When I first graduated with my Master in Business Administration degree, I had very big expectations for myself. I felt like someone had finally handed me the key to a brighter future. This is not to discourage anyone who is currently pursing an MBA or a higher degree. This post today is just to send the message that sometimes, we have big dreams and then we have reality.
Weeks before I completed my course work, I had this butterfly feeling in stomach. It was like the day before Christmas, everyday!! I was in a euphoric state of mind. I was not only happy to be done with two years of sleepless nights, challenging group projects and comprehensive exams, but I was happy to finally start living the dream I had for my life.
Months after my college graduation, I was faced with the “no experience” roadblock. I was left with the option of working with a recruiting firm that placed me of various contract positions all over the city where I live. While it was nice to make some money for basic necessities, I had a bigger dream for myself. I knew I wanted to work in a position where I could be creative and innovative. I knew I wanted a job with good salary, benefits and a nice office. I knew I wanted a job that required me to actually dress like a professional.So I decided to get a Master degree. To help with my job prospects. But when you are in college or in graduate school, no one really prepares you for the realities of the job market. No one tells you that while you have a degree in a certain discipline, so do thousands of others and the competition for those coveted positions in intense.
A recruiter once told me that for every position that requires at least a Bachelors degree, there are over 1000 people applying for that position. In some cases, depending on the company or the position, it could be a whole lot more. And when recruiters can no longer narrow down candidates for interview based on the degrees, they have to now look a specific criteria such as the dreaded “relevant experience” or specific “technical skills is a plus”.
And where does this leave the optimistic MBA candidate that is at the cusp of graduating ? It leaves them with the very harsh reality that what they may have been working so hard for might not happen as quickly as they might have hoped for. It leaves them thinking that they might have to take a detour in the form of working a job they are overqualified for or underpaid. It leaves them with the possibility that they might have to rethink their strategy of pursuing a career path that when they were in school seemed like a great idea. They are left with the reality that while you have accomplished something great, the job market is telling you “Yeah, but so do others and there are not enough jobs for all of you freshly minted MBAs”.
Now, now..before you start pelting me with cyber tomatoes and telling me my perspective is skewed, let me just say that I know that this is not the case for everyone. I know that there are the graduates from prestigious MBA programs all over the country that don’t have to worry about stuff like this. From the beginning of the second semester of their second year, they already know where they will be working the day after they graduate. Shoot, they were probably courted by multiple fortune 500 companies from the first week of the second semester of their first year against the summer. They are graduates who because they worked for years before they started their MBA journey, they already have an established skill set which they can leverage when looking for jobs. In this case, even if they graduated from tier two MBA programs, they still find good jobs because they have been able to escape the career pot hole that is labelled “inexperience”.
I graduated from the MBA program applying with confidence, to every fortune 500 company that I could. I aimed for companies on the east coast because I wanted to work in consumer product marketing. I wanted to work for cosmetic companies or companies that manufactured things that I could find in my pantry. In my mind, I was ready to pack up my belongings and relocated to the east coast, preferably New York and live in a tiny apartment with cool furniture. I would pound the pavement like all the other professionals by day and live the hipster lifestyle at night . I imagined myself doing big things . Even if I were to remain in my hometown, I would still be able to get a job with a reputable company and start my journey as a marketing professional.
After two years of searching for my place in the career world, the sting of reality has worn off. I am amazed at all the things I know today that I had no clue about when I first started graduate school. Maybe if I had known what I would be up against, I may have changed my strategy. But then again, I would not be writing this blog now, would I? I guess there is some purpose in all of this. I am still a big dreamer. I still believe that I will have the career that I was meant to have. I just realize that it is not as simple and it might not happen the way I would imagined. I realize unfortunately that there is an unspoken myth that earning an MBA degree opens titanium doors of opportunity. For some, yes. But for the rest of us, people like myself, we have to take a different path.
That is a fact.
Signing off
Ms. MBA
The Musings of a Job Seeking MBA 