Stanford MSx student

Career Change Path

If you aspire to enter a different job function or industry, then the career change path is for you! In the one year masters program, the career change path will prepare you to proactively enter a different job function or industry. With this curriculum, you will learn how to advance your career and how to get promoted even while you pivot strategically.

If this is your goal, you might aim to:

  • Broaden your general management skills
  • Take industry-specific courses to understand and enter a new field
  • Study advanced thought leadership in your desired industry
  • Enroll in electives throughout Stanford University

You will be able to take courses across the university, allowing you to study topics rigorously and make connections with faculty leading the research in your chosen field. At the end of your one year masters program, you will demonstrate an ability to actively participate in a new space.

How to Advance Your Career: MSx Alumni Portraits of Career Change

How to Get Promoted in a New Field? Create Depth of Knowledge Through Industry-Specific Courses

If you want to build knowledge of a new industry, you might consider taking electives like the ones listed below.

Education
  • Disruptions in Education
  • The Economics of Higher Education
  • Presentation and Communication Skills for Academics
  • Entrepreneurial Approaches to Education Reform
Energy
  • Energy Markets and Policy
  • Clean Energy Opportunities
Finance
  • Investing for Good
  • Real Estate Investment
  • Private Equity: An Overview of the Industry
  • Debt Markets
  • Modeling for Investment Management
  • Financial Trading Strategies
  • Entrepreneurial Finance
  • Private Wealth Management
  • Angel and Venture Capital Financing
Health Care
  • The Business of Health Care
  • Innovation and Management in Health Care
  • Health Information Technology and Strategy
  • Leading Strategic Change in the Healthcare Industry
Social Innovation
  • Making Social Ventures Happen
  • Strategic Management of Nonprofits
  • Political Communication, Strategic Philanthropy, and Impact Investing
  • Problem Solving for Social Change, Individual Philanthropy, Practical Policy and Politics
  • Taking Social Innovations to Scale
Technology
  • Designing AI for Human Well-Being
  • Technology Licensing
  • Strategic Management of Technology and Innovation
  • Systems Leadership for the Digital Industrial Transformation
  • Business Intelligence from Big Data

 

Hear from MSx Alumni

MS 2018

“The year away from my career gave me the opportunity to reflect and change directions. The program was perfect for me, in terms of length and its capacity to guide me to a more worthwhile career trajectory.”

MS 2019

“It is extremely difficult to make a career change while working full-time. The MSx Program provided me the invaluable time, knowledge, and connections to successfully make the hard pivot. It taught me to be my own coach. I learned stress-management techniques and how to evaluate what’s truly important to me.”