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MBA after Graduation

January 1, 2008

Should one do a Master’s degree in Business Administration immediately after graduation or would gaining some work experience be a better option?

Akhil Misra has been working for four years now. He jumped onto the working bandwagon right after his degree in Business Manageent. After a gap of four years, he is now all set to get himself a Post graduate degree in management. Mahantesh, on the other hand, has just completed his first year at a prestigious Management college and did so right after his degree in Commerce.

Akhil and Mahantesh have differing opinions on the importance of work experience before taking up a degree in Management. Here is what they have say…

Mahantesh feels that it makes better sense to wrap up one’s studies in one go rather than take a study break, get a taste of the working life, and then come back to it. It spoils one’s sense of continuity. However, Akhil’s opinion is diametrically opposite and he feels that an MBA is not a regular course that stipulates that you have to do it right after a graduation degree. It allows you to test the waters first. Gives you a chance to acquaint yourself with the big bad world and then apply theoretic know-how to your sense of approach to business.

Mahantesh is of the opinion that it would be logically better to understand classroom concepts first and then apply them to your working environment. After all, classroom training gives you an understanding on what to expect and how to tackle it. Going in head first may only cause you to lose your footing, he feels.

But with an educational system like ours, says Akhil, that encourages learning by rote, how useful can that be? Once you work out there, you get a feeling of what to expect and your course will then make better sense to you because you will be able to co-relate your working experience with your studies!

Mahantesh differs on that when he says, “Once you get into the rhythm of working, getting back to opening books can be very difficult. Once you work, you don’t have to worry about exams and the like… Isn’t that what we were all running away from to start with?”

From Akhil’s point of view, the only advantage of doing an MBA right after your degree is that your parents pay for it. After you begin to work, you have to pay for yourself. That may pinch some, and to others, well, they may consider it as a start to financial independence.
In fact, the way things are going today, most companies sponsor the MBA studies of their employees, making it a win-win situation for all.”

Mahantesh takes a different stance and believes strongly that when you are right out of college, you will be bursting with new ideas that have practicality and a sound education backing it. Most employers love to have that so that they can mould you perfectly to their style of working.

Well, the debate goes on. And carrying on the same train of thought is this story on how important is work experience for someone who wants to do a Master’s degree in Business Administration (MBA)? Does it enhance our way of thinking? Does it give us a better approach to work and study?

In the West, a pre-requisite to management training is a work experience certificate. Some argue that working atmospheres vary from country to country and it’s not right to ape the West for everything. After all, isn’t it true that most of the Western world is largely populated by a strong and highly educated Indian work force?

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