision-making skills? Although developing these decision-making skills can be a strenuous task, an MBA degree can be the best pathway to attaining them. Since MBA courses focus on both domain knowledge and overall personality development of candidates, it is an excellent choice for those aspiring to gain leadership, management, and business administration. By picking the right MBA course, you can learn these skills and get the necessary guidance to hone them. At upGrad, we offer two fantastic global MBA courses – Global MBA with Deakin Business School (Australia) and MBA from Liverpool Business School (UK). Both are among the top B-schools in the world. The MBA course offered by DBS covers numerous subjects and skills, including Design Thinking, Business Growth Strategies, Strategic Thinking, Change Management, Integrated Business Strategy Formulation, etc. On the other hand, the MBA course by LBS includes Marketing Management, Fundamentals of Leadership, Accounting & Finance, Decision Sciences, Business Economics, Business Strategy, etc. Conclusion So, there you go – these were the top seven decision-making skills that will help you advance your career to the next level! However, remember that merely identifying the skills that will help enhance your decision-making abilities is not sufficient. You’ll have to constantly hone them by understanding their present-day applications and measuring your progress. Some of these skills are easier to understand while some others take a bit of effort. So, keep exploring and experimenting with your skills in real-world scenarios, and you’ll see what a big difference it can make!

by Karan Raturi

04 May'21