The answer to this question is quite subjective. If I had to answer this question, I would say,
“It depends.”
There is no right and wrong answer to some questions, and this is certainly one of those questions. The answer can be yes at the same time no. IT DEPENDS. Let me make it clear, I’m no career counselor and thus this is my humble opinion and we can definitely agree to disagree.
Before asking whether this is the best time to do an MBA or not, figure out why you want to do an MBA. Is it because that’s the trend? Or is it because someone close to you is doing it? Or is it just for the paycheck that you imagine an MBA would give you? Or you can’t figure out what to do after your graduation but go for an MBA? If your answer to any of these questions is YES, don’t go for an MBA. Unless the answer to all these questions becomes a NO, you won’t have a good time to do an MBA.
MBA is not a tool that can help us earn that fat paycheck; it is something which helps in our personality development by bringing new perspectives to our mind. It is a transformational journey that can help us figure out some meaning in the meaningless lives of ours.
If you have figured out a good reason as to why you want to pursue an MBA, go on and continue reading this piece.
The trying times mankind is going through will surely pass, if not today then tomorrow. But trust me, this too shall pass. We will get back to being normal, although the new normal would be quite different from the old one but that’s the reality about change, it keeps changing. Keep your eyes and mind open to the technological advances we shall see. And be a learner, keep learning. Doing an MBA in itself is an exhaustive task. More so, is the application process. You will be applying for CAT and other entrance exams to be held by the end of 2020. You probably have already started your preparations and will keep preparing for another 5 to 6 months per se. After taking the exams, you should be ready to have patience for at least a month for the exam results and another 2-3 weeks for the college shortlisting to be declared. After which, you’d have to go through rigorous GD/WAT/PI rounds for different colleges and wait for another 2 months for the final results to be out. (which usually happens by April end and May, at least for top B-Schools of India) This means a final acceptance to any college will take anywhere from 10 to 12 months from now. And having been on the receiving side of these 12 months, trust me, this is a period full of anxiety and uncertainty.
So, before you decide, this, or any other time is the best for doing an MBA, take the aforementioned points into consideration and decide for yourself. Don’t look for validation outside of yourself. Because opinions are like arseholes, everyone has one. Decide for yourself, and do whatever you are comfortable doing. And figure out for yourself, is this really the best time to do an MBA.
That being said, I personally feel, this time is really good to go for an MBA, given the condition you really want to do it. The economy is certainly going into a shock and will struggle to get back for quite some time. While the economy takes care of itself, you can take care of yourself at a B-School and fine-tune your skills. And by the two years, in 2022, hopefully the economy would be booming and that would be the best time for you to enter into the job/business market and make the most out of it.
So, if you have a good reason to do an MBA, this is by far the best time to go for it.