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upvoted because I loved the honesty! I am 30 something and these are the exact sort of reasons which are holding me back from pursuing MBA. I have met people wh

upvoted because I loved the honesty! I am 30 something and these are the exact sort of reasons which are holding me back from pursuing MBA. I have met people who have NOT done MBA (or any formal management education FTM) and are running successful businesses or are in management positions in good corporations. And I have met MBAs who are doing the job I would not consider if I have an MBA. I guess the point is to do it for right reasons. Like when you want to switch career to a new field and MBA can be your gateway. Having an MBA does not guarantee a high salary or that coveted management position IMHO.

cm2187 11y ago
And a lots of what is taught in these MBAs (or all these Agile, Scrum & co for that matter) are essentially substitutes for common sense.
IkmoIkmo 11y ago
I'd say, if your company offers (a track) to an MBA, take it. It's free, often partly in company time (get paid to study, partially), puts you on the fast-track to succession with HRM, sends a signal to any future employers that your previous employer marked you as a high-potential, worthy of investing in. I also recommend doing a Master's in a business field if you're 22 or so in a country where it makes sense. e.g. in continental europe it's pretty common to do a 3y bachelor from 18 to 21, and a 1y master's. The 1y master is a relatively small investment, and e.g. in the Netherlands where most unis are ranked top 100 worldwide, the cost of a 1y master's is about $2k. In 19/20 cases (making up a number), the added value of the learning/status/grit of this 1 year experience outweights the $2k+Opportunity-cost of spending this 1 year instead of working, it's an easy decision. For anyone else? e.g. self-funding a $100k program, spending 1-3 years and having to forgo work (without company support) when you're in your 30s, probably not a great idea, on average. At that point the value is mostly learning, at a huge cost. And in my experience, self-study vs college-study in the field of business is terrific. The resources for self-study are gigantic, lots of great books, youtube videos per topic and entire courses from Harvard or MIT are online, including online testing environments where you can do exams, and lots of cases that you can buy and work through, all at a 1% cost of an expensive MBA. It's not exactly the same, particularly for a few business schools which are actually great and add value, but it's pretty damn close in most cases.
- sean_the_geek 11y ago
  Couldn't agree more on this "The resources for self-study are gigantic, lots of great books, youtube videos per topic and entire courses from Harvard ..."

cm2187 11y ago

And a lots of what is taught in these MBAs (or all these Agile, Scrum & co for that matter) are essentially substitutes for common sense.

IkmoIkmo 11y ago

I'd say, if your company offers (a track) to an MBA, take it. It's free, often partly in company time (get paid to study, partially), puts you on the fast-track to succession with HRM, sends a signal to any future employers that your previous employer marked you as a high-potential, worthy of investing in. I also recommend doing a Master's in a business field if you're 22 or so in a country where it makes sense. e.g. in continental europe it's pretty common to do a 3y bachelor from 18 to 21, and a 1y master's. The 1y master is a relatively small investment, and e.g. in the Netherlands where most unis are ranked top 100 worldwide, the cost of a 1y master's is about $2k. In 19/20 cases (making up a number), the added value of the learning/status/grit of this 1 year experience outweights the $2k+Opportunity-cost of spending this 1 year instead of working, it's an easy decision. For anyone else? e.g. self-funding a $100k program, spending 1-3 years and having to forgo work (without company support) when you're in your 30s, probably not a great idea, on average. At that point the value is mostly learning, at a huge cost. And in my experience, self-study vs college-study in the field of business is terrific. The resources for self-study are gigantic, lots of great books, youtube videos per topic and entire courses from Harvard or MIT are online, including online testing environments where you can do exams, and lots of cases that you can buy and work through, all at a 1% cost of an expensive MBA. It's not exactly the same, particularly for a few business schools which are actually great and add value, but it's pretty damn close in most cases.

sean_the_geek 11y ago
Couldn't agree more on this "The resources for self-study are gigantic, lots of great books, youtube videos per topic and entire courses from Harvard ..."