Forgive me for the cheesy title, but my brain is too tired from studying for the GMAT to think of anything more clever. Just preparing for the exam makes me wonder if I even want to be a student again, poring over books and taking notes. Is it really expected that I remember from my high school days that to find the length of the third side of a right angle triangle you have to solve A2+B2=C2? I mean, honestly, who remembers that (and don’t answer that question if you do)?
I’d always considered my MBA as a non-negotiable milestone to hit in my life. Back in the days when I was still at university, I thought I would work a maximum of 2 years then head back to school in full force. A bit naïve I must admit, as I knew I would love the corporate world, but I never imagined just how much.
Now, as I’m about to round off my third year out of college, I feel it’s now or never. If I don’t go back to do my MBA now I will find a million excuses not to in the future. While discussing this with a friend who is also preparing to take the GMAT, he asked a very thought provoking question, “do we just convince ourselves that an MBA is important when in fact it’s pretty much unnecessary once you have a job you actually love? Are we just getting sucked into the path that everyone else is taking?”
Naturally, this got me to wondering the same thing. I had a professor at university who always used to say, “I don’t understand your generation’s obsession with the MBA. In my day, we would only go to grad school to plump up our CVs if we couldn’t find a decent job. Now, you are all actually leaving your great jobs to pursue MBAs. Why?”
His logic stumped me. Has an MBA become another task on our life’s to do list that is really just another box to tick? Is it just another expectation like high school, university, marriage even? I think the best description of an MBA I’ve heard to date is from another friend of mine who actually finished his by 24, “an MBA is just a way to brand yourself.”
Doesn’t matter what you actually learn, all that matters is where you go to learn it.
In the end, this whole debate begs the question: Is an MBA really a powerful asset for success in the business world or will you just become another fish in the grad school sea?
I’d always considered my MBA as a non-negotiable milestone to hit in my life. Back in the days when I was still at university, I thought I would work a maximum of 2 years then head back to school in full force. A bit naïve I must admit, as I knew I would love the corporate world, but I never imagined just how much.
Now, as I’m about to round off my third year out of college, I feel it’s now or never. If I don’t go back to do my MBA now I will find a million excuses not to in the future. While discussing this with a friend who is also preparing to take the GMAT, he asked a very thought provoking question, “do we just convince ourselves that an MBA is important when in fact it’s pretty much unnecessary once you have a job you actually love? Are we just getting sucked into the path that everyone else is taking?”
Naturally, this got me to wondering the same thing. I had a professor at university who always used to say, “I don’t understand your generation’s obsession with the MBA. In my day, we would only go to grad school to plump up our CVs if we couldn’t find a decent job. Now, you are all actually leaving your great jobs to pursue MBAs. Why?”
His logic stumped me. Has an MBA become another task on our life’s to do list that is really just another box to tick? Is it just another expectation like high school, university, marriage even? I think the best description of an MBA I’ve heard to date is from another friend of mine who actually finished his by 24, “an MBA is just a way to brand yourself.”
Doesn’t matter what you actually learn, all that matters is where you go to learn it.
In the end, this whole debate begs the question: Is an MBA really a powerful asset for success in the business world or will you just become another fish in the grad school sea?
4 comments:
Maya, great writing! I personally think that if the MBA will serve as an asset on your CV for advancing you career then go for it. However, if you are doing it just to have done it, then think again. It is not easy to go back to school, especially if your heart is not in it! Ask me, personal experience :)
Thanks sweetie :)
That's definitely sound advice, as I really don't want to go back to school just for the sake of going back to school!
At the moment, I think I'm definitely pro-MBA, but I was just curious to see what other people's views on the matter were. Grad school has become a "trend" in recent years, and I think when making any major decision in your life it's healthy to question your own personal logic and reasons for doing it, which is what I'm doing at the moment.
When I had graduated from high school the first thing which came to my mind that I needed to do was, gather some wood, add to it some lighter fluid and make a nice big fire where I could dump all my books and notes of that last year. Childish? Yes. Silly? Arguable. Do I regret it? Oh no, it was a great feeling!! Fast forward to college, you become more mature (or you at least would like to think so), get into a subject you like and your whole perception of education changes. Suddenly books and studying start to make sense. I had always worked through ought college, in that sense, I was eager to graduate and focus on doing one thing only and it was great. Being able to produce and add value to society is something else, not having to study anymore and taking holidays traveling a couple of times a year discovering new places is even more amazing. At this point, you start drifting away, and it seems ever so harder to put your head down to tackle books again. If it is that hard, do we really want to do it? You wouldn’t eat if you weren’t hungry, nor sleep if not tired…. I could go on forever, the point I am trying to make is that you have to feel it; otherwise you wouldn’t do it well. I greatly believe that in order to succeed you got to love what you do, if your heart is not in it than simply don’t do it.
As for the credibility of the MBA, that's an entirely different debate, I am a firm believer in higher education but in today’s world everyone seems to be missing the point of an MBA. A few years ago, people used to go for such a degree after having been in the field for a decent amount of years, the experience gathered in the workplace and what you had learnt from life can all be put into practice once you’ve enrolled in the program. Isn’t an MBA but a series of meetings with experienced and educated people, debating and discussing ideas based on real experiences? I think it is, and what kind of added value one can bring along when you have barely completed your bachelor’s and worked a few years? Let’s not jump ahead of ourselves shall we. Unfortunately the financial success one gains after having an MBA (once back in the field) has prompted people to look for the same only earlier. It’s the eternal human flaw of immediate satisfaction versus long-term reward. I am not criticizing anyone who has done his MBA shortly after graduating, this has been the trend the past few years, and people tend to behave the same in groups…
Two of the most influential men in the modern corporate world were college drop outs, know who I am talking about?? Bill Gates and Steve Jobs, neither has an MBA let alone a bachelors degree. I am not trying to say that this is the road to success, but, it is definitely food for thought. Aren’t we chasing degrees and recognitions on paper instead of focusing more on following our passions and dreams?
I agree with what your professor had said! Personally, if I'm going to study anything, it's gotta be something i love! Some people look at me, surprised, when I say that I'm taking Spanish courses and for now this is the only studying I wanna do, or that a later stage, I would want to study for a journalism certificate. They say things like "But MBA is better for you in terms of CV, salary..." All I want is to be happy with my job, and study something I love if anything. And for me, that does not include going back to taking any finance or accounting courses!! :) Being happy with what I'm doing is for me much more important than any salary anyone is going to offer me because I have an extra piece of paper called a certificate for something I wasn't convinced while doing.
Post a Comment