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Alexandra Levit is the founder and president of Inspiration @Work, a career consultancy. She regularly speaks at universities and corporations around the country about workplace issues involving young employees.
Alexandra has authored several books, including the business world survival guide They Don’t Teach Corporate in College (Career Press 2004), as well as a nationally syndicated column through Tribune Media Services and a career advice blog, Water Cooler Wisdom. Her next two books will be published by Random House and ASTD Press in early 2008.
Alexandra's advice has been featured in more than 500 media outlets including the Associated Press, ABC News, USA Today, the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, National Public Radio, Fortune, Yahoo! and MSN. She graduated from Northwestern University in 1998 and resides in Oak Park, IL with her husband Stewart. Visit Alexandra's blog at 
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One of my favorite topics is the value and purpose of going to graduate school, especially in your twenties. I just heard another story about a twenty-something with a newly minted MBA who’s having a devil of a time finding a job. When employers see MBA on her resume, they assume that she should be looking for a management position. Unfortunately, because this grad’s previous positions were primarily administrative and customer-service oriented, many employers don’t think she has the practical experience to qualify for such a position.
I’ve gotten dozens of e-mails from graduate school alumni in similar situations. After spending tens of thousands of dollars on an advanced degree, they find that they are no more marketable in their chosen field than they were before they started school. The only difference now is that their job search is more urgent because they are deeply in debt.
To me, this phenomenon speaks to the danger of going back to school without a great deal of forethought. So many people choose a graduate program because they aren’t sure where they want to go with their careers, when in reality, they should first be doing a cost/benefit analysis to determine what such a program is going to bring them in terms of increased job prospects and financial compensation. Of course, before investing an enormous amount of money, time and effort securing an advanced degree, they should also do enough research and have enough hands-on experience to know that they actually like the field. I’ve heard lots of stories of twenty and thirty-somethings who graduate with a Ph.D., JD, or MBA only to end up deciding they want to do something else entirely. Lawyers become advertising directors, doctors become life coaches, marketing executives become journalists, and so on.
Bottom line: Although returning to the safety of books and finals might feel more comfortable than the workplace grind, graduate school is not something you should do just for the heck of it. Rather, you should first determine in concrete terms why you need the advanced degree to move ahead in your career of choice, and then map out a plan for how you’ll use the training and degree to facilitate the level of success you desire.
Sometimes people ask me why I haven’t gotten an MBA myself, and the reason is this: I work for myself, and as such don’t have a company subsidizing the $50K tuition. If I’m going to pay that kind of money out of my own pocket, then I better be sure I’m going to make it back with my post-MBA income. I know for a fact, though, that right now this won’t happen. I’m at a point in my career as an author, and my career as a marketing and career consultant (both of which I love), where getting that MBA won’t make much of a difference at all. I would like to get an advanced degree someday soon, but I don’t kid myself. It’s because I like to learn, not because I think it’s a magic ticket into an uncharted area of the career stratosphere.
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Leave your thoughts here. (25 responses)
- 1 Pingback on Jul 25th, 2007 at 12:29 pm
- 2 Pingback on Feb 7th, 2008 at 1:35 pm
I think this cannot be said enough. You are dead on with your characterization of us youngins who go back simply because they don’t know what else to do. Due to unfortunate circumstance, I found out that the 4 years I had spend in school planning and working toward my eventual job was not going to happen. Suddenly I was a graduate with nothing to do, which was completely unexpected.
The first thing that came to mind was “apply to grad school?� And it was really a question to myself. Oddly enough, my idea to wander into grad school was supported by those around me, after all it seemed to make sense. I had thought about law a few years earlier, and even taken a few classes that crossed over with the law school as an undergrad. I thought about an MBA, because management was something that came natural and I had experience in, and I thought I could use the MBA ticket to find the job I actually wanted. I thought about grad work in my field, since it was interesting enough, but I knew I never really wanted to work permanently in it…
But then I thought about the $90,000 that I’d drop to make that happen, and realize that the buyin was way too high to wander into. If I didn’t have a plan or a goal in mind, I would get no use from it. So I decided to hit the corporate trail. A little over a year out now, and I’m glad I did neither. While I still think grad school would be a great time, I find myself trying to find the smallest excuses to go, but I can’t. Nothing has really changed, all the answers to the questions I asked myself a year ago are pretty much the same, I just buy the excuses to go less and less.
I still get it from family, friends, asking “when are you going to grad school?� and I don’t know when, or if I’ll go. But if I do, I’ll have a solid plan that requires the investment, and truth be told I’d be looking for someone else to pay a substantial portion. Contract with a company, etc, doesn’t matter. But seeing people I work with in their 30s paying off student loans (of which I have none) is ridiculous, and completely unnecessary. I wouldn’t subject myself to that, especially when it’s for lack of anything better to do…
I completely agree with you in most situations. I have know of quite a few people who expected to come out of school with an MBA and walk right into a management position and they were sorely disappointed.
However, I’ve just recently decided to go back to school to earn an MPA. I know that the non-profit world is a little different than the corporate situation, especially since I’m focusing on non-profits with a heavy political presence. But I feel like this is a good choice for me right now. It’s true that I’m not 100% happy in my current situation, and grad school offers a lot of short-term fixes, for sure, but I’m not looking for my shiny new MPA to be a magic bullet.
The truth is that, especially in this field, it’s all about who you know, and the school to which I’m applying has a very impressive and very supportive alumni base. I know that it’s an expensive networking opportunity, but there’s also that matter of personal enrichment and that fact that it’s something I always saw myself doing. And, though I don’t expect it to be my golden ticket, the fact that I’ll have management training and my new $30k piece of paper might give me the little bit of edge I need when I’m finished.
I know way to many people going to law school and other graduate programs simply because they don’t know what to do. Not only is this a waste of money, but its a waste time and talent.
MBA’s should not even be considered until you have worked a MINIMUM of 3 years. Even with experience, the only schools really “worth the price” are the top 10 or 15 schools in the country. If your firm will pay for everything contingent upon a year or two with the company after graduation, then you may consider it, but paying anything to attend a low level MBA program is foolish.
Grad schools steal your money and force you to sell out to the corporate world after graduation. How can you take a financial risk to pursue a non profit job or start a business when you are already $150K in debt?
Read some books, get some experience, talk to academics, all of these things are free. It just takes a little ambition.
(obviously med school and some other professions require a degree, I’m not arguing that)
-Ryan
I feel very strongly that grad school is a bad idea in most situations. I agree with you that it needs some forethought, and also some serious consideration, because:
1) A degree doesn’t provide an employer the full picture of your marketable skills,
2) Employers look for experience over education, so should you.
3) It is the relationships, as Jacqui said, that get you places, and in some cases you need school to build relationships, but in most cases, you can build those other places with work and guts.
4) Action is better over hesitation. Grad school is one big hesitation.
I expand on these points in a post I did on Monday (click on my name).
I get the impression that the majority of people who jump right into grad school see it as the obvious “next step.” Either that, or it’s expected of them by their family.
Regardless of the reason, I feel like it’s something instilled in your head as a “must-do.” And as everyone has pointed out so far, that’s just not the case.
-Paugh
I am one of those poor fools that made this mistake. I graduated with my bachelor’s degree and proceeded to enter the work force in a job that was completely and utterly mindless. I went from that job to another job looking for the challenge and respect that a college degree is supposed to earn you. I started wondering what am I doing wrong? Why did it seem that people all around me were sliding comfortably into their careers and I was flailing helplessly? So I considered going back and getting a Master’s degree. My parents were there pushing me to “get it over with� before I settle down and perhaps have a family. I was bored, unchallenged and naïve, so I jumped right in.
Two years and a Master’s degree in Public Relations later I am still flailing. I am in a position where I am disappointed with and under utilized (yet again). I am no closer to my dream of working in a public relations firm, and just wasting years away not getting the experience I need to even think about getting into PR, let alone teaching it some day. AND to top it all off I am in a gigantic amount of debt. I am in so much debt I might die at the ripe old age of 99 and still be paying my student loans off.
In hindsight, part of me is very glad I did get a Master’s degree “out of the wayâ€? because I am beginning to settle down and I don’t have kids yet but I couldn’t imagine going to school and taking care of a family. And it was a great learning process and in its own way…fun. However, a bigger part of me wonders whether or not it really was necessary at all? Or if maybe I had waited longer if I would have finally found a company that would have helped me pay for it. And now I am left with debt and that same empty, frustrated feeling I had before I started my Master’s degree and still flailing helplessly.
First, normal non-profit jobs do make no money, and I couldn’t justify such an expense with that expected salary. However, political non-profits are a different animal. The salary there is more along the lines of what a private lobbyist would be paid (not a big gig). Obviously, it’s a little less than a private firm, but non-profit lobbying is excellent experience for one day starting a private firm.
Second, very luckily for me, I won’t be anywhere near $150k in debt, thanks to very careful planning (and the fact that I’m pursuing an MPA and not and MBA, which is much more fashionable right now).
I see all of your points, and think they probably do apply to many situations, but this is definitely still a good choice for me.
Great post! I’m in the process of relaunching myself into my job field after a two-year hiatus, and I’ve often thought of leveraging my pursuit for my Master’s as a way to boost my resume and erase that noticeable “blank.” This post has given me a new “Return On Investment” perspective that I should investigate further. With the job skills and experience I currently have, a Master’s may not help me land the position I seek, but merely give me more confidence to feel qualified in my job search. Thank you for writing.
Hi Everyone,
Thank you all for chiming in with your comments…it’s so fun to be a part of this blog and to see how many really sensible people there are out there.
I don’t think grad school is a bad idea: the truth is that in many fields, the masters is the new bachelors. But as Ryan says, it’s worthwhile to go out and experience the workforce for a few years, so that you can be sure all of that extra training is actually a means to an end. Until you’re sure of what that end is, hold off.
Best,
Alexandra
Thanks Alexandra. I left undergrad thinking that if I worked for a good corporate employer for a few years, they would be begging to pay for my MBA. Oh, I was soo optimistic then! This didn’t happen because unless you’re in a very specific training or rotational program that lays out your heirarchical future before you, employers are simply no longer footing the bill for someone to get experience and credentials only to see them leave. Companies have been burned too many times by this strategy. Case in point, my company used to spend half a million a year to send 5 people to an MBA program. These people either left or stayed with the company and performed the same. Do the math, there’s no ROI in there.
So I’ve been thinking when and how to get an MBA for several years. For the first time since graduating in 2000 I am really serious about going back to a top 20-30 part time MBA program. Here’s why:
1) Learning what you don’t want to do - aka experience
As an idealistic new graduate, I thought I would stumble upon my dream job quickly. In my case, the opposite has been true. I’ve spent the last 7 years with 5 different employers, 7 bosses, and even more roles learning what I don’t want. This includes what I don’t want in an employer, manager, work/life balance, and actual daily work. Sound negative? It’s actually been a thrilling ride. Learning what you don’t like allows the cream to rise to the top - the good stuff really stands out.
2) Knowing that you have something to offer - aka confidence
This may come more quickly for some, but for me, I was timid and insecure starting my first jobs out of college. I was intimidated by the big bad world of business. It took me a while to get comfortable with the fact the guy down hall making twice as much as me wasn’t actually any more intelligent, he just simply had more experience and knew how to work within the confines of the company culture to get things done. I still struggle with being the youngest person in my department - something in me still wants to respect my elders - but I’m learning that I can respect them and believe I can work circles around them at the same time :).
3) The debt just might be worth it - potential
So after seven years with puny increases, my salary is not where I’d like it to be, but it’s allowed me to save up some money to help pay for whatever I won’t get from my employer. By going part time, the price of going to school is only the tuition and not the 2 years of lost income. Combine that with reasons 1 and 2 above and I’m confident that I have the potential to realize a jump in salary within 5 years of graduating that will pay back the rest. Without the experience I’ve gained and the confidence I’ve built up, the most likely scenario would have been going to full time b-school leading to a job with twenty other twenty something MBAs in a corporate management training program with a salary that’s only full of promise. I would hate to be in that position and realize that the job wasn’t what I thought it was going to be.
-Boyd
Great post, Alexandra. I think there are a lot of things to consider when thinking about grad school.
The main problem for most people is: they don’t think. They just do it. Almost like a reflex. As your commenters have noted, people rarely will tell someone grad school is a bad move. It seems so prestigious and positive, especially to our parents. It doesn’t always turn out badly for people who jump into the grad school thing right out of college, but the most successful people I know who have gone to grad school thought about it a lot. Meaning, they had solid reasons to go. Even if it’s only to expand your personal knowledge, you have to have a reason other than - I can’t find a good job or I don’t want to leave college - to really benefit from grad school.
Thanks for helping add graduate school issues into the conversation for young workers.
I’ve actually been inspired by all the talk about the sujbect lately to begin a series called Grad School 101, where I’ll uncover the myths and truths about grad school, ways to be successful at it and alternatives for professionals today. Check it out at my blog, littleredsuit.com.
Great article!
From your post–this, to me, is what every person considering grad
school should think about:
“Rather, you should first determine in concrete terms why you need the advanced degree to move ahead in your career of choice, and then map out a plan for how you’ll use the training and degree to facilitate the level of success you desire.”
It’s funny. I’ll ask young people why they want to go to grad. school.
Very few can really answer the question. Those that can answer in detail
are the ones who’ll get the most, by far, out of the degree.
Great post, thoughts to ponder. In the past few years people have written articles questioning whether or not these top MBA programs really prepare them for the real world. I think the issue isn’t about choosing whether or not to enroll in an MBA or graduate school program, its about the real world experience you get before and during your graduate school experience.
I contemplated this issue before enrolling in my Masters program, however I choose a Masters program geared towards full-time working professionals and continued to work full-time and gain practical experience during my Masters program. It wasn’t a top MBA program but it certainly helped me to excel in my career.
I think a lot of the reason why recent grads pursue graduate school is because the value of a bachelors degree has decreased.
At the same time, a lot of people who attend college today are not really ready for college. Some are getting “junk degrees” in subjects where standards are low. Graduate school might seem like a better alternative than competing for a low-wage job.
However, as others have mentioned, some graduate students who failed to research probably end up with only a slightly higher salary compared to those with an undergraduate degree. This probably would not be worth the debt.
The main thing I have learned from my graduate degree is that it signals ambition, committment, and dedication. Most employers have focused on those qualities as oppose to my actual graduate studies.
I have to agree with Heather C.’s post. I, too, opted for a part-time grad school experience while working full-time. Though I didn’t attend a top 10 MBA program, I did attend a large program at an accredited University. Now I have a MBA and 6 years of experience under my belt. I was also able to immediately apply my new found knowledge to my daily work. Not a bad trade off.
Let me also add that the MBA was a personal goal. I went into it knowing that I wasn’t going to make money (I work in a non-profit) when I was finished. I think no matter what decision folks make, you have to be realistic about your objective and the anticipated results. Look before you jump.
Thank you, thank you! I couldn’t agree more. I frequently interview job candidates who can’t explain to me why they did their graduate program. It’s a lot of time and money for a degree you’re not sure you need. Grad school shouldn’t be seen as the default to fall to when you’re not sure what else to do.
This is EXACTLY why I left grad school after a semester. Nice post.
This is a great article and should be required reading for college seniors. I am 25 and it has put my mind at ease after having decided to hold off on grad school/law school.
It has really been a pleasure “meeting” all of you and hearing all of your great ideas. I hope to guest post on here again sometime, and in the meantime, feel free to chat with me some more on my blog, Water Cooler Wisdom, at alexandralevit.typepad.com.
I couldn’t agree more with this article! I considered going to grad school several times throughout my 20s and each time it was when I was in “crisis mode” (unemployed, hating my job, confused about what to do next etc.). I did a lot of research but never applied to a school because someone would always ask me “What’s it really going to do for your career?” or “What if you go to grad school and you’re still confused afterward?” I wanted to be a magazine writer but was having a hard time breaking into the industry. I rationalized that a MA in psychology would allow me to write advice articles, or that a MA in journalism would get me that dream job at Marie Claire or Cosmo or where ever. I had no real focus about what I was going to study — just where I wanted to end up. Each time, someone was smart enough to shoot my ideas down, telling that if I wanted to write, I should just start writing and pitching magazines. It all comes down to experience, experience, experience and clips, clips, clips.
I am so glad I never pursued a masters and don’t even foresee it in my future. My dream has since changed and now I write for websites that don’t even require a BA!
Dear Pals:
I have something to share with you. I don’t know how you will react to the content below, but still write back to me if you don’t belong to this clan.
I have this feeling today, but I don’t know if this is right or wrong and I don’t know if I will ever get to do anything about it because I am the bread winner of the family. I feel like quitting my job and stay home for a while and eventually find out what I want to do with my life. I am just bored waking up by 7 am and then leaving for home by 7 pm (some days) and the routine has been happening for almost 10 years now. Doesn’t it sound perfunctory? I have seen so many sunrise and sunset, but still life doesn’t seem to make sense. Somedays when I wake up in the morning I have a sick feeling in my stomach. I don’t feel like showing up to work, but at the same time I am forced to get myself out of the door. Is it because that I don’t like my work? Is it because that I am not working in my field of interest? Or am I a corporate misfit?
APJ Abdul Kalam, Ex-President of India asked us to have a dream and so did MLK, but do dreams ever hatch? Not everybody gets to a chance to live their passion, I don’t know if this is because of destiny or is it because of lack of free will?
When I was in school I hoped to get out of the prison soon, because I felt my teachers were demanding and unreasonable. When I passed out of college I had a great dream but am I living my dream? After spending my fathers saving in college education, I only hoped to repay him rather than live my dream. Next hoop was graduate school at an overseas location and some work experience in a foreign soil. Did I ever ask myself why? No, it was just peer pressure and parental pressure to keep up with the Joneses. Not just one graduate school, I went through the rut twice. I got all of that done and there is something lurking in my mind. What next is the question? What to do with life now? Do I have a choice or control over it?
I didn’t know what to do with life, while my parents shout “marriage, marriage�, I don’t want to be like the rest of my friends get into a marriage because they have a job. That logic works, but surprisingly they get stuck with a job because they have wife, family, EMI payments, and mortgage payment. Once married having a child becomes a social obligation, if not you will be bequeathed with a special title “Impotent�.
Look around and ask your friends about their jobs and if they have lived their dreams and ever listened to their inner voice? But if you ask them more than half would say their job sucks. What do they do about it? Well nothing, just nothing.
Looking back at the years that have gone by, today I ask myself what is the purpose of life? Do I see any more eyes in the dark…..raise your voice and share similar feelings…
Regards,
Chandra
THis debate hits at the core of what I’m dealing with. I have been fed up with the corporate atmosphere and will soon be leaving to go on to ??? I’m having interviews with different employers, taking career assessment tools, and doing whatever it takes. Grad school is glamorous but there are so many of them out there with so many different names that it is a little mind boggling. Anyhow, I think this kind of discussion is extremely valuable to adults in their 20s realizing that the corporate ideals and environment are not for them, but then is there anything better. Is it possible to change things from within? Are we just the lucky few who have got experience and who haven’t found enough individuals our age/from our generation to relate to to make this worthwhile? This is my first post here but I’m going to read more into what other people are saying before getting carried away and acting like there is a perfect solution because each of us are different. Grad programs have some similarities to corporations anyway. And vice-versa. Different companies have different environments, I’m sure, although I haven’t yet had the luxury to experience different ones since graduating from undergraduate school. Perhaps, a little rotational experience is what I need before leaping into the student loans and jumping through the hoops of grad school. Meanwhile, Yoga has helped some of the stress. I’m interested to hear from other software/test engineers who have their opinions about the possible directions and outlets to have a satisfying, young working lifestyle.
Since most of the comments here seem to come from people who are thinking about master’s programs, I’d like to say something for those of you who are thinking about Ph.D.s and careers in academia. This is a slightly different problem: you’re unlikely to pick up much debt (at least, you shouldn’t; if a Ph.D. program wants you to pay, rather than paying you, it’s probably a bad idea), but you’re likely to spend more than five years at it (nine, in my case) and find yourself around age 30 with very few options other than the academic job market, which in many fields is truly horrifying. I can’t emphasize this enough: once you’re on the track, you’re pretty much stuck on the track, so please don’t jump in straight out of college. I started after two years on the outside, but wish I had waited longer. Grad school will always be there; your twenties won’t. So even if you have no other career plans, you’re better off spending your early- and mid-twenties kicking around. Join the Peace Corps. Tend bar and write poems. Spend some time in the countries you’ve always wanted to live in, even if you’re working as a nanny or an under-the-table English teacher. Work on languages. Spend some time learning about various things you might like to do, asking around and working for free — it’s okay to work at Starbucks while you investigate. In your twenties, no one expects you to have it all together. But in your thirties it’s different.
I’m not saying you should avoid academia altogether — despite its many, many problems (first and foremost: you have no control over where you live, and most of the jobs are in rural areas), it can be a very good life. But there’s no reason to rush in, and plenty of reasons to wait.