Empower your MBA journey with the University of Bath’s Business Career Accelerator module. Head of MBA Operations, Matt Rusling, explains how this core module blends business fundamentals, soft skills, and strategic support, helping students grow through self-reflection, networking, and career planning.
The University of Bath School of Management, located in England, United Kingdom, makes career development a core academic priority within its full-time MBA program.
As the Head of MBA Operations for the School of Management at the University of Bath, Matt Rusling leads the Postgraduate Employability Team. Additionally, he oversees the Full-time and Executive MBA programs and the MBA Career Development Programme. He shares expert insights on the unique Business Career Accelerator (BCA) career module.
Matt Rusling explains, “The Business Career Accelerator module, or BCA for short, is one of the core modules on our Full-Time MBA program.” (00:31)
The BCA module combines career development, skill-building, and self-reflection to help MBA students actively plan and transform their careers.
He elaborates, “We’ve made what is traditionally [a] career-based activity and professional development-based activity credit-bearing, because we know how important that is to students and their progression as part of their MBA programs.” (00:39)
Bath’s MBA program actively integrates career development into credit modules to promote impact, employability, and self-improvement.
From day one, the BCA equips students with hard and soft skills that reflect industry trends across sectors.
Matt highlights, “The module is designed to provide students with all of the fundamentals and confidence that they need to be successful in their MBA program and beyond.” (00:51)
Essentially, students cover all business essentials, such as statistics, working with balance sheets, finance, data visualisation, and storytelling to drive tangible business outcomes. The module focuses on both technical and soft skills that are highly transferable across industries and roles. This foundation empowers graduates to shape their careers.
Furthermore, presentation, negotiation, and communication workshops help prepare students for career success. In addition, students receive insights into the UK job market. They receive support with their CVs, LinkedIn profiles, networking efforts, and job interviews.
The BCA emphasizes self-reflection because direction starts with clarity about your identity and career aspirations. Students actively shape their career direction by selecting specializations aligned with their evolving personal and professional goals.
He explains, “We will use the Color Insight profiling tool so that they can better understand themselves and then understand others. This will allow them to have a good base level to explore their own career ambitions from.” (01:59)
Within the BCA module, there is a specific session on reflection and emotional intelligence (EQ). Students gain support in articulating and leveraging their professional story and pitching their business ideas. The module balances a busy program with moments of deep reflection in which students can consider their personal development, long-term goals, and desired career path.
In particular, he highlights the importance of goal-setting and SMART goals in the BCA module. Alongside reflection, goal-setting helps to set students on the right path towards their aspirations. This helps students achieve actionable outcomes in their career paths.
The BCA module is designed to support people of all academic and career backgrounds. The school offers support to students with a variety of career goals, whether they want to become business leaders, support their family business, start their own business, or something else entirely.
Matt notes, “BCA encompasses everybody on that journey. It will enable them to understand what their options are, understand how they can apply for jobs, [and] how they can grow their own business.” (02:37)
Students thrive with the right guidance and tools. Through support, self-reflection, and goal-setting, students can tackle their career goals with greater clarity and confidence.
Bath’s MBA program actively challenges misconceptions about MBA graduate job transitions and career direction changes.
Matt shares that a common misconception is that students hope to accelerate to their dream job role right after their MBA. He notes that sometimes landing your dream job can take two to three years. He suggests working upwards through a “lily pad job” to gain valuable experience and connections. This is particularly true for international students who may need some UK-based experience before landing their dream role.
Furthermore, many students worry that they cannot change their career goals during the program. However, Matt assures students that they are encouraged to try new things and reassess their career path to ensure alignment throughout the entire program.
He shares, “They can change their direction. We will often encourage them to apply to jobs in a new territory.” (04:37)
He stresses that students will find encouragement for both options, whether they choose to accelerate in their current industry, or make a career pivot into a new field.
To remain ahead of the curve, Bath updates its MBA curriculum by actively collaborating with alumni, recruiters, and global industry leaders. “We will regularly interact with employers and entrepreneurs to understand what content we need to be providing our students with,” he says. (07:08)
As a result, industry input shapes everything from project briefs to leadership content, keeping students aligned with evolving market expectations.
The BCA module specifically focuses on honing the skills needed to succeed in today’s job market. By equipping students with the key skills that employers are looking for, they are prepared for success in a variety of industries and roles.
Rusling highlights, “The three top ones that we’re focusing on, amongst others, are innovation, being culturally aware, and leadership. All of those are ingrained in the core modules and electives of the Bath MBA Full-time program. We will distinguish those and focus on those in the BCA as well.” (08:39)
Therefore, by embedding these essential skills into the BCA, Bath equips graduates with practical advantages beyond a strong CV.
Notably, the BCA supports students from all professional backgrounds, career aspirations, and personal growth trajectories. Matt explains, “The Business Career Accelerator is designed to support students from any previous career background and any aspirations to move into any career in the future.” (10:51)
Students gain support with networking by engaging with employers and alumni. They also learn how to market their unique experiences and skills.
Matt adds, “We will be using a portfolio-based approach where students will submit CVs, LinkedIn bios, written reflections on their own development and growth.” (12:23) By helping students to articulate and market their skills and competencies, they are well prepared for job interviews or pitches with potential investors.
Consequently, this assessment approach trains students to express their personal and professional values clearly and confidently.
Bath transforms career theory into tangible results through structured and sustained student development to demonstrate real impact.
Matt highlights one recent student success story in particular. While this graduate didn’t get his dream job immediately post-MBA, he spent a few years gaining work experience, learned new transferrable skills, and grew his network in a relevant financial services company. He shares, “he has recently secured a role at Goldman Sachs, which we are really proud of, and he is very pleased to have achieved.” (09:49)
Other graduates made career pivots from technical fields or IT to begin working in marketing or consulting. They used the skills and knowledge from the MBA to succeed in a new industry. Finally, some graduates go on to become entrepreneurs. They used the MBA to either come up with a new business venture or further grow their existing venture. One of Matt’s Executive MBA students recently sold their business for over a million pounds. Matt reiterates, “It just goes to show that if you invest in yourself… you can be really successful.” (10:42)
These success stories reflect structure, support, and self-awareness that empower students to define and achieve personal career success.
Above all, the BCA stands out by embedding career development into the core academic structure of the MBA program.
Ultimately, students at Bath don’t just prepare for careers; they accelerate them with clarity, confidence, and intention. Start your journey today, empower your MBA experience with Bath’s Business Career Accelerator, and take charge of your future.
Learn more about what kind of jobs you can pursue with an MBA on our Careers page.
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