Navigating the MBA Decision for Career Advancement in HR: Insights and Considerations

Dear Seniors,

I am a B.Tech graduate of 2012 with 14 months of experience in the HR field. Do I need to pursue an MBA now? Is an MBA compulsory for me, or can I also advance my career with only experience? Please advise me. If I decide to start an MBA, I will need to take a break from my current job as I prefer to do it in a regular setting because I have heard that a distance MBA may not hold as much value. Is that true? Kindly help me with your suggestions.

Regards,
Madhuri

Dear Madhuri,

Adding an MBA degree will make your resume stronger and more appropriate. 14 months of experience is just a start; after some time, you will definitely feel the need for an HR degree.

Thank you.

No.

Which old organizations have MBAs in their HR? Take the case of government departments.

Pon

Dear,

As we need beautiful attire to appear absolutely, in the same way, degree is essential to fulfill some extent. But most importantly, your body must be athletic, which holds any attire delightfully. Knowledge, leadership, situation handling, and decision making are more vital to do honestly with your line of work.

Hello Madhuri,

Your post triggers a few queries. It is mentioned that you are a B.Tech graduate. I assume it is Bachelor of Technology. What is your engineering specialization? How did you land in HR? Do you intend to continue in HR, or would you go back to your mainstream? How are you doing in your career now? The answers to the above queries would help you decide in a better way.

At present, MBA professionals are having a difficult time. Since you have about four decades of career ahead of you, you can consider doing an MBA, if not now, within a couple of years. Qualifications will always be an asset depending on how well you use them. Whatever you do now, in whichever discipline you grow, managing people will be a priority in the later part of your career. An MBA will stand you in good stead at that time.

V. Raghunathan

Hi Madhuri,

If your ambition is to pursue a career in HR, an LL.B. degree would do a world of good rather than an MBA in HR. However, you can't pursue an LL.B. via distance learning or evening courses; only full-time LL.B. programs are valid for practicing. You may also want to consider pursuing a Master of Social Work (MSW) degree.

Please let me know if you have any questions or need further clarification.

Thank you.

Hola Madhuri !
It's not mandatory that that you have to pursue MBA, there are lot of other courses which is equivalent to MBA.
As you have already been in HR field for more than a year, it’s best to do part time Executive Master’s Degree (MBA / PGDPM / MSW), most of the top notch institutes including IIMs are offering tailor made courses for working professionals.
Warm regards,
Vimal.

Hi Madhuri. As a recent MBA HR graduate (with 2 years of work experience in a non-HR field), I can safely say that an MBA in HR or any other field is not and never was an absolute necessity.

People, especially from technical fields, generally find that they may not have the necessary skills to work effectively on the job, such as people skills, leadership, and communication. An MBA degree, in my opinion, helps build upon these skills. Hence, you have to look at your motivation behind doing an MBA. Is it purely monetary, knowledge-driven (which happens on your own in B-Schools - no spoon-feeding!), or as an escape (from your job, parents nagging for marriage, and so on. Sorry for being so presumptuous).

Another point is the mushrooming of MBA colleges in India. We can see that even Tier I colleges like IMT and SP Jain have also succumbed to the monetary gains and have increased their batch sizes, resulting in a large pool of MBAs that are not capable and thereby not employable. There are also other Tier 2 and 3 colleges acting like factories. As a result, an MBA (in any vertical) from only top-notch institutes has that absolute high value. Others are just also-rans. (I'd clarify here that I am NOT from a top-notch MBA B-school)

You have already mentioned that you have 14 months of HR experience, which is quite a decent time in HR. By now, you may be able to figure out different aspects of HR and which areas interest you. Build on that, read different books not only on HR but also on management in general, and become a very strong HR person.

If, despite all this, you feel the urge to do an MBA, you can do so over 2 years or more. Start by sticking to your job and giving all the MBA entrance exams this year. You will understand your strengths and weaknesses. Try again next year and so on. I am not able to elaborate on more points because of a lack of time.

Hope this has been of little help - if any.

Hi Madhuri,

Greetings!!

It's not about now or later – the question is whether you really need it or not. Your plans... your goals... Think about a phase in your life when you would be 3 years experienced and trying to become an assistant manager or a manager, and you have somebody in competition who has already done that... What would be your choice as an employer? Your answer will answer your question.

MBA has now become a necessity or an eligibility if you want to crack and move up the ladder. It becomes tougher later on with your busier schedules. The idea is to keep yourself updated and wanted :) You will have to check the government certifications and whether the corporates value the degree from the university or not.

Wish You All the Best for your future!! :)

Regards,
Sudipto Banerjee
ICFAI University
9830988507

Wish You All the Best