MBA是如何有助于职业生涯的 HOW DOES GETTING AN MBA BENEFIT YOUR CAREER?

JonFrank

Question:

What do you think is the number one advantage of an MBA? How does getting an MBA benefit your career?

Answer:

The number one advantage? Well that’s hard. A ton come to mind: contacts, access to professors, name brand on your resume, access to promotions, etc. But the main reason if I had to pick one?

Credibility. Especially if you can go to a GREAT school (we call it Magic 7). Credibility. From your MBA experience you can actually go into ANY field. Now that isn’t easy, of course, to switch fields. But if you work hard (and if you’re a smooth talker) you can now, with a high-octane MBA, be credible in any field. Actually,credible in any conversation.

When a hiring manager is looking at two similarly qualified candidates, and one guy went to a great MBA program, he’s gonna pick the MBA. He is credible, not just because of the brand name, but because some intense amount of vetting went into HIS OWN MBA application selection process.

Once you get into your new career, with the help of an MBA, people will take you seriously. Your opinions have, presumably, been formed at the helm of a number of super smart people, great professors, even high-powered summer internships. Now, what you say matters in a way that it didn’t before.

Your degree is also pedigree that your future employers will come to rely on. They will introduce you as “Bob Smith, he got his MBA at Harvard.”  This“credibility” is something that employers will get all the mileage they can out of, to be sure.

And one day, when you launch your own company, branch out on your own, the fact that you have this degree (on top of the impressive work experience you have mustered) will speak volumes as well and, again, give you instant credibility.

Credibility, if I had to pick one. And more and more, as you go to better programs.

Question:

What kind of impact can an MBA have in your earning potential, even if you decide to stay with the same company where you’re currently working?

Answer:

Many people fall into a trap here. They say  ‘well I may not even make more money when I graduate,’ so they don’t want to go throught the process of geting an MBA. This is short-sighted, and poorly reasoned advice. The MBA WILL pay backon its investment, but it may not necessarily do so in 5 or even 10 years. Of course, you have sat out two years of earning, and your new job (many are quickto point out) may not show $50K-$100K raises in pay.

But… so what? This is the LONG game, the MBA is all about the LONG game. (If you’re looking to make a quick buck, don’t even bother going. Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg etc, they obviously didn’t.) The MBA WILL help you to make more money, for sure.

Within your same company, you will at the very least be given a promotion (And the credibility that we mentioned above). This will put you on a leadership track at the company, even if it takes a few years. After all, that is what great MBA programs are all about — LEADERSHIP.

Now once you LEAVE your company, the MBA will become worth its weight in gold. After all, job titles are hard to compare across companies. Small firms give out VP titles like candy, whereas at large banks, for example, such titles are impossible to nab. So an MBA solves this problem – by acting as a sort of currency that is equalizing across a number of other hard to compare factors.

And again, if/when you branch out, do your own thing—the fact that you have been selected by an elite program, and that you’ve been trained in the art of management, will give all your future investors great confidence and comfort.

- JonFrank

As always, if you have a question about your applications, feel free to leave a comment here or send me a private message here or on Wechat. I'm happy to help!

JonFrank

If you have any questions about MBA, just leave the message

JonFrank

小鬼软软

Hi Jon,
Glad to have a chance to talk to you~ I've seen several of your answers on CD and they all mean a lot to me! Now I'd love to ask for your advice on my career path~ I've worked in a strategic department of Big4 consulting for a year. Like you said, it's not on the top of the top companies to apply for Magic 7 MBA. And my bachelor degree was got from a normal 985 university. There are two choices in front of me:
1. to prepare for a STEM master, like bunisess analyze~ Take my gpa(3.9) and some prizes(like first prize in American  Interdisciplinary Contest In Modeling)into consideration, I hope there's a good chance to apply for top 20 universities.
2. to accumulate work experience for another 2-3 years to prepare for MBA. My work performance is excellent according to my boss in the first year. And our company has a sponsorship program to afford all the tuition fees for top MBA candidates, on condition that he/she gets back in China and serves for the company for another 2+years after the MBA finished.
Could u pls give me some advice on which choice would stand a bigger chance to stay in US and what diffences do these two choices really have? Thank you in advance!!

JonFrank

小鬼软软 发表于 2017-8-17 17:19
Hi Jon,
Glad to have a chance to talk to you~ I've seen several of your answers on CD and they all m ...

Hey there,
It’s my pleasure

Well possible either can work. the broader and more important question is: which one fits for YOU, both personally and professionally? Do you want to wait? Do you like what you are doing? Do you want to hope for that scholarship? Do you want to return to China? Would you prefer to work in the US? If you do a STEM master, which one would you do? Why? And with what goals?

So really the choice between these two paths are for you to answer. But essentially from an MBA perspective, either could potentially work.

Best,
Jon Frank

小鬼软软

JonFrank 发表于 2017-8-21 09:59
Hey there,
It’s my pleasure

Thanks so much for your pertinent advice, Jon. Actually, I prefer to work and live in the US. Some agency consultants advice me to choice finance as master major. I'm still considering... After all, I really appreicate your help Hope everything goes well with you~

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