People with Autism/Aspergers Getting an MBA

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Do you think that going through the process of getting an MBA in graduate school will make you more employable by helping you to interact at work better or proving to a potential employer that you are valuable to the company?

In other words will you get a return on the time and effort getting an MBA?

I don't see why not.

Tim

I am under the impression that going through MBA programs require a lot of group projects -- it would literally force a person to have to work in a group, or it would break that person. If one is OK with this type of interaction, then it would just naturally improve your skills.

Kris

MBA is only worth it if you have already been working in your field for a long time, in which case your employer might even pay for you to do it. There is no point getting an MBA if you just got your undergrad and haven't established your career yet.

I have an MBA and have found it invaluable both personally and from a career perspective.

It gave a much better all round appreciation of the different aspects of a business - and, therfore, what other people did - and it also enhanced my core ability, which is related to my Asperger, which is the ability to conduct effective analysis.

I would agree that it is most - and probably only - beneficial if you already have work experience otherwise it becomes too blue sky. Being able to relate the subject matter to real life occurences enhances the message; this goes alongside my AS trait of having to "experience" someting to fully understand it.

The point about groups is also valid. I personally coped well and found it very useful. Everyone worked together and were supportive and it improved my ability to work with other people.

Don't even think about doing it if you don't like the idea of group projects or doing presentations.
I have to take some MBA courses as part of the graduate accounting program I'm in, and I find it difficult. Apparently, some people with Asperger's can be successful in MBA programs, but I would say it is probably the least Asperger-friendly of all graduate programs, because the main benefit of the program is generally the social network you particpate in with classmates and alumni--the stuff you're studying and allegedly learning is secondary. The classmates all seem to be the same type---fraternity/sorority class president jock types. The foreign students are sometimes interesting.

I don't know if it is true, but I've heard that if you can't get into the top programs you're better off doing something else. I would say out of my classmates the only ones who are probably getting real benefit are those who are already working in some kind of management position. The ones who just got into it with no real work experience are probably not going to be much better off when they finish. Nationally, people tend to look at MBA programs with suspicion if they don't require some kind of work experience.

I absolutely hate my MBA courses and consider them a waste of my time--the only reason they have me take them is so they can flesh out my graduate program to 30 hours.

Large Corporations LOVE people who have a undergrad in a non-business major, such as engineering, topped off with an MBA. People with that background are the first to move up the ladder. It's part of the corporate culture. Technical people with MBA's are considered studs. You don't have to wait to get experience to get an MBA. You would learn more if you did, but to the corporations, they don't care if you get it when you are young and inexperienced. They just love to see it!

As far as an MBA for an undergrad business major, I don't know anything about that. It seems like you would have to have an MBA in that case...business majors are as common as house spiders.

Most of the top programs require some level of work experience for admission.

OK - I have worked in the high-level corporate setting and in spite of my business experience and skill set, have been very unsuccessful moving up any ladder without the MBA. It's ubelievable how shut out from management unless you have the MBA. And Project Management Certification too.

And yes - it is group work.

I have thought about going for the MBA, but I now wonder if an Aspie is an Aspie is an Aspie - and even with an MBA I will beomce the "picked on" one in the high-level business world. I always get pegged the eccentric. And an eccentric MBA will get fired as fast as an eccentric low level...

If your Aspie "stuff" isn't interfering with your ability to perform at your job - and if you are well-liked and respected by your peers and managers, then by all means go get your MBA! It is like the answer to LIFE!

Of course an MBA will focus on group work. Management is group work. More than anything, interpersonal skills are the biggest requirement. Technical knowledge of the product is good, too. The successful manager has to broker deals with other managers and follow through. Let someone get a reputation as someone who can't be trusted and their advancement stops. Howard Roark in "The Fountainhead" was partly right: to be a person who can get things done you've got to love the doing. The rest is getting the people around you on your side. Almost no one can do standout things all by themselves above the bottom level. It takes the network you build with people at various levels in the company to provide data, services and political support under your coordination. And without the standout accomplishments, advancement stops.

Yay for you Brian 003 - sometimes a miracle happens - like when my boss and a real b*tch nurse took a true liking to me. Go figure! And one of the medical students I taught asked me to marry him! Whew!

Take advantage of any open window if work works. But if you are getting pegged as the "loser" or the "eccentric" - RUN!

I still think the MBA is a nice thing to have. And if you Aspies here, like me, are being pegged as eccentric - well then - start wearing gorgeous clothes/suits - and go to all kinds of fancy sh*t that will make your co-workers totally jealous! Go skiing, go sailing, pick a contact sports, adult ice hockey. Be a dynamo and if you're eccentric they will think it's cool!

After all, we live in a superficial jag-off culture - from one coast to another, from north to south - America and it's capitalism and lying is the worst. We are caught in a spider web, my friends. Sometimes I want to find someone in Norway or Ireland who want to get married for immigration - and just move there and hope for the best...

And remember to thank your "higher power" you don't live in Iraq or any of the ***stans. We'd all be without heads. You'll never find ME in a burqua!!