He’s Got an MBA. Does It Make a Difference?

A few years ago, I attended a company summer party thrown by my wife’s employer. I happened to connect with one of her co-workers who proudly shared he was about to complete his MBA from a well-known university with a focus in organizational development.

Curious, and having experienced both successful and failed organizational change initiatives, I asked what he thought was the greatest impediment to successful organizational change.

His answer made gobbledygook look like a literary masterpiece.

He had no idea. The man had spent tens of thousands of dollars to earn a degree and appeared to have gained nothing.

Likely he wanted only a piece of paper that said MBA…which is precisely what he got.

I raise this because he is not alone. There are many, often from prestigious programs, who complete their (perhaps not so) rigorous post graduate program, MBA or other, and internalize nothing. They matriculate from what should be a life changing experience unchanged.

But that degree still goes on their resume and they will not hesitate to proudly reference their post graduate credential in any discussion. ?

I also raise this because this common gap between apparent credentials and actual knowledge or experience is hugely important.

It is important given compensation levels for and responsibilities laid on mid and senior career talent.

It is important to those of us in the talent recruiting/development business, as we are charged with vetting talent for our clients who place trust in us to do just that.

It is important to executives charged with building their team with the best and most appropriate talent, often betting their own career on the success of their recruits. ?

How does one distinguish those for whom the year or more of study had real impact as contrasted with those who left the experience with only a piece of paper? Simple, really. Be curious.

“How did you end up at (the university or college) for your degree?”

“What were your favorite or most challenging classes? What made them so?

“How has your degree impacted you in subsequent years?”

“If you were given a ‘do over’, what would you do differently?”

We and our clients regularly drill deep into issues of job changes, transaction experience, leadership responsibilities and successes, managing events that were less than successful and many other background items.

The postgraduate credential that is front and center on a candidate’s resume, for which they likely forked over sixty to eighty thousand dollars, deserves the same rigorous due diligence…or perhaps even greater.