Will Pursuing An MBA Make Any Difference To Your Career?

An MBA for a top notch B School in India would set you back by Rs 20,00,000 along with the loss of job salary & work experience for 2 years. This leaves a sour taste once you find out that there is a significant difference in reel & real life packages at B-School placements (12* monthly in hand won't match the CTC figures they had quoted)

6-8 months into the job, and you wouldn't even remember the frameworks that you once were a fanatic of. The STAR framework, 5 forces, might just not be enough to answer the real challenges of the corporate world. Your boss might sometimes ask "Don't you know Excel? Didn't they teach that B-school?"

The student loan that you had planned to repay in the shortest time possible won’t be paid with the same rate as you had envisioned. The amount of money you can waste will even surprise you, forget your parents. You would always try to find better opportunities because, lets’ face it, nobody loves a gruelling 12-hour job day in and day out.

An MBA Doesn't Guarantee Success

While an MBA doesn't guarantee success, it can provide a big leap to your career.

It does give an edge in getting lucrative roles in corporate but the long term success is not guaranteed. To survive you have to adapt, innovate and continuously learn-unlearn. (Some things not taught in a B-School).

An MBA no longer makes a resume stand out. It has moved to a necessity. You have to have it but it doesn't differentiate you like it did, because the other guy has it too.

In a way, it’s a call to the corporate and the industry that you are looking to join, willing to take the mantle of responsibility & you are in for a long haul.

All of the praise for an MBA doesn't mean you absolutely must get an MBA if you want a career in business. Success in the business world is possible without those three letters after your name.

There are many people who've been very successful and they do not have an MBA.

From Top Clockwise

• David Karp (Tumblr)
• Bill Gates (Microsoft)
• Steve Jobs (Apple)
• Walt Disney (Disney)
• Henry Ford  (Ford Motors)
• Richard Branson (Virgin Group)

None of the above had their MBA completed before they set out to be the exceptional managers that the world ever saw.

An MBA isn't always essential. Hard work, great ideas, the right support and a bit of luck have been enough for many business success stories.

Nothing can guarantee a good job, it is completely dependent on the individual & his/her desire. There are many individuals with an MBA who don't have a good job and a few who have amazing jobs for companies like Bain, McKinsey, Apple & Amazon. The answer depends on you, where you wish to be.

If you want to break the status quo, believe me, an MBA wouldn’t be the one to stop you.