This week's blog is a little different from anything I've done before, in that instead of sharing some valuable insight, or 7, with you I'm actually testing a theory……

Being married to somebody who recently completed (very successfully) an Executive MBA gave me a very specific insight into the requirements for, and the content of, an MBA, but also its cost and its real value. There is obvious financial cost that varies depending upon the school that you attend, and this in some way also affects the value of what you end up with, but I am increasingly coming to realise that many people end up with an MBA, and probably a bunch of other great qualifications, but have little, if any, idea of what to do with them. In most cases, years and years of effort and sacrifice along with buckets or suitcases full of money have gone into earning the right to wear a weird gown and mortar board, and place a framed certificate on your wall. But now what?

So here is what started this blog. I was doing some research in order to help focus some of the content I am developing and came across a blog called "Navigating Life After The MBA" subtitled "I am an MBA… Now what?" (http://postmbalife.com/10-things-i-wish-id-known-about-getting-and-mba-before-i-took-out-my-school-loans/) The particular blog post that caught my eye was entitled "10 things I wish I'd known about getting an MBA (before I took out my school loans)” Ms. Perryman did a full-time MBA at Harvard Business School, regarded by many as the holiest of holies in the world of business schools, and in this particular post lists 10 very scary things that she wishes she'd known before she ever started. I've included the link to the full post above, so you can read it on your own, but here is a very quick summary: –

1. Within 18 months, more than 50% of her graduating class have left the "perfect job" that their MBA secured for them;
2. 2 years after completing her MBA she has still not yet been able to pay off even the interest on the loan she took to get her MBA!
3. Most of her classmates, including those who landed the dream consulting jobs, are completely stressed out;
4. Her MBA did not prepare her to do any actual skilled work in her chosen field;
5. Her MBA has not reduced her fear and frustration in having to start her career “from scratch";
6. It is going to take a long time before she can do anything of real significance;
7. Other people's expectations of her are now unreasonably high;
8. Day-to-day nobody really cares that she has an MBA (other than the people who are jealous);
9. Most of her fellow graduates will stay stuck in a high status, well paid job, even though they hate it;
10. Her MBA did not help to figure out what she wants to do in life, how to find her passion and purpose, or given her any clarity on how she is going to change the world.

If those 10 things are not scary enough on their own, this post generated 914 Facebook likes, and 386 comments, all sharing similar experiences from other graduates!

The reason I am telling you all of this is that Ms. Perryman's situation is anything but unique (obviously from the comments). Her experience, and that of the people who are agreeing with her is pretty normal, but the business school, or other academic institution’s recruitment team does not generally highlight that fact. And to blame the MBA, or any other academic qualification, for the situation is unfair, as the qualification is simply one of a number of elements needed for any of us to succeed. And that is the end of the bad news for today!

The good news is that all of the problems listed above are solvable, and the real solution to the problem is hidden in her point number 10. She went into the MBA program expecting that it would somehow help her figure out what she wanted to do in life, how she would find her passion and purpose, and give her clarity on how she could change the world. Rather, she should have ascertained all of those things upfront, and then decided if the MBA would assist in her achieving her ultimate lifestyle and goals. Had she done that, she would either not have done the MBA at all, or it would have fitted perfectly into the context of her life as a whole, and most of the other 9 issues would have therefore become irrelevant.

So here is the theory that I mentioned earlier I want to test. How many people do you know for whom any, or all, of the above problems exist? My gut feel is that most of these problems apply to most people, irrespective of whether or not they have a Masters degree in anything, and I'd like you to help me validate my gut feel. All I'd like you to do is type the word "agree" or "disagree" below, or on our Facebook page, as a comment. And because I'd like to be part of the solution to the problem, if you, or somebody you know, need some help with career, or life, planning, or would just like somebody to take an objective look at your existing plans, I am offering a free 45 minute Career Path Tune Up to the first 10 people who ask for one. These would normally cost $150 each, so this is really a great offer – grab one while they are available.( http://www.version8.com.au/contact-us)

As usual, feel free to leave any other comments below or on our Facebook page, and if we can help you with anything else jump on over to http://www.version8.com.au/contact-us, and use our Contact Page to drop us a line.