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DEAR COACH: I'm a competitive kind of person, and it just seems natural to me that the next step after five successful years in regional marketing for a consumer goods company would be an MBA. I'm also a curious person who enjoys learning. I loved my undergraduate degree in economics with a minor in American history, so I know I'd get a lot out of having some time to think about business problems and how to master them.
But most of the people I know are telling me that it really isn't necessary, reminding me that there are lots of unimpressive people strolling around with those three letters after their name without accomplishing very much. What do you think? Should I stay in this same trajectory and make my way up the ladder in this company or take some time out to get the degree to see how far I could go?
-- CHRIS
DEAR CHRIS: This is, indeed, the age-old question for most people who are serious about a business career. You no doubt know that having the degree will very likely increase your income over the life of your career, even after you factor in paying back whatever loans you end up taking out. The estimates vary tremendously, of course, but you can expect probably to increase your lifetime earnings by at least several million, even if you don't make it to the top of the corporate ladder. So if you really are a competitive kind of person, that opportunity might matter to you.
I'm most taken by the fact that you see yourself as intellectually curious, interested in pondering business problems. If this is the case, I suspect you'd be dissatisfied without the conceptual backdrop of a formal MBA. Sure, you can read on your own and maybe even enroll in a series of executive-education courses, but nothing can take the place of the in-depth understanding an MBA can give you. This is particularly true for someone who enjoyed combining economics and history. To continue to move up the ladder, you'll need to learn to be a strategist, rather than just a manager, and to see problems, not through a functional lens (i.e., in your case, marketing), but rather from a general business perspective. That's very hard to do without formal training.
There are people with MBAs who are not very impressive and not achieving much. The MBA is just the beginning. What you make of it will be up to you. It will indeed open some doors, particularly in an economic environment where resumes are scanned by headhunters and hiring managers alike for key acronyms like MBA. But you sound to me like the kind of person who will also take those necessary next steps, such as networking, making sure you have visibility in your organization, using mentors effectively and, above all, doing a really good job.
Keep in mind that all MBAs are not equal. There are major differences among schools. I'd suggest you contact the career office at your undergraduate college to get the names of alums who have gone to business school recently. Then you can get their opinions on which schools they liked and why. You'll also want to ask some of your colleagues who have MBAs what they've taken away from the experience. Send away for lots of catalogs, just to read them over and develop a sense of what appeals to you. Take some time to be a discriminating consumer here, and choose wisely. The degree will cost more than a few bucks, so take your time in what's on the shelf.
Good luck!
CAREER COACH
