MBA Shifts From "The Ticket" to Liability: Get AI Down Cold, Meanwhile Grab Work, Any Kind

 The client balked: They couldn't believe I recommended erasing the MBA from Stanford from their resume. But eventually, the 50-something with no offers in their job hunt and dwindling savings reset how they presented themselves. They quantified results from actual recent contract-work experience and restricted the academic background to the BS.

Boomers who took calculus and the GMAT to be admitted to the MBA program vividly remember: The MBA had been The Ticket. In the late 1970s, I leveraged it, even from a non-top school, to shift from non-profit to Big Oil. In itself that "covered over" that my formal education background had been totally in the humanities. 

Now, the MBA can actually be a liability in not only career change and a job search by seasoned players.

The MBA also can be useless in landing those first few jobs. 

Some Stanford, Harvard and Wharton recent MBA graduates hit a wall in their job search. 

The big money is in the financial sector, right? Well 86% of leaders in that industry, found a PWC survey, preferred AI skills to the MBA when hiring.  

This diminished value of the MBA, as too many know, extends to myriad other degrees. When guiding recovering substance abusers intent on a fresh start, I warn against investing in academic credentials. Many can become adept with AI tools on their own. In addition, parts of healthcare without access to drugs, is hiring. There are ways to worm their way into the trades. 

I also hammer: Nothing gets you work like having work. Grab a job or contract assignment, then go on from there. 

Post-9/11 when my sector collapsed, I took a contract position in a big box as a security guard. Within 18 months I had launched a new boutique. Soon after I had an eight-year run as an influencer in the legal world. 

The new labor market is about what you can do, not what you theoretically know. 

Careers. Forget all that. It’s about earning a good living, no matter what.

Complimentary consultation with Jane Genova, StreetSmart Coaching (janegenova374@gmail.com)


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