The Countdown Continued

(Continued from previous post)

In summary, I still see the value of the traditional MBA for myself and for a significant portion of other MBA candidates and holders. The network I am building, the forced effort I am exerting to study, test and develop skills, and the salary bump all make the value of my MBA have a high NPV.

The Horizon Value

The next eleven months spell the culmination of my graduate work. I will be working on my concentration coursework in Finance and Strategy, evaluating my career path, talking with industry leaders in target employment sectors and balancing work and family time. Additionally, I've bought a number of supplementary reading materials to augment my studies at school. All of this is geared toward maximizing my growth potential in the outer years, as I get farther away from my degree award date.

I expect a large bump to come once I switch positions with my current company or transition to a new employer and industry. The large bump will take care of the my MBA investment, but the sustainable returns will be based on growing my compensation five, 10 and 20 years from now. I will have the benefit of coming out of the program as an experienced professional since I've been working full-time as well. The best indicator for future career growth is a history of increasing responsibility and challenge. The same litmus test can be applied to MBA programs.

A number of MBA candidates struggle through their core requirement classes, which constitutes 50% of the program, with a singular focus: "I can't wait to get to my concentration work, because then it all becomes much easier." This is disconcerting. This degrades the value of the MBA. This shortchanges candidates on their growth potential in the outer years.

While it does take some time for most candidates to readjust to the challenge of the classroom setting and time management, coursework needs to be increasing in difficulty, challenge and content. To choose otherwise does not maximize the value of the investment. Our goal as MBA students is to develop the tools that accelerate and sustain growth: that only occurs when chosen courses are increasingly more challenging and dense.

This is what separates the Movers and Shakers from the Riders. When I sit down to interview candidates, I am interested in someone that has routinely demonstrated the ability to set higher standards for herself. I expect nothing less of myself. I'm excited for the challenges this year's coursework will bring.