The MBA Job Market Manifesto
An engineer friend of mine recently wrote me to ask me what the "MBA Job Market" is like. He is tired of his job and wants to get an MBA at night school so he can "make $100k a year." Having gotten an MBA fairly recently (May 2004), I felt like I had something to say about the topic. Here's how I responded to him via email:"There is only an "MBA Job Market" if you deal with on campus recruiting where companies come in looking for MBA students. Otherwise, you're just a member of the general job market, with the additional weapon in your arsenal of having an MBA.
Every job hunt is different depending on your location, your focus, your motivation etc.... I graduated in May and took a few weeks off at first. I had some interviews while still in town (notably the one that day we had our water shut off and I wasnt able to shower for it) I was focused on getting a job in equity research at first, and surprisingly, I was able to get a solid number of good interviews. I limited my efforts to that area. Nobody gave me the job though. I'm not sure why. I'm passionate about the field. Maybe it was because I didn't have an ivy league MBA and was competing against those who did.
I wasnt worried though because I was living at home for free. I spent a lot of time remodeling the house with my contractor brother in law. I studied for the CFA exam a bit (later failed it in december). Faced with no job, I needed income so I applied for and absolutely aced the interview for a temp job. An MBA willing to work a temp job is like a gold nugget. The guy at the temp firm repeatedly called me after the interview to find out exactly what I said and did so he could coach other candidates on how to interview like that. While I was there, I made like $22 an hour and got a good amount of overtime. But I was hoping to get a real job with benefits and a future.
So I applied at a few places, my current company being one of those. The position fit really well with what I was looking for, and I had the skills to fit with what they were looking for. I accepted the job and started in January.
So you can look at it and say that it took me 8 months to get a "real" job, but like i said it was a special case. I worked for about 2-3 months at the temp firm in the meantime. (They put me at a big investment bank).
I guess the way to look at it is, the MBA is no way a "free ticket." you really have to pay attention to where you're going and use it as something to help you get there. It is in no way a "ticket" to a better job. Another thing to consider: when I got my mba I was 25 years old. The average age for an MBA graduate is more like 29. These people have 4 more years of experience than me, so naturally you'd expect my salary to fall below the average.
The broad picture is I was making about $40 in 2002 before b-school and felt underemployed. I was bored with what I was doing. Now I'm making more like $60-70k and I'm feeling involved, I'm learning, and I'm even challenged on occasion. On the surface this makes the MBA look great, but I know plenty of people making my salary who didn't go for an MBA. This means that in addition to being paid the same amount as me, they didnt spend $50k on tuition and room and board over the 2002-2004 period, and they made lets call it $40k in 2002-03 and $50k in 2003-04 while I was in school. So right now they are $140k richer than me.
If I get the same promotions as them for the rest of my life, from a purely financial standpoint the MBA would not have been worth it. And you know who gets promotions? Not the guy with the MBA. The guy who does the most and impresses the most people, regardless of mba or not. The guy who is a better perceived worker and leader. So some charismatic, smart guy will easily outpace me in future earnings power.
Anyway I guess the point im trying to make in slashdot terms is that the MBA is much less "binary" than people think it is. Its not the guaranteed path to money. It doesn't put you in a different league from other workers your competing against for jobs, in short its no guarantee either way.
Can it be a good tool? Sure.
The world is in a state of constant flux though. Lets say 10 years from now the american monetary system collapses, there is nuclear holocaust, and we retreat to an agrarian society. Your MBA is worthless. In fact its a detriment because you dont know how to grow anything. You spent your time on computers.Or lets say the Middle East stops exporting oil to the USA. We wouldn't be able to live in the Northeast because it would be too cold during the winter. Your home, most people's biggest asset, will become worthless. Canada will move south, we will move south, and society will revert to anarchy. Those with the most guns will control the food supply and guys like you and me will most likely be shot or trampled trying to cross the border into North Carolina or meet some other unremarkable end. What will your MBA be worth then?
In fact, now that I think of it, you're better off putting your tuition dollars elsewhere. Take some firearms training courses, some wilderness survival courses and start a subsistence farm. Convert all of your US dollars into gold and silver. Do it while you still have time!" [Bellowlikepanda]
