Bachelor of Business Admin

I am 21-year-old student pursuing a Bachelor of Business Administration at the University of Toronto in Canada. I will be graduating in June 2013. I'm confused as to whether I should work immediately after my graduation or start a master's degree. To do an MBA, I would need two years' work experience. So I was thinking of either doing Masters of Management Innovation or Masters of Science in Environmental Management or an MBA-co-op programme. Please advise. Anureet Kaur, via email   Your question reflects the challenge faced by many business graduates who are inundated with options after graduation. To take an MBA, ideally, you should have two to three years work experience. Even though there are many business schools that accept students without any experience, it is advisable to have a few years of experience under your belt to relate to examples and knowledge shared during the lessons. It is also practical to have this experience in one industry if not the same job. This experience will provide the necessary foundation to help derive the best out of the MBA programme. A master's programme, whether it is management innovation or environmental management, will give you the additional knowledge and skills that will open up many more career choices for you following your graduation. The Masters of Management Innovation combines science and management to provide a brilliant head-start for students who wish to pursue careers in technology-based organisations. Environment and sustainability studies is rightfully referred to as the science of the future. With the increasing global interest and efforts in combating climate change, career prospects in this field are likely to grow in the future. A co-op programme is an excellent option as it combines classroom instruction with real-world application of your studies. The best thing here is not just the work experience but an opportunity to apply theories learnt in the classroom to a work context. It goes without saying that a co-op work experience is viewed favourably by employers and statistics have shown that new employees with co-op experience are paid higher starting salaries compared to their non-co-op counterparts. My vote would be to go for the MBA co-op programme. From gulfnews