A piece in the New York Times yesterday weighed the pros and cons of applying to graduate school during a recession. Under certain circumstances it can make a lot of sense, the report concluded.
For prospective applicants who have been laid off and are having trouble finding another job, applying to graduate programs – including an MBA – can make sense if it will help you advance in your career.
“Let’s say you’ve spent 10 years in finance and you want to stay in this career,” hypothesized Jeffrey Heath, a managing director of the Landstone Group in Manhattan, an affiliate of the recruitment firm MRINetwork. “In a couple of years the market will be healthier and you will have your master’s degree,” he told the Times.
Working toward a graduate degree also can help offset the psychological toll that being unemployed can take, he added.
But say, instead, you are looking to reinvent yourself – perhaps enter the financial market for the fist time. Here, too, going back to school now can be the right choice, according to career experts consulted by the Times. Graduate programs can help you establish the contacts you’ll need in a new field, points out Eileen Kohan, executive director of the career planning and placement center at the University of Southern California.
Of course, there also may be some pitfalls associated with returning to school during a recession, the Times piece points out. For starters, the competition will be fierce. As has been the case in each of the last four United States recessions since 1980, the number of applicants taking the GMAT has surged as the economy has gone south. You won’t be the only person thinking that now might be a good time to think about getting that MBA.
But in answer to the question of whether employers might view going to graduate school as merely a way of “hiding out” during the recession, the Times report says probably not.
“Because this recession is worse than any in recent memory, there is a common acceptance among employers that people are having a tough time finding jobs, especially in finance,” according to the article.
At the same time, you will need to show to potential employers that an MBA makes sense for your career, the report continued.
“The burden is going to be on you to prove to potential employers you didn’t just do this because you lost your job,” Anna Ivey, president of Boston career counseling firm Ivey Consulting, told the Times. “Either a degree makes sense for you or it doesn’t,” she continued. “The only thing a layoff affects is your timing.”
To read the Times Q&A in its entirety, click here.
