Don't Pay for Your MBA: The Faster, Cheaper, Better Way to Get the Business Education You Need

by Laurie Pickard

  1.Make career planning and management an integral part of your ongoing business studies.

  2.Begin your career planning by reflecting on your developing interests and accomplishments and conducting a detailed self-assessment.

  3.Combine the results of your self-assessment with what you have learned from your business studies to generate hypotheses about the best industry/company/role for you.

  4.Test and refine your hypotheses from a worm’s-eye view.

  5.Take a satellite’s-eye view of your future.

  6

  Meet Your People

  Building a Business Network

  MOST business school grads build valuable networks during their studies. So can you. Arjan, a self-directed learner who moved to Düsseldorf, Germany, to follow his wife’s career, offers an instructive example. Having long dreamed of starting his own tech company, he registered for Beyond Silicon Valley: Growing Entrepreneurship in Transitioning Economies. In that MOOC he learned how Cleveland, Ohio, a classic rust belt city, made a concerted push to boost the city’s startup economy.

  The MOOC’s creator, Professor Michael Goldberg, urges his students to connect with like-minded people locally. Arjan went a step further, inviting people from his extended network to join the MOOC, as well as participate in a study group for sharing ideas and giving each other encouragement. The group attracted several local institutional partners, including a university, two local coworking spaces, and a nongovernmental organization that supported local entrepreneurship. At one meeting, entrepreneurs pitched their ideas to people who could actually help them make their dreams a reality, something that would seldom happen in a traditional walled-off classroom. As for the group’s leader, Arjan ended up on the board of a local nonprofit organization focused on promoting networking for startup companies, where he has become an integral player in Düsseldorf’s small but growing startup support system.

  Networking involves much more than collecting business cards at meetings. It represents a well-thought-out strategy for creating connections who can help you succeed in your career. When it comes to networking, it’s all about the quality of the connection, not the number of contacts in your email or social media accounts or even the prestigious title of the person who accepted your LinkedIn request. The contact must not only recognize your name but also happily act on your request for help.

  Connect Strategically

  Brandi studied business and journalism in college, and although she chose not to pursue a traditional MBA, she felt a few carefully selected MOOCs would round out her business education. She also obtained a bonus benefit: meeting and getting to know like-minded students. “I always look for what we have in common, and I love getting to meet people from different countries and different backgrounds.” Brandi has made many new connections through her coursework on strategy, entrepreneurship, and marketing. “Being in the same classes together gives you a shared experience and a natural entry point. That way, getting to know someone new doesn’t feel like an awkward first date,” she says. Now that she feels comfortable making connections, she can strengthen her network and rely on those connections to further her career in marketing.

  Even someone with a traditional MBA can strengthen his or her network. While Becky, a graduate of the Wharton School, initially took advantage of the network she built in school, landing a job as director of operations at a fast-growing startup that sells ethically sourced fashions, Becky keeps adding new connections, especially people who share her passion for working in startup companies. “Having some sort of common ground is essential,” she says. “Now, the people I connect with the most are people who are also running startups, regardless of where they got their education. Knowing people who are actually doing what I’m doing is more important than whether we went to the same school.”

  You should build your network with specific objectives in mind. Through conversations with business school graduates, professors, and some highly successful people, I have found that the traditional business school network consists of what Robert Putnam, author of Bowling Alone, calls Bonds and Bridges.1 I have applied some of his ideas about building social capital to the MOOC experience. In the world of online education, bonds refer to the deep connections that form among students based on their shared experience in school, while bridges represent connections with people in the business world. In Arjan’s case, he began by bonding with the other students he invited into his Beyond Silicon Valley study group; then he built bridges to aspiring entrepreneurs and institutions in the local business community.

  The bonds you form and the bridges you build will help you create and sustain your personal brand. If you graduate from Dartmouth’s Tuck School of Business, you automatically share a brand identity with fellow students and alumni. Before you interview for jobs on Wall Street, you can contact Dartmouth alums that work there. Even if you make a cold call on a potential Wall Street employer, interviewers will have some understanding of the Dartmouth brand. Later, in Chapter 8, we will explore personal branding in greater depth, but for now, just keep in mind that you will need to present your unconventional business education in a way that will impress potential employers or investors. Your network can help you do that.

  Your unique set of strategic connections set you apart from everyone else. Your network helps define and identify you as a serious, professional businessperson. With a lot of strategic thinking and a bit of ingenuity, you can build a star-studded network that rivals those created by students at Dartmouth, Harvard, or Stanford. You just need to focus on establishing relationships with people who can supply the information, access, or additional connections that can help you reach your career goals.

  Make a Great First Impression

  You probably know the old saying, “You never get a second chance to make a first impression.” Business students in traditional programs take this adage to heart and work hard to cultivate a professional appearance and demeanor. Many students even wear suits to class. While I’m not suggesting that you replace your pajamas and fuzzy slippers with a business suit while taking online courses, I am recommending that you invest considerable time and thought into developing an online persona that will impress people with your professionalism. Imagine you have enrolled in a MOOC on Design Thinking. When you ask a pertinent question in the course’s discussion forum, several students respond. One of them is HR Hank, who works as a recruiter in a human resources department at a big company. A natural networker, he accesses your LinkedIn profile, which includes a highly professional resume. He’s impressed and asks to add you as a contact.

  One great first impression can lead to another and another and another useful connection. Perhaps you know the concept “six degrees of separation.” It proposes that any person stands no more than six handshakes away from anyone in the world. My friend Michael describes how it works. “Suppose I want to meet Pope Francis. I contact my friend Sarah, who is studying business at Georgetown University. She introduces me to her adviser, Father Bill Byron, the former president of Catholic University, who now teaches business ethics at Georgetown. Father Byron puts me in touch with Cardinal Dolan of New York, who, in turn, introduces me via email to the Pope. Voilà! I’ve accomplished my goal in four easy steps.” If Michael were developing a brand where connections to the world of Catholicism would advance his career, he would have thought and acted strategically to develop that brand. And with each handshake, he would have made a great first impression as a serious and likable person with keen professional interests.

  In my own case, early on in my studies, I spoke with a reporter who was researching the MOOC phenomenon. Over a year later, I asked her if she could effect an introduction to Steve Blank, the legendary entrepreneur whom she had interviewed for a different article. She gave me the name of Steve Blank’s assistant, who eventually made it possible for me to invite him to interact for thirty minutes with some of the learners in my network. He agreed. It all started with a strong first impression, f
ollowed by two more. More than a year passed from first contact to a career-enhancing connection. Patience and persistence are also factors in building a successful business network.

  As an online, independent student, you will form many of your most valuable connections via the Internet. While you certainly should plug into (or even help to build) face-to-face networks the way Arjan did, you, like all business professionals, will spend a lot of networking time in the digital world. In a 2013 survey, over 98 percent of employers reported using some form of social media for recruiting.2 In the flesh-and-blood world you take care to make a good first impression with your appearance, your clothes, your warm smile, your firm handshake, and the ease with which you make eye contact. In the digital world, you must pay careful attention to the first impression you make with the content, clarity, tone, and sincerity of your messages.

  A great first digital impression depends on the three main components of your personal brand: name, image, and story. Take the Adviser’s Challenge in Figure 6-1.

  Figure 6-1

  ADVISER’S CHALLENGE

  PUT YOUR BEST FOOT FORWARD

  List the digital media and platforms where people will meet you for the first time. This will include the MOOC platforms where you take courses, all social media platforms, your personal website, and even your email account. You will want to craft the best first impression on each of these platforms.

  Use your professional name. You want to present a unified brand identity in all of your digital communications. Even in cases where you need an identifying “handle,” select a name that comes close your professional name (i.e., LPickardl rather than Sillycat2016).

  Invest in press-release quality photos. It pays to maintain a professional image. A photo taken by a professional will enhance your professional image much more effectively than a selfie. Adhere to the official or unofficial dress codes of your target audience. Blue jeans will suffice for viewers at Google but not for HR professionals at Goldman Sachs.

  Tell your story. All of your online profiles should tell a short story about who you are and where you want to go. Imagine someone asking you to tell him or her a little something about yourself. Do not limit your answer to your name, rank, and serial number, but do not launch into a novel-length tale of everything that’s happened to you since you were born. Keep it to three or four well-crafted sentences. Adhere to the three Cs: clear, concise, compelling. Try to write something interesting: “I studied premed in college because I thought I wanted to be a doctor, but after spending two summers working as an orderly in an emergency room, I decided I wanted to get into the business side of the healthcare field. That’s why I have been taking so many MOOCs from the top business schools. I absolutely love finance and economics.”

  When it comes to telling your story, you may need a small anthology of vignettes, each designed to appeal to different target readers. For instance, you might post a relatively formal and polished profile on LinkedIn, emphasizing your professional goals and accomplishments, while the narrative you use for your profiles on MOOC platforms might focus more on your past, present, and future educational experiences. For example, I used this narrative for my profiles on all the MOOC platforms where I took courses during my business education:

  I’m an international development professional working on entrepreneurship and public-private partnerships in Kigali, Rwanda. I’m taking business courses as part of a project to construct a free MBA equivalent out of MOOCs. I’d love to connect with others who share my interests in development and entrepreneurship or my enthusiasm for MOOCs.

  You can use your stories in other venues where you want to make a great first impression: telephone calls to potential connections, introductions in face-to-face encounters, and personal email messages. If you do it well, people will want to connect with you and find out more about you and your career goals.

  Find (or Create) a Learning Community

  It’s evening in Ghent, Belgium. Kristof has returned home from work. After feeding his daughters and sending them to bed, he prepares to spend a couple of hours immersed in his current marketing MOOC. As he settles onto the couch with his laptop he hears the distinct chirp of a team notification from his Slack app. It’s a message from Hillary. “Hey, have time for a quick video chat?” she asks.

  “Sure thing,” Kristof types back. He dons his headphones, and within a few seconds, he’s looking at Hillary, just starting her day in sunny California. Her eighteen-month-old daughter squirms in her lap. Kristof and Hillary have been working as colleagues on a class project and have found it helpful to connect at this time of night/morning. Despite differences in gender, nationality, native language, and profession, the two of them have found that they share quite a few personal traits and values, including a knack for building relationships, even at a distance. Best of all, they’ve each found the perfect partner for studying and collaborating. When the two of them start kicking around ideas, they always come up with creative ideas neither of them would devise on their own. It’s a classic case of 1 + 1 = 3.

  Researchers have found that studying with others can reduce attrition, inoculate against burnout, and counter feelings of isolation and loneliness.3 It can also help you more fully absorb course material. And let’s be honest—doesn’t studying with like-minded colleagues sound like more fun than studying solo by the light of your computer screen? But best of all, you are forming those vital first degrees of separation that can help you make the other connections you need to get the most out of your business education. You never know when one of those colleagues from your student days will prove critical to helping you make the all-important connection that helps you close a big sale, gain an interview with a prospective employer, or get into the same room with a likely investor in your new company.

  In 2016, the Huffington Post ran a fascinating article titled “How 1 Tweet Led to an Internship in Silicon Valley.”4 The author, Mimi Zheng, had just graduated from school and could not decide whether to travel for a while or look for a job. As luck would have it, she had been following a blog by Smit Patel, a high school senior who had used social media to land an internship at Y Combinator in Silicon Valley. She sent him a tweet. Soon they were exchanging emails. Smit introduced Mimi to Mike, CEO of a company called Scriptrocks, who looked over Mimi’s writing samples and awarded her an internship. It was like a pilot episode for “Social Media Meets Six Degrees of Separation.”

  You can meet new colleagues everywhere you go in the world of MOOCs. Most MOOCs include discussion forums. Unfortunately, as many MOOCs shift from scheduled courses to an on-demand or self-paced model, many discussion forums have gone quiet, save for specific questions about course content or requests to correct errors in problem sets. By all means, check out every discussion forum, but don’t expect all of them to host enlightening exchanges. Focus your efforts on following the most recently active threads and using key search words to locate potential colleagues with shared interests in your city and elsewhere in the world.

  You should seek out courses that actively foster social interaction. For example, Beyond Silicon Valley emphasizes making connections with other people by offering course mentors and encouraging the formation of peer-to-peer learning groups. In such courses, you will much more likely encounter like-minded students who would love to study with you. One MOOC platform in particular, the NovoEd platform, is known for encouraging students to connect with one another. NovoEd hosts many business and entrepreneurship courses, often created by industry professionals, including courses like Global Social Entrepreneurship, Technology Entrepreneurship, and Design Kit: The Course for Human-Centered Design. Social entrepreneurship-focused organizations such as +Acumen, PhilanthropyU, IDEO, and the Center for Global Enterprise have developed these and other courses for NovoEd’s platform, many of them taking advantage of NovoEd’s group collaboration technology to help students form groups, share documents, and organize video chats and conferences.

  In addition to the
MOOC platforms themselves, you can find opportunities to form or join online learning communities at MOOCLab.club. For face-to-face connections, try MOOC Meetups, listed on Meetup.com for cities including Chicago, Beijing, Mexico City, Dhaka, Amsterdam, and Boston. Likewise, P2PU (short for Peer to Peer University) facilitates the creation of in-person learning circles. I also invite you to join the Facebook group I host for online business students. You can find the link on the Don’t Pay For Your MBA book extras page (www.nopaymba.com/book-extras).

  Exercise patience. It may take time and a number of failed attempts before you find a learning community that works for you. It’s worth the time and effort, because you will find the connections you make a wonderfully rewarding experience, and not just in terms of furthering your career goals. You will make friends, receive a lot of support for your endeavors, and learn a lot that you can never get from watching online video lectures.

  If you enjoy taking the initiative and wish to develop your leadership skills, try your hand at facilitating a learning community yourself. This can help you to ensure high-quality interactions. That’s what Arjan did. It’s also how Brandon, an American entrepreneur living in Japan, chose to study. Brandon organized a few of his contacts to take a set of business MOOCs as a group. The group met weekly at Brandon’s office and gradually grew in size, as friends of friends joined in. As an American, Brandon could help clarify the professors’ use of idiomatic expressions and provide context when the professors used examples drawn from American businesses. In turn, the Japanese learners in the group translated many concepts into the world of Japanese business, fostering understanding among both the local and the foreign participants in the group.