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Bain & Company My 13 YO is taking Career and Tech. She is dead set on diving for Michigan. What are her chances of getting hired from MBB with a degree from UM? Or would she need her MBA first? Is a Michigan degree good enough to get you into a top MBA program?
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If they plan on continuing to climb the ladder in the same industry then they probably don’t need it tbh. May be worth it if they are trying to totally change career paths.
Haha here you go: 🥤
MBA only makes sense for a career switch. Otherwise, it’s not gonna help much in your current career path.
What is your sibling doing right now? If they’re in tech consulting, they can [probably] leverage existing experience. Don’t think an mba is absolutely necessary. I’d suggest reaching out to current PMs at target companies and ask for informational interviews. An MBA is just an expensive piece of paper. Not worth it unless you need it to become a lawyer or a doctor or something.
Rising Star
Too many people fail to realize how hard it is to stay at the top tier.
Once you get to senior levels - it's gets really hard to progress higher as the competition is really stiff
So assuming your brother is not a coding savant....he should 100% consider getting the MBA. A few key points for him to realize
1. He should consider the MBA as skills development - not the cost of admission to a certain career level
2. He should have the energy to continue working on high earning fields for at least 10 years afterwards (to pay off the loan)
3. Exec mba are great for his level - also reduce the opportunity cost
4. He should consider exiting consulting and going into a different field when he graduates - the pay for tech leaders in mid size companies is huge (and the workload is less)
5. If he balks...remind him that even professional athletes have coaches, trainers and are constantly doing skill development.
6. Once he leaves consulting....that shiny consulting title only helps for the first job. Your MBA title is a wbole lot more valuable for all future jobs
Agree with this
Great question that’s been on my mind. I’ve learned on the job and through company offered leadership programs, I have a PMP and manage well over $100M revenue streams. What would an MBA teach me? And is there something else folks like us with practical experience can do? I would rather spend any education money on technology courses or certifications…
No, unless it is from a top tier school. I'll likely get am engineering management, data engineering, or infosec degree first. Any way it goes, I'll go to a good school in the Boston area... why? Because my next push is VP / partner tier and a Masters helps.
Final goal is to sit on a real board, not a non-profit.
I have a Masters and need an engineering one or infosec. I also just have zero time right now to do it :/
Yes, I was at the post-MBA level (roughly 190k comp at the time) and decided to go. The opportunity cost was worth it to me because my employer paid for it and the particular industries that I’d potentially exit for down the line value the MBA as a check box. If I stay in consulting, I’d also see value in the network and exposure to different topics, businesses, and companies.
Plus the burnout was real for me and the ability to take a step back and do randomly cool stuff was amazing.
The math may not make sense for everyone; I think math shouldn’t be the only thing to consider, but understand that it’ll drive a large part. Is there a path to getting to point B without an MBA for most roles? Yes absolutely. Is it always easy; can an MBA help accelerate that effort/transition? Sometimes. For some, that’s worth it; for others, it’s not. But how you define worth matters, and while there’s obviously no counter factual, I would be surprised if someone went to a top school and ended up saying it was a complete waste of time and money.
Your sibling is me!! Getting promoted to SM. I have 6 YOE. Almost $200k TC. Trying to decide if MBA is the right route for me…
Just got promoted to SM. Lots of long nights and tears tbh
Rising Star
No I would not. That’s $400k Opportunity cost and $100-$200k for the degree. If you get company to pay for it and go EMBA and keep earning then maybe.
Any ROI is years away at that salary level. Consulting and IB salaries are the highest of companies that recruit on campus, and I think they are around $165k now (check MBA target school employment reports). Doing something else will probably be less. Also, even if your sibling has a higher base salary, any company recruiting on-campus will slot him/her into the post-MBA salary level and there isn’t really any room for negotiation. An EMBA would probably make sense if your sibling is trying to advance in his/her current career, but for a pivot, it’ll be a massive pay cut unless s/he owns his/her own recruitment (so not taking advantage of something you are paying for) and a long ROI journey.
Pro
I kind of want it for the brand name (I went to a very good school in my country, but it has little name recognition here). But $200k for an EMBA is a tough pill to swallow especially when I have two mouths to feed/kids to put through school.
MBA for a career pivot. Also just be an M7 or it’s a waste of money if you’re trying to go corporate/finance/consulting
Good for them.