Eye of the Tiger

Graduating from business school this past year was one of the proudest moments of my life. After two of the hardest years of schooling and several personal difficulties of my life, I was receiving my MBA and I knew that I had earned every bit of that degree. Despite the state of our current economy, I didn't worry for myself or my classmates. I mean c'mon, we're MBA grads now! Companies will be lining up to hire us and we'll all receive several offers which we can choose from. We are, for all practical matters, taken care of, right?

Wrong. While an MBA is recognized almost across the board as an extremely valuable degree, the fact remains that some companies either cannot or will not pay a premium for even the most experienced or educated employees at this moment in time. As my mother is so fond of saying, "you can't squeeze blood out of a turnip". Given the high rate of unemployment across the country, employers find themselves in a position of power in a market where supply far outpaces current demand. The market is flooded with so many qualified candidates for each available job that companies are often able to "bargain shop" for employees that are overqualified and underpaid for the positions they are offering.

What does this mean for MBAs? Not a lot of good unfortunately. Unfortunately for MBA grads, our kind have taken some of the hardest hits in this economy. According to several HR managers myself and my classmates have been in contact with, MBAs will often be passed over for their less educated counterparts because it is assumed that an MBA candidate will demand a higher salary that many employers are not willing to pay right now. Thus many MBAs are finding themselves stuck between a rock and a hard place where they may be ruled out for jobs they are deemed to be overqualified for solely due to the MBA or likewise ruled out for jobs that require an MBA but also several years of work experience, an opportunity cost of spending 2 years of one's life earning a degree in lieu of continuing to gain work experience.

February marks the 6-month anniversary of my job search. While it is sometimes hard to hold my head high and continue the search, I know the right opportunity will come along eventually. This may be a particularly harsh environment to look for a job with an MBA but that said, it just takes time and a lot of hard work which I've already conditioned myself for. Until that time, I have drawn together a group of yet to be employed NYU MBA grads and Thunderbird grads to share our experiences, good and bad, and support one another while we all go through this together.

As I told another grad, think of the job search like a good movie. How great would any story be if everything always came easy to the hero/heroine and there were no obstacles to overcome to achieve the ultimate goal? If this were Rocky, this time would be the part where Rocky is pulling a truck up an f-ing hill. It is the worst struggle of your life until you get to the top of the hill and then you've got it made. Eye of the Tiger. ;)