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In the past, there was a single answer to a diverse range of career dilemmas. Stuck in mid-management? In your 20s and not sure how to fast-track your career? Faced with a midlife crisis, but not keen for an affair or taking up cycling?
The answer was pretty clear: get an MBA.
Very expensive and a bit painful, it was seen as the three-letter solution to jump-start your career and catapult you into the C-suite.
Times have changed. While an MBA is still absolutely coveted, these days some of the biggest global businesses are either ruled by university drop-outs (like Mark Zuckerberg) or chartered accountants.
Currently, the most useful skills for future success seem to be coding and staying on the good side of robots. Will an MBA really make a difference in your career?
How meaningful will it be in your line of work?
While an MBA is a great addition to a CV and sends a strong signal about your ambitions, it will not necessarily add to your professional value in all lines of work. “If you are in credit control, an MBA won’t catapult you three levels higher into financial management,” says Heidi Duvenage, head of Sage Talent Solutions, the recruitment division of the global payroll and integrated accounting group Sage.
A more specific financial qualification that strengthens your domain knowledge would have helped you to progress more in a specialist field. Often an honours or master’s degree in your specialisation will have a more direct application and will make you more valuable, says Duvenage.
Are you far enough along in your career?
A good MBA programme will give participants a thorough business grounding, but the biggest value of the degree is providing crucial softer skills like leading a company and managing people, Duvenage explains. “An MBA will also equip you with seeing the bigger picture. It provides participants with a more holistic viewpoint to devise business strategy.”
This won’t help an awful lot when you are a 20-something foot soldier in a corporate behemoth. Often young people who are just starting out will have to wait eight to 10 years before they actually start using the skills they learnt about in the MBA programme, she says.
“The best time for an MBA is later in your career, when you have some experience under your belt and you can directly apply the skills in your working life.”
How reputable is the MBA you are considering?
All MBAs are not created equal. Make sure you are considering a well-regarded programme by doing thorough research, including speaking to alumni to find out what their experiences were and whether their MBAs helped them in their careers.
Other serious things to consider are the stature of the lecturers, the strength of the programme’s alumni network and global exposure.
How risky will it be to take a break from your career?
If you are in an industry – like IT or ecommerce – which moves very fast, taking time off to do a full-time MBA may actually disadvantage you in the long term. The same goes if you are an entrepreneur with a burning business idea; it may be best to barrel ahead. In business, experience often counts more than post-graduate qualifications, says Duvenage.
Should you not consider a management development programme instead?
Shorter programmes offered by business schools are growing increasingly popular, explains Duvenage. These are gaining recognition as an efficient way to equip mid-career professionals for management roles.
This article originally appeared in the 7 July edition of finweek. Buy and download the magazine here.
