Deciding whether or not to get an MBA is a big decision that shouldn’t be taken lightly. Getting an MBA requires significant financial and time sacrifice at an important time in your life.
Of course, before you even think about getting an MBA you need to make sure you have the essential MBA degree qualification. This typically means having an undergraduate degree and sometimes also includes at least a couple years of work experience. Depending on the University you will likely also need to have taken a qualifying exam, such as the GMAT.
If you have the proper qualifications and all you need to do is decide whether to pursue an MBA or not, the question you should be asking yourself is whether you will need an MBA to succeed in your career.
Career Success Factors
There are many individuals in business who did not receive an MBA. If you are working in a corporate environment you will notice that there will be many leaders with an MBA, but also some that never got an MBA. It’s important to think about your career track and really think about how much an MBA will contribute to your success.
Because so many professionals get their MBA these days, it is becoming harder to compete without one. For example, I have a BA in Finance and have worked as an accountant the past three years. Because I did not major in accounting I am unable to sit for the CPA exam. This potentially hinders my ability to compete with candidates who do have the CPA certification. One way I can better compete with CPAs is through getting my MBA. If you plan on being an accountant but already have a CPA certification it makes less sense to get an MBA because it won’t have as great an impact on your career than if you were lacking the CPA.
This is just one example from one career track, so it’s important to put it in the context of your own career. If you know one thing really well, such as managing successful television marketing campaigns, you may want to get an MBA to have a more comprehensive knowledge of business. Showing your knowledge of business may make it easier to get jobs that are higher-level that manage a wider variety of things than television marketing or even beyond marketing in general.
It also can’t be stressed enough that getting an MBA absolutely gives you the potential to leap into a higher-level position. The easiest way to do this is to leave your full-time job and get your MBA full-time. That way you have a clean break and can re-enter through interviewing for management positions.
Changing Career Tracks
The second consideration I think people should think about is whether they want to get out of their current profession. Let’s say you started your career in operations. It’s going well, but after a couple years of working in that area of the business you know that you don’t want to be in operations forever. Getting an MBA can help you pivot into a new area, such as corporate finance. This may not be possible without going back to school and making the transition more logical to hiring managers.
Personally I think getting your MBA with the purpose of switching into a different area is one of the best reasons you can have for pursuing an MBA. This can be especially effective if you currently are an engineer or someone who is not working in business. It immediately qualifies you to work as a business professional regardless of what your initial career consisted of or did not consist of.
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I don’t have my MBA, but i have considered going back to school for an MBA. I just can’t justify the cost right now – it wouldn’t help me as much at this point in my career.