To MBA and beyond! … or NOT…

Ever feel like you’re the only one in the room who doesn’t have an MBA? You’re not alone.

MBA looks like fancy. It’s a masters, you would think that is “exclusive”. And some companies sponsor them and you would be all over that, right?

Well, the tide is changing. I spoke about the 70–20–10 rule for development on another Medium post ( https://medium.com/@SebaSanchezok/70-20-10-rule-3dbee7e4a4e0?source=linkShare-9c1aaa7d8c11-1466968906)

The decision to pursue a MBA should not be based on money alone, more of a “personal growth and achievement”.

Making the choice to pursue another degree is a major life choice that no one should take lightly, and MBA’s are no exception. It’s a huge time and money commitment, requiring you to make major changes and adjustments in your life. And who wants that if it doesn’t pay off in the end?

Schools will give you all the bells and whistles on MBA programs -here today, we will talk about reality:

You won’t make more money.

…Or at least not as much as you think you will. For one thing, overall wages for MBA’s were stagnant for a number of years and only recently saw a small increase. There are also a lot of misperceptions-On average, MBA students expect to earn a salary of $140,000 after graduation, which is simply not realistic. Recent MBA graduates with minimal professional experience will earn more much less. So pursing your MBA too early in your career — and to the detriment of your career — is counterintuitive.

The value of an MBA depends greatly upon the rank of the school.

The school you go to makes a BIG difference. The disparity in salaries and overall life earnings between the top 25 ranked MBA programs and the bottom ranked 50 out of 100 is huge. We’re talking a starting salary around $115,000 if you graduate from Harvard Business School, versus a salary as low as $60,000 if you graduate from a lower-ranked school.

The debt puts you risk averse at a time you should be trying things out.

Getting an MBA is expensive. Crazy expensive — as much as $100,000 from a top school, and that doesn’t include the loss of the salary you would be earning if you’re going to school full-time and not working. Post-graduate programs in general are even more expensive to finance now than undergrad, since, as of 2012, the government no longer offers subsidized student loans to post-grads. Pursing an MBA is a long-term investment, and with any investment, you should investigate all your options and make sure you are committed before taking the plunge. There’s no better way to figure out what you want to do for sure than getting your feet wet in the professional world. It’s a smart move anyway, because employers prefer to recruit MBA’s who also have professional experience, and most MBA programs require you to have professional experience anyway. Spending a few more years in the workforce can help you figure out if an MBA is truly the right path for you, and you can pay off debt and build your savings in the meantime.

Earning an MBA is a time suck.

The traditional MBA program takes about 2 years to complete, if you’re going full-time. That’s two years’ worth of a salary you’re losing out on, while paying a lot of money to attend, and spending the majority of your time dedicated to your coursework. Some schools do offer full-time accelerated one-year programs, but that’s still a substantial amount of time to be out of work full-time.

An MBA may not be relevant to the job you truly want.

An MBA education focuses on standard business skills, like accounting, finance, operations, and marketing, but it also focuses on key skills like critical thinking and analytical skills. This type of education can certainly give degree-holders an edge for managerial positions.

The value of an MBA doesn’t last forever.

The reality is that at some point, your MBA will become obsolete. Because the MBA curriculum takes a scientific approach to a business education, and science is one of the most — if not the most — rapidly changing fields, it’s nearly guaranteed that what you’re taught when you earn your MBA will not be what MBA’s are being taught in 10 years, or even 5.

You don’t need it for a career pivot.

There are so many other ways (much less expensive and time-consuming ways) to advance your career and build your professional skillset without pursing an MBA. Companies that actively recruit MBA candidates report that they value the critical thinking and problem solving skills of MBA candidates. So honing in on classes or programs that help you develop these skills could certainly give you a foundation for skills desired by employers and help you decide if this type of education is for you.

Hiring managers may perceive you as overqualified.

It’s a sad but true irony. You work your butt off to earn your degree to increase your job prospects, but your shiny new MBA seems to only be limiting you professionally. The results that come up when you search “overqualified & MBA” are enough to make any MBA or prospective MBA cringe. But the reality is that an MBA can at times be somewhat of a liability. Especially when the job market and the economy are weak, companies are careful about who they hire. Hiring an MBA for an entry-level position, even a candidate who truly wants the position, is often seen as risky. Employers want low-risk employees who are easy to transition into the company, won’t get bored too quickly, will be happy with their salary, and will stay with the company longer than a high-risk prospect would. While there are some strategic ways to combat these issues during your job search, the stark reality is that it definitely poses some unique challenges for job seekers with MBA’s.

You don’t need an MBA to build a solid professional network.

One of the benefits that many MBA’s cite is the network students are able to build in the course of earning their degree. While that may be true, there are tons of other opportunities to build a solid network in your field that you should be taking advantage of either way: undergrad alumni networks, events in your community, and networking with co-workers. All network opportunities that don’t cost $100,000+.

The degree has become diluted.

You want to stand out in the workforce, right? You want to really impress your interviewer with all your stellar credentials, right? So do you really want to become just another MBA? It’s become the most popular postgraduate degree in the U.S, accounting for about ¼ of all Master’s degrees awarded annually. That’s nearly 200,000 MBA’s in 2012 alone. You don’t need an MBA to understand the basic concept of supply and demand: too many MBA’s, and not enough MBA-level jobs available leads to trouble. This is likely a factor contributing to the disparity in salaries between top raked MBA programs schools and lower ranked ones: with so many MBA programs out there, employers are targeting the top programs only. It’s also likely the reason that so many MBA’s find themselves squeezed out of the MBA job market, seeking lower-level jobs and being told they are overqualified.