#66 Is MBA worth your time?
A common question that pops up in every MBA aspirant’s mind. This blog will help you find your answers...
Last week we had a school friend’s reunion at my place, probably the first after my completion of my MBA and everyone sitting in a room is either running a business or freelancing or working at some organization (just including myself here). A question came up and was usually a common one: What did you learn from your MBA? What difference did it make in your life today? (if you are looking for this answer too, then head to this blog)
The room was full of people with diverse backgrounds and experiences, so I plainly said: you all wanted to complete my high studies and MBA is one option, so did it. Also, MBA karlo, life set ho jayegi :P
This response brought mixed expressions to everyone’s faces. and then a guy exclaimed: I don’t think it adds any value apart from putting you at a higher earning point. And before I move ahead, let me decode the room occupants’ background, so that you know the context around the question better. A group of 4 guys out of whom 2 have completed their masters outside India with a major in risk management and international business and 2 are just business management graduates. As of today 4 of them are running their independent businesses in different industries and one is working with a UK-based- insurance consulting firm. A group of 3 girls (including me), all have completed our master’s with 2 in business management and one in fashion styling. As of today, it’s only me who is still pursuing her career and growing professionally.
I just turned around the question and opened it for suggestions around the room to answer what they think of MBA and I was surprised to see the variety of thought processes coming out. I hope these viewpoints will also help you form a better perspective around MBA and might answer one of the common questions that every aspirant has been asking me- How was your experience and is the MBA worth their time?
Here you go, guys…….
Two guys who were Business Management graduates cleared their throats and said “I think we are just listeners here coz we have not experienced this course”. I asked them what made you guys not pursue it. The answer was a simple one: They were early into their family businesses which made them take interest in the industry and the excitement of being in office was unmatched. MBA never occurred as a thought because they knew what they were doing and since they were enjoying it, they thought to spend more time. (They already used to dread their undergraduate assignments and didn’t want to add two additional years of mundane process.)
The girl who pursued a Master’s in Business Management but chose not to pursue her career further was more of a person who wanted to pursue and learn (complete higher studies in our societal language) but she never wanted to work under someone. Her mind was clear that building a career is not the only reason to pursue MBA, she wanted to learn more things like painting, new languages and similar hobbies and she did that happily.
Two more guys, who pursued MBAs from outside India didn’t have an enriching experience by pursuing their undergrad courses at Delhi University and they wanted to gain expertise more relevant to their business lines hence they planned to pursue their major in respective functions. Well, they had a thought-through plan of getting into business and expanding it as they complete their degrees and they are excelling there.
Some light on their course experiences, they say that the one-year programs helped them to build networks, work on real-life industry cases and try out their hand at their hobbies alongside. No one seemed to care about marks or anything (though convocation day was a dream come true) but the batch grew together under a spirit of learning and growth.
The girl who pursued a master’s in Fashion Styling, freelanced and now taking a break had an unplanned journey from starting a degree in B.Com course, never enjoying drawing to pivoting her career in fashion styling and makeup. She wanted to explore something beyond books and thought to try this field. Her experience was full of new things into her kitty and photo shoots, on-ground events adding a feather to her hat. On asking, why didn’t she pursue it as a full-time opportunity, she responded that “I didn’t want my creativity to get restricted under a brand until I start hating what I do.” So she took a bold step to pursue freelancing early in her career and did some exemplary gigs at good brands.
I reserved my thoughts for the last segment and I guess I would have the most cliched answer, I went onto pursue MBA degree as it has been a dream for me but I was clear that before heading out for my MBA, I wanted to test the corporate jungle. So, my idea of an MBA was not to just wind up my studies because I have always been intrigued my new concepts and a degree will not put a stop to my greed of remaining updated and keep learning.
Instead of detailing my will regarding why MBA, let me shift my gears back to the question of worth. For me, this course was a platform to rejig my way to college and also grow further through networking and tapping new opportunities. Another thing in my head had been around the number game, marks and academic performance which had always been a on forefront till my undergraduate degree. For this time, I wanted to explore way beyond the academic boundaries and enhance my skills.
The chat was followed by the MBA crazy experiences, but the truth stayed that everyone has a unique reason to pursue their masters and the worth will be decided by how you turn the tables for yourself in the two years. People can definitely answer or advice some best practices, but what really works out for you and how you want to shape your path will be unique.
Experimentation is the essence of living a satisfying, productive, fulfilling life. The more you Experiment, the more you learn, and the more you’ll achieve.” Josh Kaufman in his book ‘The Personal MBA’