Advice on graduate studies for a 42-year old experienced professional

The message below was from a member who is an experienced professional in his early 40’s who is considering returning to school. He is seeking advice from me about whether that is a good path for him to take.

Many people would look at his age and offer up an immediate “NO” to his question, but I took a different stance. Instead of saying “NO”, I thought it would be better for him to do some thinking about whether he actually needs to go back to school to achieve his goals. I’ll leave the rest for the video below to explain…

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AS wrote:

Dear Marquis,

I enjoyed going through your blog. A quick advice; I am 42, a shareholder in a microfinance bank in Pakistan, which I set up as it COO/CTO after leaving my job at Citigroup in the middle east. If I want to go back to school in the current global scenario, is it a good direction?

best,

AS

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My video response:

Advice on graduate studies for 42-yo experienced professional from Marquis Parker on Vimeo.

Key points:
– Determine whether he really NEEDS to go back to school (as opposed to WANTING to go back to school)

– Given his level of experience, a traditional MBA likely wouldn’t be a good move. Key issues include:
–> Return on investment
–> Opportunity cost of taking two full years off
–> Possible culture fit with a full-time MBA class of students

– He should consider Executive MBA programs or other business-focused graduate programs as alternatives to a full-time MBA program