The end is nigh! - MBA Final leg...

The MBA officially ends when we hand in our business research project and at just over two weeks away things are getting really ummm, stressful.

Combined with the project headaches everyone is busy looking for jobs and it's at times like this that things can get a little overwhelming. In my case I'm hoping to be done a week before the deadline, well, at least that is the idea but the last week is probably going to be a buffer to give me extra time if necessary (and it probably will be).

I'd have to say that the last couple of months have been the least enjoyable of the whole MBA simply because of the pressures involved. The real world (jobs, financial responsibilities etc) slowly permeate every day life but it is exciting at the same time and I can't wait to get this qualification under my belt and see where it takes me in the big bad world.

But first I need a holiday!!!

Making the big career change

"I'm doing an MBA because I want to change career", I said in my admissions interview just over a year ago. The problem is that at the time I had no idea what I wanted to do I just knew it was time for a change and techie IT roles just weren't floating my boat so to speak.

I was assured that by the end of the year a marvelous transition would take place and any discontent I felt with my career would be replaced with the drive, knowledge and the ambition I needed to progress, not only with regards to my career, but also personally. Now, I'm not an idiot and I'm not gullible, I am in fact the cynic of all cynics to the point where I often become cynical of my own cynicism and enter some kind of paradox so I took this all with a pinch of salt.

So, one year on, where am I now? Well, it hasn't been a miraculous transition by any stretch of the imagination. I started off the year pretty certain I was heading into a career in finance but as time went on it became clear to me that the idea of a job in finance was a lot more appealing than the reality (at the time everyone was getting laid off and the true fickle nature of finance reared its ugly head). The truth is, one of the main reasons people go into finance is the money and excess has never been of interest to me, I'm happy to be comfortable financially but I don't see the need to sacrifice personal happiness for that extra 20%.

From finance I moved to strategy, mainly because I LOVED the lectures and our lecturer was fantastic, I personally found him to be very inspiring but it slowly dawned on me that due to the resistance to change that a lot of organisations have true innovation is only practiced by a few companies. Incidentally, I applied for a Google strategy internship but didn't even get shortlisted. No surprise there.

I think the major revaltion occured when I realised that the type of job I was after was really secondary to the industry I wanted to work in. I decided that working in a creative industry would fulfil my inner 'artist' and my chosen project on the film industry I guess is an attempt to bridge the gap between my MBA and the career I want. Either way I find myself having to make a huge career leap, changing both industry and the type of job.

I certainly can't be accused of making things easy on myself. No doubt the next couple of months are going to be really tough, the job hunt has begun and it looks like I'm going to be starting at the bottom. Not that I have a problem with that, but lets just hope the MBA means I don't have to stay at the bottom for too long!

If an MBA is so bloody great why don't people know what it is?

Business schools like to talk. Before admission you visit open days, attend interviews and speak to professors about what the MBA can do for you. There won't be one person who's got a bad thing to say about the course, somehow the course this particular school offers is vastly different to the others and, guess what, it's just right for you! It will take what natural ability you have and shape you into a future business leader. Your sickeningly huge admission fees are brushed aside as a topic unworthy of discussion because "of course you will get your money back", it's an investment that just can't fail.

Like I said, business schools like to talk.

Let's face it, if the MBA teaches you anything, I mean common sense (the two are very often interchangeable), it's that there is no such thing as a guaranteed return on investment. However, by the time you've visited a couple of schools listened to what they have to offer, learned what an MBA can do for you, the chances are you'll walk out of there believing that an MBA is something everyone knows about and wants to do (because why wouldn't they?).

You've accepted your place on the program of your choice you've paid your first installment of fees and the indoctrination (ok, it's a strong word I know) continues. Throughout the year you'll meet plenty of new people (not necessarily business folk) and your conversation will go something like this:

"Hi, nice to meet you, my name is Chris..."

"Hi Chris, I'm Anne, nice to meet you too"

"So, what do you do Anne?" (why is this question so important? I've never been what I do)

"Well, I'm a graphic designer for Agent Provocateur" (I'm not making this up, I've had this conversation)

"Really?! Haha, that's really cool"

"Yeah I love it, how about you?"

"I'm a student at the moment"

"Oh yeah? What you studying?"

"I'm doing my MBA"

*while nodding* "Cool, what in?"

"Ummmmm, BUSINESS??"

"Oh"

"That's what MBA stands for, master of business administration"

"Oh I see"

*conversation drifts into nothingness*

What this little excerpt from this conversation tells us is that just because you've had the glories of the MBA shoved down your throat for the last year doesn't mean everyone else has, in fact 85% of people you talk to will have no idea what the hell it is. So my question is, if it's so great why don't more people know about it?

I can only assume that the UK and Europe to some extent aren't as business school orientated as they are in the US (more people do them over there and they do them younger too). I guess that makes sense, after all the MBA is an American invention and we've adopted it much more recently.

If you thought that the graphic designer for Agent Provocateur was a bad example then I can tell you I've had almost the exact same conversation with someone in recruitment and seeing as though I'm going to be looking for a job very soon I find that very, very worrying indeed!

The video is coming...

I realise that it has been close to a couple of months since I got back from the China Cass symposium and I also realise that I promised you all a documentary style video of the craziness that occured over there. I have not forgotten.


My original plan was to edit the footage at home, but after numerous problems I put it on the back burner, that is until a friend of mine who is a professional video editor suggested we use his edit suite to make the movie. We spent all day yesterday capturing the footage and I should have a great movie for you in a couple of weeks!

Who knew porn could be so taxing?

I'm not sure that as a hot blooded male I would ever find myself saying this but I'm just sick to death of porn. Before I am chastised for being a some kind of perverted hermit let me set the record straight. It's all legit.

As part of my project I am looking at methods of pornography distribution in the hopes that it may inform distribution in the film industry. My project partner and I divided the research topics, I reluctantly accepted the arduous task of researching the adult entertainment industry.

I've got to tell you, my hands are really tired, I'm not sure I'll ever be able to write (or see) again. Not because I've taken my research to the next level but because of the amount of typing into Google I've had to do rephrasing search terms to actually retrieve information and not porn sites in the results. Honestly, try typing anything with "porn" in Google and then sift through the results without going crazy.

I've been doing it for about 14 hours straight and managed to write about 600 words based on my findings, I think that's pretty good going given that 99% of my search results have no academic value - unless your research is on the implications of excessive masturbation. And just for the record mine is not!