An MBA isn’t always a guaranteed passport up the Corporate ladder.
I get lots of email from readers wondering why, after getting an expensive MBA from a good business school, they’re still struggling to find a job they love. Unfortunately it’s not the be all and end all.
I address the issue in my MSNBC.com column today and while I’m sure there will be people out there who disagree with me, I think it needed to be said.
You don’t necessarily need a higher degree to achieve your goals.
The first step is figuring out what your goals are and then crafting a career plan to get there. In a tough economy, a growing number of companies today want real world experience so they may be more inclined to brush aside newly minted MBAs for candidates who’ve been in the trenches and can produce results quickly.
I’m a big advocate of additional education but you have to figure out how that additional education will make you a hotter commodity. Maybe just a few classes in a targeted area will help beef of your resume.
I know having an MBA sounds really good, but try and get beyond the hype and figure out what you really need to move forward in your career.
And speaking about school, if you ever dreamed of becoming a college instructor but didn’t have the credentials or time to commit to the profession it might be time to take another look.
Yesterday, I wrote in the New York Times “Fresh Starts” column about how distance learning is making it easier for people to become college professors/instructors because now so much of the instruction is done remotely. Students and teachers do not need to be in the same stodgy university classroom anymore.
Part timers, and those who live in far-flung locations, can now become instructors and in lots of cases you don’t need a higher degree to apply. While education experts see this as a negative for elearning over all, it does open the door for people who never would have considered becoming university professors.
March 10th, 2008 at 9:53 am
http://personalbrandingblog.wordpress.com/2008/01/24/should-you-go-back-to-school-after-graduating-college/
I spoke about this on my blog. The conclusion we had is that if you are an entrepreneur with a strong network, an MBA is not for you but if you have no network and are career clueless than you should do it.
March 11th, 2008 at 8:43 am
I’ve been teaching network administration courses at an area college for about four years now. Through that position, I learned that I have a real passion for teaching. I would love to add business and communications classes to the list of those I’m allowed to teach, or even to make the leap and become a full time instructor one day. That’s why I’m currently in a graduate program–holding that advanced degree is one of the college’s requirements for it faculty in business and communications.
People need to start making their educational choices based on their interests or on clear career goals. Simply going after a degree, whether it be an MBA or something else, just because of the promise of a better income is a poor choice.
March 11th, 2008 at 7:12 pm
Dans idea of doing an MBA or build a network? Building a network is probably less effort and can be more useful though you can always do both.
Business qualifications can also be useful when added to years of experience spent doing technical roles.
What will make you more attractive than the next candidate? Being seen as a lower risk because you are recommended by someone trusted or already known to the hirer. Having just a certificate is a poor 2nd.
May 15th, 2008 at 4:58 pm
This is a tricky subject and best relook at the article as it leaves some strong points behind. If we take a trip at memeory lane 40 years ago the norm was that if you graduate high school you’ll have a decent job that you could make a career out of. 20 to 10 years ago could be said about a college degree a simple B.S. could get your foot in the door and maybe just maybe with hard work you can make a career of the field that you chose or the company that you are in. But in today’s world a B.S. is really not cutting it if you look at the average ceo’s age you can see that it is around 45 in which clearly leaves them in the category that they earned a B.S. generally in 20-25 years ago. If we start to look forward to all event that only way that in today’s world you can start differentiating yourself to other is with either more education or well connected rich parents (i.e. president’s ending their term.) If we look foward 20-25 year well see that everyone has a B.S. and most ceo’s will have MBA and who will be probably carrying ph.d.
May 15th, 2008 at 5:12 pm
You make a good point fmc93b. The CEOs I interviewed were typically 50 and up and moved up the ladder during a different time than we are now.
But many hiring managers today also tekk me it’s not at the top of their list when looking at recruits. Although, it is definitely a plus.