Is MBA worthwhile for an IT professional ?

[kbharadwaja]

Hi all,

I work in the IT dept of an Investment Bank and am wondering about doing MBA in Finance. I have around 4 years of exp. I doubt whether MBA is worthwhile considering that i am already in an I Bank.

My had an intention to change my job role from IT to proper I Banking (partly motivated by looking at the salaries these I Bankers make ). Am i good to sit tight and grow vertically in the same job(s) or make a move to do an 1 year MBA in Finance.

Do IT professionals gain in any way by shifting professions/Industries ? I know that i am asking a very generic question, actually i am rather confused as every body i speak to thinks of an MBA as some sort of a magic wand which will give better jobs, more money and increased professional growth. All these can be achieved by sticking to IT aswell. Is`it it ?

If i go for a full time MBA foregoing my earnings, then i better be sure that MBA is worth ever penny. Please guide me.

I am sure that all those IT guys out there who have shifted their careers after MBA can help me out of this dilemma.

Thanx in advance

[mufasa]

Originally Posted by kbharadwaja

Hi all,

I work in the IT dept of an Investment Bank and am wondering about doing MBA in Finance. I have around 4 years of exp. I doubt whether MBA is worthwhile considering that i am already in an I Bank.

I am sure that all those IT guys out there who have shifted their careers after MBA can help me out of this dilemma.

Thanx in advance

First, I am not sure if this is in the right section... would have been more apt in the chit chat section.....
But then, a topic quite relevant to the position that many, ahem, including moi have been..

A generic question can be best answered in a generic way....but I will try to be objective to my ability.... I am sure you would have heard how an MBA gives a broader perspective, develops attitude among other similar things....All of these mean the same, though none of them clearly promises anything concrete.....
So, my suggestion to you would be only this.... Are you happier in a techie's job or would love to do what an MBA does....You have seen what the other side of the coin is.... So I dont really need to elaborate on that.... but yes try to remove the coloured glasses that paint everything a manager does in a rosy way..... it aint that cool..... Also trust me, if your heart lies in tech then you will be frustrated working in the management field.... another thing I have often heard is that money isn't the criteria that you should focus on while changing your job/profile.... I havent yet begun believing in it..... but this is something to ponder upon as an individual......

[snan]

hi kbharadwaja
welcome to the forum..
i dont think im in a position to answer ur queries regding IT...but ill tell u that MBA is no magic wand which will guarantee "better jobs, more money and increased professional growth"....hope other members are in a better position to answer this Q
good luck

[mufasa]

Originally Posted by snan

hi kbharadwaja
welcome to the forum..
i dont think im in a position to answer ur queries regding IT...but ill tell u that MBA is no magic wand which will guarantee "better jobs, more money and increased professional growth"....

On the contrary I think it will - IF you know what you want to get out of it. One simple logic is that though the work may not be something that a non-MBA cant do, it is not available without an MBA degree.... Of course there is a way around, you cant put in some years and then try to move to a different dept. But my experience has proved that it easier said than done...There is scarcity of GOOD people, so projects are unwilling to let a resource (for lack of better word - though I hate it.) leave... So that restricts the cross domain experience that you could have got.
Also if you're looking to get out of the mundane tech project to say IT consulting, I am not sure how much of IT consulting actually happens in India...But yes, an MBA surely would help making this somewhat easier...

[tatimatla]

Originally Posted by kbharadwaja

Hi all,

I work in the IT dept of an Investment Bank and am wondering about doing MBA in Finance. I have around 4 years of exp. I doubt whether MBA is worthwhile considering that i am already in an I Bank.

My had an intention to change my job role from IT to proper I Banking (partly motivated by looking at the salaries these I Bankers make ). Am i good to sit tight and grow vertically in the same job(s) or make a move to do an 1 year MBA in Finance.

Do IT professionals gain in any way by shifting professions/Industries ? I know that i am asking a very generic question, actually i am rather confused as every body i speak to thinks of an MBA as some sort of a magic wand which will give better jobs, more money and increased professional growth. All these can be achieved by sticking to IT aswell. Is`it it ?

If i go for a full time MBA foregoing my earnings, then i better be sure that MBA is worth ever penny. Please guide me.

I am sure that all those IT guys out there who have shifted their careers after MBA can help me out of this dilemma.

Thanx in advance

Everything depends on whether u can relate to (sh)IT or not.

I couldn't, so I had to shift.

If everything you are doing professionally makes sense to you and if you feel that you can stand out in this profession, I see no reason for you to shift.

However, if you join a B-School expecting an IT job, you don't need to work ur a*& off as much as the others do...an awesome job is assured! Now, in this case, it is pertinent for you to brainstorm on whether the job that you'll land after passing out of a B-school is better than the job two years from if u continue in the same field/company.

Most of the B-Schoolers land in IT Sales/Marketing...hardly anything technical, except for the basic know-how. You'll have to be a major sycophant, deal with customers and bosses in the most 'corporately' 'correct' way. (I'm painting a very unrosy picture here because, believe me, it's only the unrosy picture that'll haunt you when u analyse your job...the inherent nature of a human being to crib!) If u think you can do that better than what you can do now, I guess it's the time for you to do an MBA!

Now that I've painted the picture on IT, let's move onto those people who have shifted their fields. The basic premise behind their shifting is absolute surity that they can do well in these fields (Finance dominates) than IT. The premise is constructed from various skills that they have acquired over years. (awesome quant skills, great analytical abilities, blah blah) Do a SWOT analysis ... come to a conclusion whether all these skills really help you stand out...if they do...jump!