90% of Masters Degree holders are underemployed. It's the most over sold degree on the planet (next to the Bachelors Degree which has an underemployment rate of 43%). In addition, consider that just the top 5 - 10 graduates of each MBA program (less for smaller and less well known schools) will end up getting a job commensurate with their degree.
Anyone seriously considering hiding out in grad school until the job market improves should pend a few hours talking with the people who do the jobs they think grad school will qualify them for and talking with the people who hire for such jobs. Find out what's happening in a field from the people in it. Will this degree do for your career what you think it will. A few hours of due diligence will be well spent. Degrees have value because they provide skills in demand in the market place, not because individuals paid a lot of money for them.
Remember, education is a product, a very expensive product. Caveat Emptor.
Carol Christen, career consultant and author, What Color is Your Parachute for Teens
Carol Christenof CA11:13AM October 02, 2008
I think we need to calm down and think through things before rushing to such easy conclusions as "because the economy is down, let's goto b-school". Just because the economy is down does it really make sense to rush to a B-school instead? As if B-school were some free refugee camp? B-schools costs a heck lot of money and not to mention after spending so much money are you really sure you will get a good job or ROI (already thousands of "experienced" top b-school graduates are in the market). I think one should wait for things to get stable and decide when things are more clear, rather than follow a superficial advice like above.
Why do we keep on reading such obvious logic based articles, Why doesn't someone use more thought, critique, and judgment while giving advice. Oh i see who will pay you otherwise; these free readers (on the internet) sure wont but yeah those b-schools might, so makes sense for one to write such obvious articles pushing the mindless crowd towards yet another debacle. Would national interest do you any good?
Frankly Speakingof MD11:41PM September 30, 2008
It is an excellent degree. Many will have to establish their own small businesses and the MBA gives added skills to do just that !!
Forget Wall Street for a while....
Davidof NY2:16PM September 29, 2008
Business school students have a wealth of education at present simply by studying current events, my only hope is that the instructors are pointing out how this situation came about and the correct methods to avoid repetition. Living completely upon credit is a recipe for disaster for both personal and business activities since it creates overhead that can't simply be written off any longer. I hope business schools rewrite their curriculum to begin with "There Are No Free Lunches" followed by "Scarcity Is The Word" and finally "It Hurts To Be Hungry"!!! By simply stressing and building upon these three principles a business student may become well prepared. By conducting their activities expecting no freebies in life and acknowledging that because everything has an opportunity cost it means everything is scarce and finally by remembering that the end result of their business lives may result in being hungry due to irresponsibility of their actions living on the edge counting upon things remaining static in a dynamic world, they may be able to not only survive in business but thrive in life. Rene Descarte stated "I think therefore I am" to which I would add "I strive therefore I thrive". Best of luck to all our young business majors as they embark upon th business world.
Ray Fisherof NM11:46AM September 29, 2008
Beyond going to b-school for your MBA, I suggest refugees from the economic storm try to connect with people in companies, places, functions, etc. that they dream about through LinkedIn.com . (Add me and you have several hundred connections through me to get started!) If you find LinkedIn interesting and useful, get a premium account enabling more direct connecting. See if your school has an alumni group on LinkedIn (you can search for such groups in LinkedIn easily). Many on LinkedIn have email addresses, their websites, and blogs listed to enable you to connect through other media. At St. John's I have all my students add me to their LinkedIn and we now stay in touch as we go through our careers. You'll find lots of people you know from prior positions are in it. Using the advanced search utility, you can search by geographic area, words in people's titles, general keywords. I found hundreds of people to write a book with me to a large extent through such sites. (See http://chronicle.com/wiredcampus/article/3248/ ).
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Nick Maceus of CT 7:44PM October 02, 2008
Carol Christen of CA 11:13AM October 02, 2008
Frankly Speaking of MD 11:41PM September 30, 2008
David of NY 2:16PM September 29, 2008
Ray Fisher of NM 11:46AM September 29, 2008
Charles Wankel of NY 7:01AM September 27, 2008