As mentioned earlier, there are a number of reasons for deciding to do an MBA. It may be a logical next step after an undergraduate degree, a means to boost your salary, or maybe just a chance to get the job of your dreams. However, answering this seemingly simple question requires more depth than what our short term goals present to us.
So, what is the best way to answer this question?
Source: CareerCounseling
One of the ways in which this question can be answered well, is through the task of Goal setting. This task sounds easier that it is. Goal setting involves noting down long-term and short-term goals and forming action plans to achieve them. Different people do it in different ways. Some set a long-term goal and then work their way down to short-term, everyday goals. Others come up with a set of milestones to achieve, assuming they’ll be at their destination at the end of the path. Often the process involves noting down of your strengths and weaknesses, experiences earned till date and the different fields or domains you might be interested in.
What is a long-term goal?
A long-term goal isn’t something like getting a better job or getting another degree. It isn’t the pay raise you think you deserve or the ideal workplace you’ve always wanted. It isn’t the desire to be popular or your wishes to change the world. It is something simpler, but at the same time, something difficult to comprehend.
An easy way to arrive at your long-term goal would be to ponder over where you want to be at the end of your professional life. It may sound cliche, yet what better way is there to define a long-term goal than to make it one that defines your life’s purpose? Your long-term vision defines your end goal, the peak of your career, something that you want to be remembered by. While setting a long-term goal, your focus should be on the impact you want to have throughout your career.
Long-term goals will sound something like:
“I seek an executive-level position at XYZ (a technology-based company), to better position me to direct their technologies to benefit maximum number of people.”
“I wish to transform the education system in my country and bring more students under the ambit of good education by finding ways to ensure availability and reach of quality study materials,and proper guidance and coaching to the remotest parts of the country.”
Once you successfully define your long-term goal, you can then proceed to break it down into milestones that you may want to achieve 5, 10, 20 years down the road, in support of this goal. Breaking it down further into week and month long goals will give you your short-term goals.
Short-term goals will be more specific than long-term goals and will involve a lot of research and analysis of past experiences to properly align with the long-term goals.
Short-term goals will sound something like:
“I will seek an internship at company XYZ, to learn more about the company and their technology.”
“I will conduct surveys on small clusters of students to gain more insights about the hurdles faced by them in accessing good quality study material and coaching.”
Whatever form your long-term goals take, your short-term goals act as stepping stones to achieve it.
So how can an MBA degree fit into your long term goals?
As I mentioned earlier, in order to answer whether an MBA is the right step for you, you must be able to present a coherent narrative that convincingly links your reasons for pursuing an MBA with your short-term and long-term goals.
An MBA can help you achieve a number of your short-term goals:
Career change : If you realize that your goals require you to change your industry or move to administrative or managerial positions, an MBA may help you out.
Develop specific managerial skills : MBA classes will help you develop specific skills that you might need in order to achieve your goals. Though a degree might not be strictly necessary, it will certainly improve your leadership and people management skills, develop decision making skills and give you knowledge about the workings of a company.
Specializations : At times, you may require a definite specialization to achieve your goals. Many business schools have developed a range of MBA programs, specializing on different aspects of the business world including(and not limited to) Finance, Strategic Management, Marketing, Consulting, Product Management and Operations.
Entrepreneurship skills : An MBA can help you develop skills needed to start your own venture. You can learn from the experiences of professors and batch-mates about starting businesses, and the pitfalls to avoid. It can also provide you a platform to meet people who share your interests.
Network building : An MBA will provide you with great networking opportunities. You not only interact with fellow students, professors and teaching staff, but also form connections with an extensive alumni network of your business school.
This list is not exhaustive. Based on what your goals are, a bit of research will help you determine if and how an MBA can be your next stepping stone to achieve them.
An MBA is supposed to be a part of a bigger puzzle, that is your long term goal. The process of goal setting may span over several days and weeks, but ultimately the benefits of the exercise help you, in not just framing an answer to this question, but also many more similar questions you may encounter in your professional life.
So, the next time you’re faced with this question, you’ll not be stuck with a generic answer given by hundreds of candidates before you. You will have a customized answer, an answer suited to your personal goals. Just like there are as many long term goals as there are people on this planet, there can be an answer that fully captures your aspirations without seeming to be a rip-off of someone else’s answer.
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