Am I looking at MBA's the wrong way?

I guess it's something I'm wondering about lately. I have current mindset to apply to an MBA program in 3-5 years, (When I'm 28-ish)

I'm fairly certain I'll be accepted to a top 5, though I'm aiming for LBS. (International work is by far my preferred choice, I doubt I'll stick around North America).

However, I'm worried I might be mis-selling myself on an MBA. I view it as more of a passport to more freedom. I.E: If I wanted to work in management at a fashion industry, or say within a specific country, etc. Part of this reason is that I currently am lost on my long term goals. I know what I'd be happy doing, but at the same time it wouldn't allow me to provide the life I want for my family. (I,e: I loved hosting a radio show in university, but the chances of turning it into a profitable career are fairly low, realistically speaking. The starving-artist life is nice from a distance, but I don't feel like experiencing it)

Do they open up the doors I imagine? (Any industry, basically.) The combination of finding a comfortable job (financially) without it being soul crushing? Or is the MBA simply a good tool for advancing yourself a couple rungs in specific industries/fields?

I think you need to be focused on what you really want the MBA for and go from there.

It sounds you'd rather be in entertainment than in business and there's nothing wrong with that as long as thats your goal. A MBA is not going to help you get into radio hosting.

Another thought would be getting a MBA from a top school (you say Top 5 with no problem) and go get a job in banking for a few years and get a job on CNBC or Bloomberg-not radio but close.

Originally Posted by L.R.

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I guess it's something I'm wondering about lately. I have current mindset to apply to an MBA program in 3-5 years, (When I'm 28-ish)

I'm fairly certain I'll be accepted to a top 5, though I'm aiming for LBS. (International work is by far my preferred choice, I doubt I'll stick around North America).

However, I'm worried I might be mis-selling myself on an MBA. I view it as more of a passport to more freedom. I.E: If I wanted to work in management at a fashion industry, or say within a specific country, etc. Part of this reason is that I currently am lost on my long term goals. I know what I'd be happy doing, but at the same time it wouldn't allow me to provide the life I want for my family. (I,e: I loved hosting a radio show in university, but the chances of turning it into a profitable career are fairly low, realistically speaking. The starving-artist life is nice from a distance, but I don't feel like experiencing it)

Do they open up the doors I imagine? (Any industry, basically.) The combination of finding a comfortable job (financially) without it being soul crushing? Or is the MBA simply a good tool for advancing yourself a couple rungs in specific industries/fields?

That's far from a slam dunk, my friend.

MBAs are mainly for two things: Advancing in your own industry and switching from one industry to another. They aren't there to allow you to jump from industry to industry and from job to job ad nauseum. The ability to do that is much more a function of carving out a transferable set of skills or niche post MBA that is portable to many different sectors.

If your goal is to work abroad, I am not sure that an MBA in itself advances you toward that goal.

You would be better off either 1/ joining a multinational organisation and making yourself available for transfer to overseas postings or 2/ getting on a plane and job hunting in your preferred destination.

Remember that getting an international role depends on your ability to offer something to the desired market that they cannot hire locally. Your visa depends on it. You would be better served - if you want to go the education-as-way-abroad route - to study employment needs in your desired market and study that, working out how to bridge your existing experience and your new qualifications to their market needs. This would serve you better than being Just Another MBA.

You could make a case that the network you will develop there may lead you down certain roads, and that would be true, but then, there are lots of ways to build a network that don't involve a masters in business administration. Most of them are a lot cheaper too. I am increasingly doubting the value of that network incidentally. Seems like the flood of grads jumping from bachelors to MBAs dilutes the networking value significantly for anyone who is already real-world established.

Decide what you want to do and then back out how to get there.

Dropping $160K on a degree without really knowing if or how it'll advance your goals is crazy.

Take this from someone who DID, luckily, decide what I wanted to do first and then figured out how to get there rather than simply following my peers to top 10 B-schools. I couldn't possibly count the number of people I know that jumped to B-school simply because they could hoping to figure things out once they were there. 'Spensive way to figure things out with no certainty that you'll be any better off, IMO.

Originally Posted by superego

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Decide what you want to do and then back out how to get there.

Dropping $160K on a degree without really knowing if or how it'll advance your goals is crazy.

Take this from someone who DID, luckily, decide what I wanted to do first and then figured out how to get there rather than simply following my peers to top 10 B-schools. I couldn't possibly count the number of people I know that jumped to B-school simply because they could hoping to figure things out once they were there. 'Spensive way to figure things out with no certainty that you'll be any better off, IMO.

Isn't that ever the truth.