Been there done that, been in consultancy (ehhh did I spell it correct or is it c**t-tell-nancy) for over 9 years. Earning over £120 while working as an independent consultant.What next? Well I work in the city and would like to know the details of finance and driving market factors. Do you guys think doing an MBA will be worth it? Definitely not full-time. Have applied for Cass and Tanaka. I think Cass has an edge when it comes to finance related career. Also I think its time I learnt something new and useful. Need some input from you guys. Please for god-sake don't even ask me to burn £40k of the MBA fee in spread-betting or holidays or on whores. I aready told, been there done that ;-)

total waste of money

I sincerely hope that either you have done the MBA and got nothing out of it or you are one of those lots who likes to warm their office chair and dream about becoming a millionaire.Can you be sensible and provide a reason why it is a wate of time?

Sure!You earn £120K at present, right? An MBA is not going to suddenly lift you up to £200K just because you have an MBA. Also, MBA fee = £40K. Lost income = Massive. Return = Dubious/Nil.It sounds like you're pretty much at the top of the game if you're earning £120K anyway?

Hang on! Why do you think £120k now won't equate to £210k with MBA. I don't think you whether you have considered the world of strategy, M&A or Entrepreneurship. Won't the MBA open up my narrow vision and provide a better outlook.I have already mentioned that it is an EMBA not full-time so no loss of pay.I am not at top of the game when I am 29, I think the world is a playground and I need to explore.

Nick it does sound like an EMBA won't add much at this stage I have to agree. One thought would be to take a more directly finance related Masters, or start your own consulting firm?

I am generally anti-MBA when it comes to consultants. As a consultant, you will have had exposure to most of the elements covered on an MBA. An MBA is really useful for someone who has been in industry, in the same role, for a long time -- and who, consequently, has "blind spots" in their business knowledge. But as a consultant, I think you will gain far less value from the qualification.In terms of raising your income, I think you are overambitious. I don't think you will magically walk into a strat job on 200K, nor do I think that an MBA is a prerequisite for entrepreneurship, if that is the route you want to go.

Maybe if he does a PhD too, he can up it to £400K.I feel really weird about this conversation. He seems absolutely clueless (no offence intended at all), yet is obviously doing something pretty substantial right as he's earning £120K. I just don't get it! Nick, can you share the secrets of your success? Seriously - I think I could do with learning a thing or two from you.

If you want an MBA to open up doors with a view to changing career then you should really be thinking full-time MBA and also higher ranked schoolsi am afraid there are plenty of 29 year olds with similar backgrounds to you that go to business school to do this, some of whom will be on similar or higher salaries to you with equivalent or better qualifications and work experience.Certainly there are exceptions to every rule, so you could end up networking your way into a £200k job immediately post-MBA, but unless I am missing something, I think this is very unlikely. A more realistic outcome is you take a finance-related post-MBA position on a salary similar or a bit below your current earnings. Even this is quite unlikely though, given the current market and the numbers of candidates applying from higher-ranked schools.In general:EMBA -career advancementFull-time - career changeIt is rare that someone can have it both ways - you will be perceived as hedging your bets somewhat by continuing to work and therefore a less motivated and dedicated candidate than someone taking a >£100,000 hit on tuition and loss of earning

I work in Oil&Gas merger pipeline projects and share a profit on completion. It requires cross border political and pipeline knowledge.Now to answer your questoins:1. I do not want to do a PhD since it is not my preference. I am not in research.2. I do not intend to get 200+ salary the day I complete MBA but atleast will have a vision for generating wealth. This will take few years but certainly not decades.3. MBA does give you finance knowledge hence a specalist course in finance like MSc is not something I want. The course maturity of students in MBA is far more than MSc since an MBA is opporunity to interact and learn rather than sit down and take lecture notes.4. EMBA vs MBA: I work in the city so these schools are the best options for me. I do not want to leave the job market and be a US school grad for 2 years on a full time course. I do not intend to change my career or workstream but want to gain additional knowdge of strategy and functions like Islamic banking, yes I am referring to Middle East oil boom. This will help me in presenting a solid project path. I am sure its not what accountants do as part of their work.5. Going to top tier school: I do not have a great acad and do not belong to Ivey League institutes. Hence the only world renowned school in UK, LBS, won't accpet me. I know my position too well and do not want to waste my time and energy chasing a mirage.Now here comes my personal opinion:I am not clueless about what I want. I asked definite questions like, is the MBA worth it. I know my current value and would like to build a vision for the future. The MBA is not for my CV but for my personal development. I have seen 2001 market collapse and servived it so I am well prepared for this turbulent time and would like to take this as an opportunity to enhance my business traits.

Nick, if a career change is not a direct goal nor is a huge payrise a direct goal your MBA but you are doing it do develop yourself than an EMBA will most likely be a good thing. As 'D' mentioned earlier it will be a career advantage but won't be a career change. Parts of the MBA you will find useless (seen that, done that, etc). Other parts of it will definately broaden your horizon and in the long run will help you in your career (MBA looks nice on your CV, top-notch schools look great on a CV... neither of them will land you a job without actually being worth your money).If you can afford it (easily) and you have the personal drive to study in your 'free' time; do it.If it means massive budget cuts and a change of lifestyle; chances are you will be disappointed and the payback of the MBA (3+ years) might be frustrating.ps. Well done on the 120k a year, I didn't make that amount of money when I was 29. You are running ahead of schedule :-)

Somebody tell me how I can make £120K too

You spend your evening:a) watching tellyb) doing your MBAc) or doing some cr*ppy PowerPoint presentation for a meeting tomorrow morning which no one is interested in anyway but you're got to complete it or you'll be in troubleDo a or b