We are in the midst of results & admission season and there is one question that most come across quite frequently from students – Should I or should I not opt for MBA – So we decided put across reasons that may help those on the fence!
Are you confused about what you must do after graduation? Allow us to warn you: this is a dangerous time period. Don’t just keep filling up forms for studying an MBA without knowing what it entails. The following are the times when we think that you should be extra careful before blindly applying for MBA courses.
Contents
5 reason you should not be pursuing an MBA
When you’re very clear you want to start your own business
Let’s take a reality check. How many top businessmen in India today have a certified MBA from Wharton? Mind you, I’m talking about first generation founders, not their filthy rich children who went to Harvard Business School with a silver spoon in their mouths. We suggest you spend more time pampering the follicles of your head to generate a Big Idea instead of wasting time making a business plan that will never get you a loan. You can always hire an MBA to do that later isn’t it?
When you know you can’t afford it
Be real guys. Don’t stretch yourself to do an MBA from a top school if you don’t have the big bucks to fuel your education. And what’s the point of taking a loan if you’re going to end up spending the rest of your life paying it back? If you look around you well enough, you’ll realise that there’s tons you can do with your current education. An MBA is not the be all and end all of everything. It’s more about how motivated you are.
When you’re doing it just because your friend did it
We can’t stress this enough – It’s okay not to know what you’re going to do with your life. Take advantage of this confusion to try out different things to see where your passion lies. Don’t pursue a business degree blindly. Most MBA students, in any case, are victims of the ‘herd mentality’. Why do you want to join them?
When you just want to give your career a push
We know academic inflation is in full play right now. Years back, the jobs that opened up in the market for graduates may now available only for MBA students. Whether those jobs actually require an MBA degree or not is a separate discussion! But this doesn’t mean you give into the pressure. If you don’t know how you are going to apply the MBA to your career, trust us, it really won’t matter. You might be successful in getting a job, but you’ll be stagnant very soon.
When you want a big pay check
This one is our favorite pet peeves. We think the top B-schools are to be blamed for it. Just because students get picked up straight from the campuses of a few select good B-schools for hefty pay checks, it doesn’t mean the same is going to apply to everyone. If you are an MBA grad from an ordinary B-school, don’t consider yourself to be any different than those from the top schools.
If you’re facing peer or parental pressure for doing an MBA, go through these points and see if they make sense. You could save yourself a fortune, of time and money, by actually NOT doing an MBA.
Thank you so much! This really helped :)
100% rt
All business education is going online now…see sites such as http://www.clickok.org ; sure the top B-Schools benefit from brand, network etc, but more and more people will be studying through online video etc.
it dosent mean like that.
it's not entirely true. Everything has pros and cons. Many achievers in the past are illiterate only so can anyone tell tat education itself is a waste of time?
CON'S
MBA in future will be a waste degree..
its high time colleges do something productive rather than just giving degree and not giving the right placement.
Disagree with this article on two points:
1. When you’re very clear you want to start your own business.
There are many MBA schools which offer specialization in entrepreneurship and I personally know many MBA grads who have started their own business and rejected lucrative job offers from big companies. As a matter of fact, I would say that if you are sure that you want to start your business, go for an MBA, take courses on strategy, financial management, product management, consumer behavior, negotiations etc and skill yourself with all the tools which will help you in building a solid business. It is true that there are lot of highly successful people/founders who are not MBAs but to be on the safer side, assume you are not the next Bill Gates, Larry Ellison or Dhirubhai Ambani and get education that will help you succeed.
2. When you know you can’t afford it.
I disagree with this one more strongly than the first one. Any higher education degree is expensive and if you are shortlisted, it means that you have the calibre the school is looking for. A top class education can change your life forever and you want to forego it just because you will have a student loan which can surely be paid off (as long as you are going to a good school and have patience and perseverance to let your career mature).
On closing note, I do agree that you should not do MBA just because everyone else is doing it. If things you are interested in does not require MBA, don't go for it just because everyone else is doing it because that is how you become victim to the predatory education business (you know those schools.. don't you?) and end up spending your time and money with no discernible skills whatsoever.
Ashish – There is another post which talks about WHy you should do an MBA…so the reasons are given for both the sides… Anyways thanks for the comment…keep them coming :)