Hi, another question about MBA?

Question

I'm a Singaporean and I'm 33 years old this year. I've some questions about the MBA which I hope you can help.

At 33, and having worked in an IT firm for 6 years in Singapore, I'm considering leaving my job to do a full-time MBA.

1) Am I considered too old for an MBA now?

2) Should I do one in the US or UK (I know UK programs last only a year)?

3) If I want to say work in Finance (a bank) - does an MBA with Finance specialization make sense?

4) Should I worry about employability after the MBA? I ideally want to work in the UK (if I do a UK degree) or US (if I do a US degree) for a 1 or 2 years, then come back to Singapore to work.

5) Is going to a good school important? I'm thinking of the Cranfield MBA in the UK, I know it is not as 'high-class' as Harvard, INSEAD, etc.

Thanks for your help.

Best Regards
Gary Hendricks

Answer 1

1. You are not too old for an MBA, the average age for MBA is 27 years old, so you are above average but not that much older.
2. It depends whether you prefer to work in UK or the US after you've graduated.
3. A lot of MBA students specialize in finance cause they plan to work in investment banks, private equity firms and such after graduating. For finance, the best one in the US is Wharton Business School (U Penn).
4. If you get your MBA degree from a reputable univesity, you won't have to worry too much about getting a job. All of my friends who graduated from top MBA's in the US (Harvard, Kellogg, Chicago etc) got offered at least 1 job before they graduated. The market is good right now.
5. Getting an MBA from a top school will definitely help you find a job in the banking industry, especially since your background is in IT with not much banking experience. Salary wise, that's relative to what you're getting now. The best part of the whole MBA experience is the networking scene. You meet new people (classmates, professors, etc), and they might go on to better and bigger things, and might help you one day.

Answer 2

1. You are not too old. Average age for full-time MBA is 28 and part-time is 33-35. However, average work experience is about 6 years for full-time so you are about there.

2. US and UK programs are quite expensive. Have you considered Australian programs? However, if you intend to work in a particular country after your MBA, then it would be better to do it at that country.

3. A Finance specialisation will definitely help as you have no prior finance or banking experience. Your IT experience will help you by giving you industry specific insights and expert knowledge in this area.

4. Employment statistics for MBA graduates are typically around 85-90%, therefore I wouldn't worry too much especially if you do well in your MBA. However, after working in US or UK for a few years, you will find that your pay there is much much higher than Singapore so you may not want to come back!

5. Yes, the school is as important as you results. No employer is going to choose an excellent student from Kuching Kurak Business School over an average student from Wharton or Stanford etc.

p.s. I will be doing my MBA at the AGSM (Australian Graduate School of Management) in 2007. They have a great faculty and good mix of students from around the world. Why don't you consider?

Answer 3

Your not to old to go to school, heck I was 38 when I got my degree, I was in the Air Force and wait to long. Go for it and don't worry about the name of the school. I landed a great job.

Good Luck and another great answer from Rich P.