MBA after Engineering: YES or NO!!!

Many argue that pursuing Masters of Business Administration (MBA) after an Engineering degree is completely a waste of resources invested on the candidate during undergraduate studies. A candidate develops certain skill sets during engineering which becomes valueless if one goes on to pursue an MBA degree.

Now the question arises “Is pursuing MBA after Engineering is a complete waste of resources and time or a different aspect can add positive value to it?” Let’s have a close look on some of the arguments made in favour and against “MBA after Engineering“.

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In Favour of “MBA after Engineering”

Here are some points, which reflects a big “YES” for “MBA after Engineering”:

Career Progress

With the help of an MBA degree, a candidate would have high chance of obtaining senior-level management position. Management graduates are often selected as middle or senior level managers and can end up being CEOs or board of directors at the later stage of their career. MBA boosts the career and propels one towards leadership positions.

Better Remuneration

According to a recent GMAC (Graduate Management Admission Council) survey, about 90% B-school alums say that management degree has increased their earning power. A quick look at Indian B-Schools placement statistics also reveals the same. Recent reports from top b-schools reveal that the annual salary of recent MBA graduates has gone up.

Networking

Networking has become crucial for success in today’s world. MBA helps a candidate in building a strong and valuable chain of network via classmates and institute alumni.

Career Shift

MBA always creates the opportunity of the career shift for an engineer who could not generate the interest for engineering. If someone is interested for a career in sales and marketing, operations, business development, general management, finance or human resource, then MBA is the right thing to do.

Entrepreneurship

This helps someone to develop an entrepreneur within him/herself. Armed with a management degree, entrepreneurs can understand the functioning of a business inside-out. Because of the numerous case studies, candidates can experiment with their ideas during their management studies. It helps understand the performance of a start-up. A management degree creates a strong channel with meaningful network, valuable in growing a business. Entrepreneurs with MBA can develop the right strategy to lead their business, find out solid revenue streams and take calculated risks.

Skill Development

Management education helps in acquiring various new skills. Candidates learn analytical and problem solving skills, social and communication skills, team management, leadership and many more.

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Against to “MBA after Engineering”

Now, let’s look at the other side of the story. Here are some points say a clear “NO” to “MBA after Engineering”:

Wastage of Skills

During the graduation, Engineering graduates learn a certain set of technical skills. In most of the cases, these skills become redundant when a candidate goes on to pursue an MBA degree.

Shortcut Myths

Candidates tend to look at MBA as an easy way to reach senior-level positions. MBA is not the shortcut to high-end roles. What someone had learnt in his/her engineering days, along with the managerial skills acquired during MBA, makes him/her eligible for the senior roles.

No U-turns

Once you are a management graduate, there’s a little chance of going back to what you were doing as an engineer. For instance, if you were working on Mainframe or coding, then there are very few chances that you’ll be doing coding again. Very few companies would hire someone for their engineering skills post an MBA degree.

Loans

MBA degrees are expensive. A two-year management degree from a top b-school in India costs in the range of Rs 15 to 18 lakhs. A majority of candidates end up taking long-term loans to finance their management education. After one graduates from college, EMIs start. Paying off the loan is not at all an easy task.

Remuneration

Many candidates opt to pursue MBA for the sake of higher remuneration and better pay packages. But high pay package is not the case always. Candidates can hope for a great remuneration only if they graduate from one of the top B-Schools in the country. Tier II and Tier III MBA colleges struggle to get their students placed. Again with higher package, comes more responsibilities and performance pressure. MBA grads are paid more because they are expected to uplift the business and take it to a higher altitude. The attrition rate for managers is very high because of poor performance.

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Conclusion

MBA after engineering is definitely not a waste of time. However, at the end of the day, one needs to be very sure about the reasons of pursing an MBA. Pursuing an MBA due to peer pressure or financial gains is not the right thing to do. Since MBA is a professional degree, one should aim to pursue it from a top business school only.

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This is a Guest Post by Ipsita Sarkar Gupta 

About the Author: Ipsita Sarkar Gupta enjoys holidays, food and can’t resist pizzas even on a full stomach. Baby shopping is a big turn-on for her. She wants to read Greek and Indian classics, but ends up reciting children’s rhymes.

Author profile: http://www.shiksha.com/author/Ipsita%20Sarkar%20Gupta85391

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