MBA - what knowledge gained

[Nlkko]

A few general things you will find moderately useful with an MBA that can be learnt through work experience:
1. Knowledge: You gain some modeling, decision-making tools that can be useful.
2. Teamwork: You learn to perform with others, making the total greater than the sum of its part. (believe it or not, a lot of people who do MBA are not business people).
3. Salary: You also command a higher salary. It's a widely recognized benchmark.

That said, the primary value of an MBA or any business school degree is not at the coursework. It's at the network that you can tap into. The best bang for the buck would be doing MBA at the top business schools because that is where you will find the maxima of alumni network value. Believe it or not, "I used to go to the same school as you" carries a lot of weights to break in the most coveted jobs/ industries. The career support of these schools are also elite in terms of getting you connected to whoever you want to connect. UC Berkeley (proximity to the valley), Columbia, NYU (proximity to NYC), all Ivy schools and other top schools in other continents.

Local MBA is good if you want to tick of a box or want to work strictly locally or anywhere that the school name is revered. For example, UBC is an elite school in Vancouver and China, that's about it. I hardly find taking time off for two years being worth it for a full-time local MBA program. If you do a local MBA, do it part-time, retain the income. You will have to work a bit harder but very manageable.

[bcrdukes]

Nlkko pretty much summed it up. It's as simple as that.

But if you go in with a mindset expecting to be top dog and that it immediately entitles you to a six figure salary, and for a job you applied to because having an MBA is a requirement, it's the wrong way to approach it.

I've been in my industry for 17 years, and have met and worked with a lot of people with varying levels of education and experience. There are some MBA holders whom I've encountered over the years who can barely spell MBA, so don't expect to learn some method of financial modelling or being equipped with decision making tools to really set you apart from every other Tom, Dick, and Harry out there. The competition out there is always going to be tough. Sometimes, it could be as simple as the person who is doing the hiring doesn't like your face, and hires Mary who has no MBA.

[tiger_handheld]

Originally Posted by Nlkko

1. Knowledge: You gain some modeling, decision-making tools that can be useful.
2. Teamwork: You learn to perform with others, making the total greater than the sum of its part. (believe it or not, a lot of people who do MBA are not business people).
3. Salary: You also command a higher salary. It's a widely recognized benchmark.

Thanks for answering my question. Such response was the purpose of this thread.

Originally Posted by bcrdukes

Nlkko pretty much summed it up. It's as simple as that.

Another skill of a MBA holder - the ability answer a question as it requires instead of a word salad or being the "to add on to..."/ "Basically...begin to mansplain previous point without adding value"....

[DragonChi]

You might be interested in this event. It is where reps from top schools attend for an info session and try to recruit people. Like the QSMBA event that's held in Vancouver.

https://news.poetsandquants.com/cent...ba-london-2020

[instantneedles]

Reviving this thread...

For those of you who are planning on taking an MBA program or already have an MBA, did you get your employer to fund it? What portion of students end up getting employers to fund it? Because as I understand, some individuals take the MBA to further themselves within their current company.

However, I wonder if the MBA as a standalone degree is enough for you to transfer into another industry. For example, I work in healthcare myself, and I wonder if the MBA can be a bridge into the business world.

[Gerbs]

I had one friend who got their MBA paid for by RBC when he was a manager at a retail branch. But it's for a local MBA

[bcrdukes]

Like everything in life, there are no guarantees. It would certainly open you up to more opportunities. It just depends on how you approach it, or whether or not the opportunity presents itself at the right time.

Some employers will fund the MBA education, and there is always a catch. I was lucky to have some of mine funded, but not all of it. There is a girl in my company who had her MBA completely funded, but she's locked in for a while with a heavy non-compete clause, and she did it way before me. Most in my cohort paid out of pocket and had no jobs.

[instantneedles]

Originally Posted by bcrdukes

Most in my cohort paid out of pocket and had no jobs.

Just to clarify, do you mean that they were not job-attached while going through the MBA program and ended up with an entirely different job after the MBA OR do you mean that they got no job after the MBA

[bcrdukes]

Most of them were not job-attached while going through the MBA program, so they were only dedicating their time and finances towards their MBA program (think International students.) Some have ended up in random industries post MBA, and a real stray from their original undergrad, but that's not always a bad thing. The unfortunate part is that some still do not have a job to this day. These circumstances may not be true for all MBA programs because it depends also on where you do your MBA.

You will come across a mixed bag of people from different cultural backgrounds/ race/ethnicity (this has more to do with values and beliefs) financial circumstances, and job experience. In my cohort alone, 80% of the people were not Canadian and came here to get what they call a "Canadian education" in hopes to land a job of any kind after they complete their studies.