Do you really need an MBA?

Usually around this time of the year, individuals around the world sit down and ponder, "What am I going to do next? What career do I want?" and to many, the MBA lightbulb goes off above their head.

So you there, that's reading this blog because you decided to google "MBA Malaysia" or "GMAT Malaysia", do you really need an MBA?

I used to think that getting an MBA would be great. As I've mentioned before, a top MBA gets you a fantastic job and the women just throw themselves at you at the mentioned of "Harvard MBA" (top ten MBAs only, if you're outside the top ten, you've got to work harder - a BMW is another 3-letter acronym that gets the ladies). But that aside, there's as clear distinct line between "want" and "need".

1. You need an MBA when your boss says "no way are you getting promoted unless you've got an MBA". Apparently in certain circles - investment banking, consulting, etc. this happens on a regular basis (I wouldn't know, I'm from manufacturing), however.... you want an MBA when you read about that Goldman Sachs associate earning more in 3 months then you (at CIMB) would earn in 2 years. But that's not because of an MBA, that's because he's at Goldman and you're only at CIMB, or worse yet, the self proclaimed Goldman of South East Asia - OSK Investment Bank. But chances are, you will need an MBA to get into Goldman.

2. You want an MBA because you think you'll be able to make that career change from non-descript typical IT geek consultant into super baller big swinging dick at hedge fund where your first year bonus wouldk be enough to pay for a Ferrari AND a penthouse. However, that's not really true, that's not going to happen either. Career change happens everyday, every where, without having an MBA. The MBA gives you the fundamental knowledge but it doesn't give you the transition - the transition is dependent on YOU. You need the MBA because of the knowledge that it'll give.... but the problem with that is that you can easily go out and buy all the books that are used for the MBA course and learn it on your own..

So in reality, you need the MBA for the brand name...

So that's about it.. you only need an MBA for the brand name and career opportunity, aside from that, you're lying to yourself if you said you needed it for anything else... and even then, for the career opportunity, it's dependent on you to make the opportunity. A loser with a Harvard MBA is still a loser, but a superstar without an MBA will still be a superstar one way or another. Which one are you?