The job market is so cooked, even MBAs are struggling. In retrospect, I'm glad I didn't get one, but many are still paying $250k+ for it. The WSJ keep publishes the idea that MBAs at top schools are struggling to get jobs as the number who are still jobless after graduation keeps increasing. In retrospect, it was the right decision that I didn't get an MBA. But at the time? The pressure was immense. The MBA felt like the ultimate stamp of business legitimacy. In 2019, I studied for the standardized test, wrote my essays and got to the interview stage. But something felt off. So I talked to people who actually did their MBAs. I kept hearing the same three motivations: - A location switch – moving abroad for study or work - A career switch – pivoting industries or functions - A promotion path – especially in consulting where companies pay for MBAs to unlock the next level The reality check: ~$200k + 2 years of opportunity cost only made sense if one of these three applied to me. None of them did. I wanted to: - Stay in tech - Stay in the U.S. - Start my own company When I dug deeper into my own motivations, they were: - Prestige – which matters far less in tech than traditional industries - Network – which I could build outside of a $200k program - Optionality – which I already had in tech The math didn't math. And now, watching even top business school grads face months-long job searches and pay cuts confirms it: the tech ecosystem rewards different things. Building, shipping, learning by doing, not just credentials. The MBA wasn't a bad path. It just wasn't the right one for what I wanted to do, and that's ok. TAKEAWAY: Just because something is the default path (or the prestigious path or the path your community expects) doesn’t mean it’s the right path for you, like going to an MBA. In fact, there might be a better path you don't need to pay $250k for! View original post on LinkedIn.