Why an MBA?
One of the most common questions I get from service members is “Why should I get an MBA?”. These questions generally take the following permutations
“I don’t want to step out of the workforce for two years”
“I have heard you do not learn anything in an MBA”
“I do not want to take on debt and not have an income for two years”
“I didn’t use my undergrad at all during my time in service, why should I get another degree?”
“Civilian employers would be lucky to have my leadership experience”
“I have 5+ years of leading of people and organizations at a young age, I don’t need any further education. I will get a high paying job right away”
“I already know a lot about operations (this one is my favorite)”
All of these concerns and questions are totally valid and normal. In fact I would be slightly concerned if you did not do some sort of due diligence on the most important transition of your life. However, it is important to realize the following hard truths
HARD TRUTHS
If the military is the only job you have had since college, West Point, High School and/or has been the majority of your work experience, THEN YOU DO NOT KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT BUSINESS OR THE DIFFERENT CAREER OPPORTUNITIES IN THE CIVILIAN WORKFORCE. There are always exceptions to this rule, it is not written in stone. Maybe your family has a job lined up for you or your technical skills are immediately transferrable to another career (Signal and Aviation are two big ones). Maybe you know a lot about real estate and have been doing multi family investing with your VA loan since you were a 2nd LT. But in general, the vast majority of transitioning military service members know very little about the civilian workforce and the opportunities available to them
YOU CAN NOT SPEAK THE LANGUAGE OF BUSINESS. Most military members do not understand the following
Top and bottom line performance of a company
Why EBITDA is important
Why depreciation is a non cash expense
What operations actually means in the civilian world
How to read a P/L statement
The time value of money
How to discount cash flows
How you would market a product
A basic understanding of the regulatory and compliance requirements for business
The difference between equity and debt
The difference between variable and fixed costs
Reporting requirements between private and public companies
YOU DO NOT KNOW WHAT SORT OF EMPLOYMENT IS OUT THERE. I would say about 5% of the transitioning military service members I meet have any idea on the sort of jobs out there that would utilize a lateral level skill set that they posses. Many service members say they want to do “operations” or “strategy” without really understanding what those two fields entail in the civilian sector. This lack of understanding leads veterans to “self select” into jobs that underpay them and may be misaligned with their talents.
What does this look like in practice? Let’s look at a comparison between two officers who are exiting the military
CPT X, a USMA pre-command Captain stationed at Fort Hood is unsure of what he wants to do in the civilian sector. He has some idea about what an MBA is but is too unsure if he wants to do the standardized test work necessary to get into a good school. In lieu of this, he spends his time partying on the weekends with his boys in Austin. He waits to fall into the “window” where a JMO recruiter will be able to work with him. He eventually lands a corporate role as a salesman for a large steel company outside Waco. He makes about $100K a year give or take and is constantly on the road. He is essentially a “quote” monkey and his main role is relaying steel quotes between his firm and customers. The role has no upside, no talent management and no structured path for promotion. After a couple years of this, he gets frustrated with no career advancement and leaves for a different job.
CPT Y, a ROTC post CCC Captain decides that she wants to pursue a different career. CPT Y does her research and determines that she would like to attend the best MBA she can. She studies for and does well on the GMAT. She networks with current students at the school by utilizing the schools veteran’s club. This networking informs her knowledge of the school and allows her to write substantive essays that impress the admissions committee. She attends a top 15 school and is able to land a job at the Boston Consulting Group where she helps with strategic level analysis for C-Suite executives. She makes $170K a year starting out of school. After three years she is able to make a lucrative exit to a tech company in a strategy role. Her salary increases significantly and she is given equity in the company.
This above example is a common scenario for officers who exiting the military. The key point to remember here is that preparation, research and education is key. Flying blind into the most significant professional transition of your life is not a good idea. There are permutations to the above scenario(Enlisted -> Undergrad -> MBA -> Investment Banking), but the overall theme remains the same. Make informed educated decisions and you will be better off.
Because transitioning service this they simply do not understand the universe of available companies and how their skill sets would align, they lock themselves out of incredibly lucrative opportunities that would be more fulfilling, professionally rewarding and career accelerating than if they just walked directly into the workforce.
You Really need Career Coaching and Professional Development. The #1 goal of an MBA program is to get you a job. You are in fact paying for this service with tuition or the GI Bill. An MBA program essentially acts as a launchpad for your civilian career. The various benefits you get are the following
In-depth structured business education that will take you from you the very basics of business all the way up to advanced integrated corporate strategy
Professional career development and coaching from career counselors who have been in the industry you want to join. These are not your typical high school career counselors. These are sophisticated career counselors who have deep contacts in the corporate world
Building a network outside of the military is vitally important. MBA students are screened and qualified individuals who will in all likelihood have successful careers. The opportunity to gain an “in” with this sort of crowd will get you opportunities that just do not exist when walk out of the military with no support network