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

by Laurie Pickard

  Beyond finding enough material to deepen your expertise, you want to make sure that you enjoy the work and can see its ready application to your career needs. At this stage you are still testing your hypotheses. You may plunge into a series of courses only to find the material boring or of little practical use on the job. Fortunately, you have not spent a fortune or wasted a whole year making that mistake. You can rethink and refocus in a heartbeat.

  As the MOOC platforms develop new university partnerships and expand their reach, they will continue branching out into new subject areas. Even if you don’t find a lot of options in a particular area of interest today, don’t give up. You may be at the beginning of a brand-new and exciting field. Ten years ago no one was talking about Big Data. Now, it’s all the rage.

  Some of the subject areas that currently offer the widest range of courses include:

  Entrepreneurship, including social entrepreneurship

  Marketing, especially digital marketing

  Management and leadership

  Strategy and innovation

  Data analysis

  Finance

  Feel free to do what the hopeful hospital administrator did and develop a concentration that works for you. Also consider giving your concentration a unique title that captures your particular area of interest. For example, Jerome, whom we met in Chapter 4, called his concentration Social Sector Leadership; Hillary, who first appeared in Chapter 1, pursued Impact Entrepreneurship and Innovation; and Mark selected Data Science and Strategy. With a little imagination they all found courses that suited their needs.

  Set Up a Professional Practice

  You’ve identified a concentration, found advanced coursework, and begun studying at an advanced level. Now you need to apply your developing skills in a real-world setting. At this point, however, you will not be engaging in a trial run, you’ll be doing it live and in-person. It’s like moving beyond practicing your legal skills in a mock trial and arguing a case in court. You might undertake a special project in the company where you currently work, as Mark did, or you might land a temporary assignment in the form of a short-term consultancy or internship. You might even dip your toe into the entrepreneurial shark tank. Look for opportunities in companies and organizations where you can actually do marketing, data analysis, management consulting, entrepreneurship, etc.

  Mark convinced management that he was ready to practice what he had learned as the leader of a new data analysis project. If you see an opportunity to take on a special project at work, propose the idea to your supervisor. Or, better yet, do what Mark did and invite senior leadership to a pitch meeting at which you present ideas that could benefit the company. For him, pitching at work not only benefited his employer, it added a valuable line to his professional resume. If you don’t feel confident proposing a pitch meeting at your place of work, you might use one of your learning laboratories to create a similar experience.

  Some learners create their own internships by offering their skills pro bono as independent consultants. A small business owner may never have thought about working with nonpaid helpers but would love to improve efficiency or sell more widgets. And you don’t have to quit your day job to satisfy your entrepreneurial appetite. People “moonlight” all the time, whether holding down two jobs to make ends meet or operating a small business after work and on weekends for both fun and profit.

  Many advanced coursework packages include a final project. For example, if you take the Business Strategy Specialization from the University of Virginia on Coursera, the last assignment in the final course in the series asks that you use all the strategic analysis techniques you’ve studied to create a strategy report for a company of your choosing. If the advanced coursework you choose includes such a project, you won’t need to structure your final project yourself. Still, even for a structured class project, you should consider pairing up with a company that could benefit from your skills. For example, the Marketing Mix Implementation Specialization from IE Business School, also on Coursera, includes a final project using Tesla Motors as a case study. Once you’ve worked through marketing and distribution channels, advertising, PR, and communications budgeting for the Tesla case, you will likely want to take those same skills to a company that can benefit from your services. Not only will this strengthen your educational experience, it will allow you to build bridges to your chosen industry, not to mention adding an important line to your resume.

  Traditional MBA programs quite often include short-term consulting projects. Students typically complete these projects in groups, as part of class assignments during the regular semester, through extracurricular clubs, or on field trips. You can replicate that experience by seizing an incredible (and completely free) opportunity offered to independent business students by the Center for Global Enterprise (CGE), a nonprofit research institute that studies contemporary global corporations and offers courses and experiences that teach key management skills to future business leaders. In addition to offering courses on the NovoEd platform, CGE periodically organizes a program called the Alpha Team, which mimics the consultancies you might find in traditional business programs. CGE recruits globally for the Alpha Team, involving independent learners, traditional business students enrolled in MBA programs, and even business professors. Teams perform consulting projects for companies around the world. One recent Alpha Team created a suite of online management courses for the Nigerian jobs platform Jobberman. A previous Alpha Team developed a strategic plan for Rasello, a Tanzanian software firm. Students who have participated in the Alpha Team initiative have found it a truly professional experience. They enjoy their relationships with highly engaged and knowledgeable mentors and enthusiastic fellow students who bring a wealth of experience to a project. Best of all, perhaps, they expand their resumes and add terrific new connections to their networks.

  A program like the Alpha Team can only accommodate a limited number of students at a time, but an intrepid student could easily set up his or her own short-term, pro bono consulting gig. Carrie, who studied business at George Washington University, joined an independent consulting club, where students banded together to serve clients in the Washington, D.C., area. When the time came for Carrie to organize a project, she drew on her prior background in textile arts and offered her team’s help to an arts organization in D.C. As it turned out, leaders of the organization had thought about hiring a consulting firm to help overhaul its membership structure, but could not afford to hire high-priced consultants. Carrie’s club offered the perfect solution. Her team of fellow business students drafted a proposal and a contract, which the arts organization quickly accepted. At the end of the engagement, the organization adopted the student consulting team’s recommendation to institute a new membership structure. Carrie describes this experience as one of the highlights of business school. Think about organizing an extracurricular consulting club that can give a team of fellow online students some real-world business experience with pro bono consulting. Draw from your learning group and approach the project in a professional manner, clearly defining the assignment, structuring it around specific deliverables and deadlines, managing your time effectively, and delivering high-caliber results on time and at no cost to your client.

  Figure 7-1

  ADVISER’S CHALLENGE

  COMPLETE A CULMINATION PROJECT

  Decide whether to form/join a team or fly solo. If you belong to a learning group, suggest that members of the group tackle a final project where they can test their knowledge and skills in the real world. Otherwise, search your network for teammates. Learners with a strong independent streak might prefer striking out on their own.

  Determine the specific services you will offer potential clients. Of course, you will draw from your area of concentration. Think in terms of fulfilling real needs and solving real problems. In some cases, a team might span several diverse disciplines, including your concentration (say, finance) and other key areas where a small business owner m
ight need help, from outsourcing to marketing/sales.

  Target three organizations that could benefit from your services. Even if you do not currently hold a job in your chosen industry, you may have formed a relationship with a particular company already. Put it on your target list. But also look for two or three other organizations where you can see a win/win opportunity: The company benefits from your work, and you extend your network. Caution: You will enjoy more success with smaller outfits (nonprofits, startups, and family businesses) because the Fortune 1000 will generally prefer a big, established consulting company.

  Prepare your pitch. You should tailor your presentation to the particular nature and needs of each organization on your target list. How can you best package your services in a way that will catch their attention? Again, focus on specific needs/solutions. Stress concrete results. For example, suppose you have targeted a not-for-profit organization that plans to launch a major fund-raising campaign. Your pitch might go something like this:

  Dear Director of Capital Funding,

  I am an independent student currently taking advanced MBA-level courses in marketing communications. I am looking for an opportunity to apply my professional skills with a short-term, pro bono consulting project. I admire the commitment Bridges has made to help formerly incarcerated inmates make successful transitions back into society and would love to help design effective messaging for your forthcoming Capital Funding Project. Reaching your $1,000,000 goal will require carefully crafted marketing communications to support a low or no cost public relations and publicity campaign. I have attached examples of press releases and online promotions I have created for class assignments.

  Thank you for considering this offer. I hope we can arrange a one-hour meeting, so I can gather the information I need to make a formal proposal for helping Bridges reach its goal.

  Structure the work around deliverables and deadlines. You may have done coursework in project management. If not, you might want to brush up with a MOOC on the subject. In any event, you must focus on the concrete work product you will deliver on time and on budget. Clients want to see tangible results with no surprise costs. Even though the client will not pay for your services, you should deliver high-value results. If you see the schedule slipping, make sure you inform the client immediately and agree on a new deadline for the deliverable.

  Deliver outstanding, professional quality work. How would you behave if your career depended on fulfilling this assignment? Act like a consulting pro. You may be writing press releases for your client on your laptop while lounging on the couch in your bathrobe, but you want your contacts at the client organization to picture you in impeccable business attire, seated in front of a 27-inch iMac. Your professional image matters, even when the work is not for pay.

  Learn by the Light of the Moon

  If you feel 100 percent certain you will never want to work for yourself, feel free to skip this section. Before you do that, however, I must tell you that a tremendous number of the self-directed learners that I know (including those described in Chapter 1) possess a dominant entrepreneurial gene. Many of these budding entrepreneurs satisfy their entrepreneurial hunger by starting a business of their own, moonlighting while working for someone else, or convincing their employer to sponsor an entrepreneurial initiative. Take a few minutes to consider what you might learn if you design an entrepreneurial Culmination Project (see Figure 7-1).

  I did that with the No-Pay MBA Network (see Chapter 6). It began as a moonlighting initiative that provided the perfect culmination to my independent studies. As any business owner will attest, starting and running your own venture gives you a perspective on business that no other experience can match. My own initiative taught me a lot about business and myself that I would have gotten no other way. I had to think about everything a new business owner must ponder: product design and branding, marketing communication, managing growth, and adding staff (starting with a personal assistant who converted her own moonlighting experiment into a successful career). I urge every reader to do something on the side (or at night and on the weekends) that lets you learn big while betting small.

  MOOC student Brandi, the marketer you met in Chapter 6, did just that. While taking courses as part of her MOOC business education, she seized the opportunity to participate in an employer-paid professional training course. After her MOOC experience gave her some insight into what constitutes a good course, Brandi contacted the course instructors with some constructive feedback. The instructors found her insights so helpful that they ended up offering her a limited consulting gig to help reshape some of the training company’s offerings. Though she had contemplated doing a bit of consulting on the side, she had not expected such a perfect opportunity to fall in her lap. The gig nicely combined her background in marketing with her more recent MOOC-based training on strategy. With that one client on her resume, Brandi went on to set up a steady moonlighting practice, offering herself as an expert on brand strategy.

  If you like the idea of moonlighting, think about taking or retaking Steve Blank’s course How to Build a Startup. As Blank suggests in the course, you can start out by interviewing your prospective customers to discover the problems your business can solve. There’s no point in starting a business, even one on the side, if you cannot solve real problems and deliver real results. What, exactly, will you offer? How will you package your product or services? Can you easily finance the operation until it turns a profit? Make sure you structure the operation in a way that allows you to get the most out of the experience. Carefully manage, monitor, and learn from the experience. Once you’ve determined what you can do for your customers, register your business, select an accounting system, and set up a bank account. All of these activities enable you to test-drive your competence with a wide range of business disciplines. You may end up taking what you have learned to your current or future employer, or you might even turn moonlight into daylight, running your own business full-time.

  Document and Display Your Achievements

  You will never reap the full benefits of your self-directed business education if you do not communicate it clearly and com-pellingly. Once you have completed some advanced coursework, tested your expertise in at least one real-world situation, and performed some professional-caliber work, your next step is to present proof of your business skills and acumen with a high-quality portfolio. Think of your portfolio as a professional calling card you can share with a current or prospective employer, potential clients and customers, and investors.

  This brings us back to the motto: “Show, don’t tell.” You need to put your accomplishments on the page, physically and/or electronically. If you were a graphic designer, a photographer, or even a software designer, you wouldn’t simply describe your work; you would submit impressive examples of it. When you picture the audience for your business portfolio, imagine someone who has seen a thousand others and will look at yours with a skeptical eye. Will your portfolio impress the hard-nosed CEO of a Fortune 100 company? You can create an impressive portfolio online using LinkedIn, your personal/professional website, or a portfolio website such as Pathbrite. To showcase my education, I built a portfolio feature into my blog site, which I made available for other MOOC students to use. You can register for a free portfolio at www.NoPayMBA.com/portfolio.

  These days, even traditional colleges and universities recognize the value of e-portfolios, encouraging (or even requiring) students to keep building one as they progress with their studies. For example, the entire University of California system now connects students to Portfolium, a company that partners with colleges and universities to help students show what they have accomplished. Portfolium’s mission is to “help every student meet their full potential by integrating learning with career management in an open and connected network that makes it easier to discover, prepare, and qualify for the most relevant career opportunities.”1 If you’ve structured your Culmination Project properly (see Figure 7-1), you should come away
from it with an accessible, shareable product that represents your best work. This could include a written report, a polished slide deck, or a video of a polished presentation. Add any finished work products from other courses you’ve taken or even from your current job or an entrepreneurial side project.

  Pay attention to the organization of your portfolio (take the Adviser’s Challenge in Figure 7-2). A good one tells your story, presenting you as an interesting and accomplished professional and leaving the reader wanting to know more. Replace long-winded blocks of text with bulleted lists, concise summaries, and informative graphics. Marketing guru and bestselling author Seth Godin offers a free downloadable e-booklet called Really Bad PowerPoint (and How to Avoid It). In this short book, Godin outlines the essential rules for effective communication, which apply to all media. Download a copy and treat it as gospel when putting together your portfolio.

  I’ve seen too many portfolios that look like someone threw a five-course Italian meal at a wall. The jumble of information obscures all of the delectable dishes. Once, a reader of the No-Pay MBA blog sent me a link to a personal site where he had uploaded over thirty MOOC certificates. “What do you think?” he proudly asked. I didn’t know what to think. He had certainly done a lot of work, and I’m sure he had learned a thing or two—but what, exactly? Make sure your portfolio tells a coherent story. You wouldn’t submit a pile of random, out-of-order chapters to an editor and call it a novel. Neither should you proffer two dozen MOOC certificates as the only evidence of your business education. That’s just a transcript. Sometimes you need a transcript, of course, but a transcript does not tell a reader who you are, where you’ve been, and where you’re going. My own college transcript includes elective credits for swimming and modern dance, alongside courses in statistics and political theory. While I still love dancing and swimming, I have yet to apply for a job that requires me to pirouette or swim the butterfly.