Know-How Exchange : Career/Training

if you plan to work for a larger (fortune 500) company, having an MBA is getting to be a must do.

The reason is the competition. When all candidates except you have one, then you look unqualified.

I did MA in Marekting and Id do it again and Im even considering a Phd in Marketing. I learned a lot more than I could expect. It helped me in job applications. It doesnt make your CV stand out because you have masters degree, as so many people have it these days as it has become a neccessity, specially with larger corporations and leading brands, but it doesnt make your CV less valuable which it would be without and masters degree. If you have a good job already and your happy with it and if you think you know everything about marketing then you should do it simply to add some value to yourself and your brand. Its a status symbol as well and it gives you some sort of authority to say and do things. Thats my view of it but inevitably you will find yourself with increased level of knowledge once you have finished your degree. Go for it. Good luck, Emi

Nyana,

Getting my MBA (just a few a years ago) was something I had thought about but had never pursued since undergrad days 15 years earlier.

Then one day, tired of thinking about the decision of go/no go I realized I would never be satisfied on a personal level until I did it.

So, for me that is where I have realized the biggest gain - personally - as it was an extreme exercise in discipline and time-management to balance school, work, and family for the 2 years it took.

This personal gain has since had an effect on my professional gain in many ways; being an entrepreneur, it wasn't about climbing a corporate ladder, it was about building my own business and it has helped me do this by enhancing my ability to think critically and make more effective decisions.

Bottom line, my advice is do it because you want to do it first for personal gain, not because you feel it will advance you professionally. although monetary gain will at some point happen as a result.

My experience with my classmates is that those of us who shared this motivation where the ones who excelled in both our learning teams and individual assignments, and we had the most "fun" doing it.

Those who were doing it for professional reasons (many of whom had employers paying for it) were clearly less motivated and struggled, in fact many slowly dropped out over the 2 year period.

One other small thing - cost. Don't look at the cost in terms of how long it will take you to pay for it, this isn't what it is about, and you'll go nuts if you do. Just live with the fact that instead of buying a really nice car or second piece of property that you are doing something good for yourself for the future and helping to ward of any early-stage dementia that may be latent in your family genes.

Good luck!