The MBA Dilemma - Noise, Decisions and Finding your own

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The internet is filled with contents on why doing an MBA is irrelevant nowadays, or why opting for one would suit you in career betterment, or the talk on its ROI. Having have passed 8-10 years since my graduation in engineering, I was at the edge of seeking a formal education boost. Going back to the Master’s in Engineering, or passing the flag post to a management course was all the question that rang the bell in my ear. I abated, researched and slowly inclined to do a management degree.

There is only one person on Earth who knows if it is the right time to start the hunt. Only you know your time commitments after work. Sometimes, you are not ready because you have unquenched thirst of the pending travel plans. Finish them and come back to this! 

I scratched the available sources of opinions. More opinions had led to more repeated contents. There were always two sides. There was always the cost. There were always the cons. There were always over-smart super successful people casually asking against it and making it worse for you to decide. Until, I had actually started knocking the doors of the ads. 

This was a bubble that was waiting to burst on my face. Once you have searched an MBA or a PGDM course on the Instagram, there are ads to lure you click on them. I did. My phone calls were suddenly rising with my true caller telling me that this might be a spam call. I picked up and listened to them saying, "are you looking for a PGDM..."

I got in touch with few institute consultants. I read the brochures that were filled with shining faces of happy-looking professionals. I looked at the taught curriculum. I peeked over the course fees. I asked if the institute would provide placement supports? 

There are all sorts of executive MBAs.

There are institutes who are providing you a certification program, and that will continue to become a degree program with a tied up foreign institute. There are industry designed - weekend programs, then there are online-lectured cum Campus Immersion programs. There are institutes who are selling degrees at just rupees 3 lakh. I believe, they have also hired an army of tellsellers who keep calling you from different phone numbers until you start getting frustrated and begging them not to call again. There are brands who have sky-rocketed fees of 15-22 Lakh rupees. I started with a price tag of 3 Lakh rupees. I had the offer letter from IIM Indore for 14 Lakhs. The whole process made me feel as if I am dealing with actual sales executives, and I am off to buying something.

I had chatted endlessly with the chatgpt & Gemini. Later, I pondered over with the third party consultants on why I should opt a PGDM rather than a MBA degree, or, that PGDM is just a diploma program and not an actual MBA Post-graduate degree, or that PGDM is a mistake, or opting for an old-curriculum based MBA at 20 lakh cost is a mistake. 

This was tiring. 

Finally, I just had to close the lid of all these sources. When I made a decision, the noise vanished with a whoosh. My confusion ended. For me, I could not give a full weekend for rigorous back-to-back classes. I needed a little flexibility for a distributed set of classes. Opting for full physical classes was tough to manage time for my family time commitments. So, I opted for a partial campus immersion set up.

To all those aspiring MBA/PGDM professionals, if you can spare 2-3 hours from your busy schedule of life after your job hours, opt for the program where you have the gut of getting a quality education and your aspiring brand tag. 

I have completed the first month of my PGDM and I have not felt unhappy. 

Stay away from the weary consultants. Not all of them are your friends. Not all the information available on the internet is correct. Instead, ping a few institute alumni over LinkedIn and get a reliable information! Lastly - this is your decision and only you have the ownership to validly pass through the entire process of attending the lectures, doing the self-study, paying the hefty fees, letting go of the weekend fun and managing a 2 years work-life-MBA balance.. 

All the best.

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