Oh, the Places You'll Go! Post the MBA...

"Oh, the Places You'll Go!"

 

Apart from being the title of a very well-known Dr. Seuss book, this is also a line that MBA school admissions/career services/fellow students will feed you relentlessly.

 

In their conviction,

            assumption,

            expectation,

            delusion,

            and desperation.

 

When the one ceases to postulate, the other will begin, hoping to prod the Pygmalion effect into being.

 

And so one is transported through 24 or 19 or 12 months of the program, international business environment trips included.

 

That said, the MBA experience is indeed:

 

1. Transformative. An MBA is an immensely useful degree. You will be introduced to a variety of very practical subjects - finance, accounts, people development, strategy, entrepreneurship, cross cultural communications, marketing, operations, etc. This part of the MBA is truly worth it, especially if the courses are taught by inspiring and competent Professors. If you are open to learning from fellow students, you will certainly become more grounded and realistic. You will want to work in a capacity that will be of some practical use to someone.

You will be excited and energized...and even if you are not, you will catch the same from your classmates because both sensations would be truly infectious. In a manner of speaking, an MBA is a great form of therapy...for those who can afford it :)!

I mean it - even if you want to butt heads with several 'enemies' in your class who will intensely annoy you with their conceit, self-centeredness, self-importance, exceptional arse-licking skills, and plain myopia - you will realize the lesson that is to be gleaned from this socio-politics.

 

2. Strategic. An MBA can help you move a few crucial steps in the right direction, from the competitive to the strategic level. E.g. - I have a friend who worked a few years as a Communications Specialist at a middle-sized company, with an annual pay of $50K. Post her MBA, she got back into the same role, but was promoted in a few months. In a couple of years, she was the Communications Director for an MNC, earning $100K upwards. How did she do it? Well, for starters, she was a smart girl who delivered results. Additionally, it helped that she networked during and after her MBA. An MBA helps you think and act strategically at the individual and organizational levels.

 

That said, here are some truths about the post-MBA experience, from the perspective of a top 50 MBA grad:

 

1. Function and Industry. You will either be able to - change both (exceptional cases only), change one (30% of the time), change none (60% or more). Most of the exceptional cases belong in the top 10 MBA bracket. It helps greatly to have a specialization in your MBA - finance/ HR/ supply chain/ etc. Remember, there are people - just like you - who've chosen specialized degrees (CPA/ corporate finance/ HR management/ etc.) and they stand a better chance than you do, for a particular function. How to leverage your MBA? Get your foot in the door (and that is generally enough to get ahead).  

 

2. Hard skills. An MBA will not give you these. At best, you will gain theoretical (theory + case studies) and some practical knowledge (projects + internships). You will not metamorphosize into a total 100% 'golden child' package with everything the best companies are seeking. The best companies want the brightest and the most motivated from the top 10 programs only. All the other grads have to negotiate the job scenario. For those who wish to change function/industry, an internship is usually the way forward. (Sometimes, it will be - as in my case - an unpaid internship...in which case, if you are a mom with children who wants to spend her summers with them, saying 'yes' will be a problem despite only stray job offers).

 

3. Networking. This will help you find opportunities, but not recommendations per se. This will also help you learn about an industry via informational interviews, but it will not give you a job. Is networking useful? From the information acquisition perspective...yes. Note - I am referring to networking strictly from the professional point of view. Will you get die-hard friends (that you can trust) from your MBA? Maybe one or two. I think that's a great number, given the competition, politics, and general tendency to 'align' into groupies around the very obviously 'socially and materially successful'.

 

4. Timing. Timing your MBA is crucial to the nth degree. Why? Well, let's say you are in your mid-20s when you decide upon an MBA. Generally, at this age, most folks will have worked a few years in their first jobs, in a particular industry (let's say - as a supply chain specialist in a SME). Post the MBA, in his/her late 20s, the supply chain specialist will be able to move upwards into a more complex and challenging capacity - a managerial role generally. In his/her 30s, the same person will be cementing his/her career to move into middle/top management...thus reaping the full advantage of the MBA. Timing is crucial because companies are more open to hiring the young and motivated. They want to catch you young and watch you grow. This would not work if you were in your mid-late 30s.

 

For the mid-late 30s MBA grad, changing one's function would be relevant, not the industry. An older MBA grad could also benefit from utilizing the MBA as a second career degree (moi, par example) - to move into research and tertiary level teaching.  

 

As for those in their 40s and 50s, I believe they are doing an MBA purely out of a love for the subject. The objective here is the knowledge seeking. I can't really see a career move to be made at this stage.  

 

5. Loans. This hinges upon your age. If you are in your 20s, go for it! Take the loan. If you are graduating from a top 10 b-school, chances are you will be able to pay off the loan within 3 years. If not, it will take longer, depending upon your other life plans (getting married, buying a home, having a baby, to name some of the most common that will slow down your loan repayment).

 

If you are 30 years and older:

a. ask your company to pay for your program,

b. pay for the program yourself (use your savings/investments, ask your parents/ spouse/ siblings/ community for help)

c. ask your b-school for a scholarship waiving a certain percentage of your tuition based upon your GMAT scores and overall application,

d. get a scholarship from some other source.

 

Keeping your loan repayment amounts low is absolutely essential as there is every possibility you might not be hired immediately upon graduation...especially in this economy.

 

Hope this post helps wannabe MBAs out there...

Idealism is Not the Preserve of the Rich

When I philosophize about life and ideals and so on (which is, very often), my friend likes to bring me down to earth by pointing out that it is all very well to talk of morals, ideals, and principles while one is living a cushy life (actually, I would like to contest the 'cushy life' point as well...maybe another day). In a nutshell, according to my friend, morality and ideals are the privilege of the materially sated.

 

I disagree.

 

My friend is forgetting that the greatest ideologues of the world come from Mao's China and Marx's Europe. The most fervent of these comrades were poor, but in fact there were also those who were born rich and who spurned their inheritance in favor of a higher vision (E.g. - Tolstoy). Therefore, to say that wealth begets a fierce idealism is not true.

 

In fact, the meeting of almost all of one's material needs tends to make one forget about ideals. Too much comfort and wealth leads to sluggishness and smugness. Today, I'm not sure if over-consumption and materialism even consider ideals and principles in the face of 'materially sound' arguments for even more wealth accumulation.

 

There is a Hindi film song from the 1970s that goes, "Thoda hai thode ki zaroorat hai" - that roughly translates as "we have a little, and a little is all we need". I think this is a good philosophy to adopt - to live within one's means. I suppose I am a very old-fashioned person.

Therefore, when I hear Hindi film songs from the 1970s and 80s, I can't help feeling sentimental over the sweet earnestness with which Indians built their lives during this period, in between the Emergency and its belt-tightening during the 1970s and the later aggressively growing open market of the 2000s. During this time, I think almost all Indians - across economic classes - lived with a certain spareness. The unbridled splurging was kept for the most special event in one's life - the great big Indian wedding lol!  

 

But coming back to my friend's statement...to say that only the rich can afford to moralize is very dangerous and downright irresponsible because it places values (which can't be bought) into the hands of a few, and denies the lesser wealthy masses the right to choose those very ideals. In a sense, this is akin to saying that it is alright to do just about anything to get ahead in the game towards getting rich because until one acquires wealth, values don't really mean a thing. How sad is that?

 

I believe there is a need for a change in perspective. I believe that it would help a poor man to adopt ideals and principles because these would help him on the road to self development and a fulfilled life, whether or not it be a wealthy one. Getting into the rat race doesn't necessarily mean one is going to hit the jackpot, does it? So, what happens then? 

 

On the flip side, history has proven that Marxism is not a long-term solution. Ideology by itself may be perfect, but since it is exercised by human beings there is every chance of admitting imperfection due to human failings. Ironically, the very ideology that was meant to develop a person's strengths is more often (than not) corrupted by the same.

 

For instance, there are innumerable examples of party officials enjoying flamboyant lifestyles or exhibiting inhumanity during trials, in complete opposition to their doctrines. There are also well known examples of how a communist or socialist state develops in leaps and bounds once free market reforms have been adopted, never to look back (China and India's recent 10% and 6% growth, respectively).

 

At the end of the day, one wonders about ideals. All kinds of states and economies - whether in the short or long term - employ them to define vision and direction at all levels. In addition, history has also proven that the human spirit values freedom of thought, expression and creativity (hence the collapse of communism).

 

Apparently, through all this drive towards advancement at the individual, local, and global level, there is something - more than material gain - that brings happiness to us all. And it doesn't have a price.  

Yuck

Dear friend,

 

You were right.

 

Upon re-reading parts of my blog and some poems, I realize I sound gauche, over-emotional, and ardent - as you put it, "like a teenager". But honestly, it's just that I feel so intensely and truly...how can that be wrong?

 

Perhaps its wrong to start a blog...? Then don't read it so often. Switch it off, like you would a TV channel. But come back every now and then and send me one of your critical emails. They're quite helpful although I might not publish the mean ones. Those I simply chuck out into my virtual trash can - coz you know, I am as stubborn as I am thick-skulled. But still, don't stop writing.

                              

 

I'm hoping my style will improve with time and riyaz...and of course, with your good wishes :P.