I am cuurently surrounded by accountants (at work and in social circles/family) etc..constantly telling me my ambitions of an MBA are a waste of time and money and the best thing I could do to further my career and assist in the promotion stakes etc..is to do CIMA and become professionally qualified.I'm currently at associate level and a year out of uni, working for a leading consultancy with a broad view to pursue Commercial analysis for transaction service lines at possibly Deloitte or for private equity houses in years to come. WIth regards to these intentions, what do you consultants think about my so called 'advice' from relatives over the festive season-are they blowing their own bean counting trumpets out of context or is an MBA actually a waste of time in boosting earnings/career progression? Is an accountancy qualification more repsected and useful?Your thoughts are much appreicated, I hope you had a good X-Mas and New Year etcThanks in advanceM

The truth is a CIMA qualification is very specific and allows you are able to work in an accounting function (even in finance) whereas an MBA allows you to pursue a wider range of interests. This means after an MBA you can move into Marketing, Finance, Investment Banking, Strategy & Ops etc.

That's what I thought and considering my age and lack of a specific career goal involving finance and accounting, an MBA is clearly the best option. I have an economics and management science degree from a top UK Uni and enjoyed the course and its content so was looking forward to MBA study etc..However, my accountancy relatives amongst others in non-finance roles have been openly stating 'an MBA is not worth the paper it is written on'!!!!?Any of you MBA folks like to comment. Non-biased ACA/CIMA guys available to add their thoughts, Thanks again, M

Mark - Happy New Year to you too. Your friends / relatives are right to flag up that not all MBAs are a path to riches. There has been such a proliferation of courses in recent years that the number of people with MBAs has exploded. Those attending the best schools will find it opens a great many doors; those attending an also-ran school may find themselves wondering why they bothered (at least from a financial point of view). Provided you secure a place in a well-respected business school then this is still a good option to pursue.An accounting qualification is not subject to the same vagaries - and for certain types of consulting work having one will be an advantage in moving up the careers ladder (just do a few searches for jobs on this site and you will see that a small minority of banking / M&A related consulting roles do specify that an accounting qualification is desirable). However, I would suggest an accounting qualification opens far more doors outside of consulting than it does within consulting - and opens far fewer doors outside of consulting than an MBA does.Hope that helps & good luck with your decision. Tony

Tony, Thanks for your advice, it's really appreciated. At my age with my lack of experience I want to keep my options open for another few years before specialising and also want the opportunity to leave consulting should a future family take priority over constant travel and nights away from home etc...As mentioned in my previous post, I loved my economics and management degree and can't say I enjoy accounting enough to pursue a career in it. I am already looking at business schools and LBS seems to offer a course that is really up my street with a successful consulting employment ratio and alumni, althoug I appreciate it will tough to secure a place.However, at least my desire to do an MBA is supported by you guys who don't have the emotional attachment to an ACA qualification as my 'helpful' friends and relatives that possibly can't see past their work in assurance and corporate finance.Thakns for your advice, all the best for 2006.Mark