Is an MBA your golden ticket to career success?

By Laura Raines

For the AJC

As we all know from Roald Dahl’s children’s classic, “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory,” if you want to get inside the factory, you need a golden ticket.

For many years, the MBA has been considered the golden ticket to business management success. Recruiters say it still commands attention from employers, but is it what you need? Will it launch you into management or the executive suite? Can it help you change careers, prepare you to start a business, or move your skills up the leadership ladder? Is it worth the cost or the risk of leaving a job in this uncertain economy?

“When you talk about the return on investment for the time and money involved, statistics bare out that the return is there for an MBA degree from a top school,” said Kate Piasecki, associate director of MBA admissions, Goizueta Business School, Emory University. “MBA graduates report quicker career advancement and career changers say that it gives them a leg up, even in this economy.”

For international workers, an MBA can open new career horizons. A finance specialist, Fiorella DiPalma had been working for Intel in her native Costa Rica for three years when she decided to pursue an MBA.

“I wanted to enhance my skills and I wanted to come to the USA to learn different ways of doing business,” she said. DiPalma earned a scholarship and graduated with her MBA from the Georgia Institute of Technology in 2009. She plans to use the skills she learned for the rest of her career.

“Getting a degree from a well-known university improved my résumé and opened a ton of doors,” she said.

DiPalma now works in the strategy and planning division for Coca-Cola, NA, in Atlanta. Is an MBA worth it? “Definitely,” she said.

For someone with a liberal arts degree, it can mean an easier entrance to the business world; for an engineer, it can open the doors to upper management. If the degree beckons, you still must decide which schools and programs best fit your goals.

“The MBA comes in lots of flavors,” said Amy Larrabee, manager for MBA recruiting at the Georgia Tech College of Management.

There are traditional two-year programs, part-time programs, executive programs and specialized programs that focus on different fields or areas of expertise. “A college MBA fair is a good place to compare programs and to find out what’s required in the application process,” Larrabee said.

On Sept. 23, about 20 top business schools will participate in the the MBA Tour at the Hyatt Regency Atlanta. Founded in 1993, the MBA Tour hosts informational events in 28 countries.

The event will be from 3:30 to 10:15 p.m. Register online for $5 at www.thembatour.com or at the door for $10.

“Our goal is to provide unique opportunities for personal interaction between top business schools and potential students from around the world,” said Peter von Loesecke, CEO and managing director.

Prospective students can attend information sessions about the application process, meet representatives from programs that interest them, gather resources and ask questions.

“We also offer the MBA Spotlight Survey, which matches students to appropriate schools based on what they say is important to them and allows them to schedule individual appointments with admission representatives after the fair,” von Loesecke said.

While students are often familiar with schools in their area, they may discover other programs more closely aligned with their goals.

“Our advice is to come with an open mind,” said Paula Wilson, director of admissions for the full-time and evening MBA programs at Georgia Tech.

Recently, Georgia Tech representatives met with a student referred by another college after he mentioned that his focus was technology and commercialism.

“He came by our booth to hear more about our programs. Later he e-mailed us to say that although he’d never heard of our programs before, he now considered us his number-one choice,” Wilson said. “Every school has its own academics, culture and environment and that’s just as important as the degree. We arrange campus visits and let students sit in on classes. So much of the decision is ‘do I like these people?' and ‘will I be happy here?'”

The fit has to be good on both sides, Piasecki said. “We come to fairs because it puts us in front of students and lets us get to know them. We can talk about the collaborative and team-oriented nature of our programs. That will be a good fit for some, but others may be better suited for a more competitive, structured environment.”

Students who have visited business school websites and done their homework will get the most from a fair.

“They can use their time to ask only the most personally relevant questions that will help them begin to narrow their choice,” Piasecki said.

Applicants should also engage alumni staffing a college's booth.

“I can say things, but students know I work for the university,” Piasecki said. “When they hear it from someone who has experienced our program, the information really sinks in.”

Wilson said the MBA remains a valuable degree.

“We have strong placement statistics for our graduates and are seeing a lot of demand for MBA talent out there," she said. "Anyone interested in an MBA, will find a fair to be a valuable experience.”